The dates for winter/spring 2012 are:
January 28th
February 11th & 25th
March 10th & 24th
April 14th & 28th
May 12th & 26th

Bonai Shalom is located at 1527 Cherryvale Road, just south of Arapahoe. If you have any questions, please email shelanu@bonaishalom.org.

Please join us at Congregation Bonai Shalom this Shabbat, January 14, at 11:00 a.m. for a tot Shabbat experience, a fabulous way to celebrate Shabbat together with your young children. We sing, dance, tell stories and enjoy Shabbat together in this innovative parent-lead program. Geared towards children under the age of 5 and their parents.

Shabbat Shelanu is open to the community and there is no cost to attend. Families, friends, visiting relatives, and siblings of all ages are welcome!

The dates for winter/spring 2012 are:
January 14th & 28th
February 11th & 25th
March 10th & 24th
April 14th & 28th
May 12th & 26th

Bonai Shalom is located at 1527 Cherryvale Road, just south of Arapahoe. If you have any questions, please email shelanu@bonaishalom.org

If you’re like most Jews, you’ve heard that only human beings are created in God’s image, and that human needs trump the needs of any other species or creature. But the reality is much more complicated — and much more interesting. Find out how many different ways the rabbis, philosophers and Kabbalists thought that humans reflected God’s image, and about how their ideas changed and developed over the centuries. You’ll discover how the Midrash and the Kabbalah claimed that other created beings were also in God’s image.

Join us for great learning and great discussion — and for great intellectual stimulation. But more than that, expect to find out something new about how we encounter God in Nature, in ourselves, in other animals, and in how we treat every living being. The material we study will be drawn from Seidenberg’s new book. The answers will affirm ideas and spiritual experiences you may not have known were Jewish, and they will surprise you and expand your picture of Judaism, of humanity, of the Earth, and of God.

Rabbi David Seidenberg, the creator of NeoHasid.org, teaches text and music, Jewish thought and spirituality, in their own right and in relation to ecology and the environment. David has smikhah (ordination) from the Jewish Theological Seminary and from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and he wrote a doctorate on Kabbalah and ecotheology at JTS. He has taught at over 100 synagogues and communities across North America (and a few in Israel). David is published widely on ecology and Judaism. David’s teaching empowers learners to become creators of Judaism through deep study and communion with texts and tradition. He brings not only expertise in science (ecology and cosmology) and texts (midrash, Talmud, philosophy, Kabbalah and Chasidus), but also engagement with spirit (meditation, davening and nigunim), embodiment and ritual.

Friday night services (6:00 pm) and Saturday morning services (9:30 am followed by a Kiddush lunch) are free and open to the public. Friday night dinner does require an RSVP and payment: Cost for the Friday evening dinner is $15 per adult, $12 per child (ages 5-12), bring your own wine. To reserve your place, contact us at office@bonaishalom.org or call 303-442-6605 by Tuesday, January 3rd.

Shabbat Shelanu is open to the community and there is no cost to attend. Bonai Shalom is located at 1527 Cherryvale Road, just south of Arapahoe.

Jerry and Marilyn Pinsker

Congregation Bonai Shalom’s Religious School was delighted to honor Jerry and Marilyn Pinsker last Sunday for their many contributions to children’s education, both at Bonai Shalom and within the wider community. Marilyn and Jerry are both well-known, now retired educators within the Boulder and greater Denver communities.

Marilyn started teaching pre-school at the Bonai Hebrew School in 1982. She taught Bonai pre-school at various locations around town including Center for United Ministers on CU, Hillel, her home (!) and in the old building until 1987. In 1987 she became the school principal and she continued in that position until 1995. Marilyn continues to consult to the school and facilitated a teacher training last August.

Jerry served as synagogue president from 1987 – 1989, overseeing the construction of our then new sanctuary. Stepping down as president, he took on the position of chair of education which he retained until 1995. Jerry served in various positions on the Bonai Shalom board of directors for 26 contiguous years.

Jerry and Marilyn were honored with an ice cream social, filled with friends, relatives, and both the parents and children of the Religious School. Rabbi Marc Soloway saluted the Pinskers as builders of the community. Steve Hill, who holds the education chair, and Larry Cohn, synagogue president, both spoke of their many contributions to the community and of the strong base they created for our school. Everyone (but especially the students) enjoyed the ice cream.

Bonai Shalom is located at 1527 Cherryvale Road, just south of Arapahoe.

This year, Reb Zalman has agreed to lead our Thursday morning shacharit service in honor of the Holiday on Thanksgiving morning at 8:00 am at Bonai Shalom (1527 Cherryvale, Boulder), offering us a wonderful opportunity to begin the day with intention and spirituality.

We hope you will join us for this traditional morning service, with some seasonal and creative additions. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Rabbis Without Borders (RWB), Clal’s landmark initiative that helps rabbis make Jewish thought and practice more available for improving people’s lives, selected its third class for its competitive rabbinic fellowship program. More than 90 applicants competed for the 22 spots. Of those selected, Marc Soloway from Boulder, Colo., was picked for this prestigious program.

Said Rabbi Rebecca W. Sirbu, RWB Director,

Interest in the program has only increased over the years. Rabbis recognize that the religious environment has changed – from family make up to spiritual practice. To reach people where they are, rabbis need to apply their skills in new ways. RWB offers that kind of support. It helps rabbis better communicate in both familiar and new venues, and makes Jewish wisdom an accessible resource for the American public.”

The program, now in its third year, encourages rabbis to think creatively about their work and the new American religious landscape. Building a network of religious leaders from all streams, RWB helps rabbis make Jewish insights readily available, adding to the well of American spiritual resources. As the key disseminators of the tradition, rabbis who can present Jewish wisdom more effectively are better educators and community builders, and can become religious leaders with unique tools to offer the broader culture.

Rabbinic Fellows will gather in NYC four times over the academic year, 2011-2012. The first session, on Nov. 7-8, 2011, featured Prof. Gustav Niebuhr, Director of the Religion and Media Program at Syracuse University and former columnist at the New York Times, who discussed religion in America today. The December 19-20 program will feature social media innovators Rabbi Owen Gottlieb and Daniel Sieradisky, who will discuss technology, social media and gaming.

RWB also has a variety of resources for rabbis to enhance their skills for addressing diverse audiences. From online learning to one-on-one dialogue, participants will work with Clal faculty to develop methodologies that draw on the texts and tradition in new ways. The goal is for these “spiritual innovators” to see their congregations as more than just members of their school, community or institution.

Since 1974 when Clal began, its mission has been to help prepare the Jewish people for the unprecedented freedom and openness of America. Started by Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, Clal formed a network of rabbis capable of translating Jewish wisdom and practice into useful idioms for contemporary life. RWB is an extension of that work.