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Help Needed at the Homeless Meal
Sunday, April 20 at 1:00pm Note the change of time.
YOU are needed to serve at the Homeless Meal on Sunday, April 20th. This is the first day and second night of Passover. We will serve the meal at 1:00pm and be done with clean up by 2:30 at the latest. A lot of people may be out of town or busy preparing their own Seder that day, so we really need people who can help to sign up by clicking here.
Thank you and Happy Passover,
Ruth Spear
Chai Group Gathering
Our next three gatherings will be on:
Tuesdays, April 15, May 20 and June 17 at 12:00pm
We hope you can join us for our lively and interesting festivities. As decided by the group recently, please bring your own brown bag lunch. Beverages and dessert will be provided by Beth El.
Feel free to bring a friend! Please email Lenora O'Keith in the Beth El office or call 510-848-3988 x211 for more information or if you have any questions.
Use Scrip for your Passover Seder Shopping!
Think about using Scrip when you shop for your Passover Seder. Beth El receives a portion of your shopping dollars at no cost to you. You can get your Scrip for Andronico's, Berkeley Bowl and Peet's Coffee in the Beth El office or go to www.escrip.com and enter ID#136556372 or Congregation Beth El. Need more information? Call Odette Blachman at 510.526.4917.
Passover Events
Organizing and Leading Your Seder
Saturday, April 12, 1:00 – 3:00pm (following Shabbat services & lunch)
Join Rabbi Yoel Kahn for a discussion of the Passover Seder – and gain insight into creative ways to make your Seder more meaningful and participatory. Following a short review of the origins and structure of the traditional Seder, we will consider a variety of texts, techniques, rituals and activities which can enhance you and your family’s celebration of Passover.
Spiritual Preparation for the Exodus
Wednesday, April 16, 7:30pm
Why is this night different from all other nights? In the course of the Passover Seder, matzah is transformed from the "bread of affliction" to the token of liberation. The matzah of liberation must be whole; yet we begin the Seder ritual by breaking a matzah in half – later internalizing it as the afikomen. How do we understand our own journeys from oppression to liberation? What brokenness in ourselves must be internalized before we can move to liberation? How we can open ourselves more fully to embrace the other – within and without – as we remember "the heart of the stranger for we were strangers in the Land of Mitzrayim… Join Rabbi Yoel Kahn for an evening of spiritual preparation for Passover, exploring these and other questions as we prepare for Passover.
2nd Night Community Seder – A Beth El Tradition!
Sunday evening, April 20, 5:45pm
Join Rabbi Yoel Kahn, Cantor Brian Reich and Beth El friends old and new for a festive celebration and delicious catered kosher Passover meal. We are never too old nor too young to learn and retell the story of our own and our people’s liberation from oppression. With song, ritual and discussion, we will reenact this ancient tale, making connections to our own lives and our world.
Members: Adults $36 Children $18
Guests: Adults $45 Children $22
Space is limited. Select this link for secure online reservations
Annual Beth El Women’s Seder
Sponsored by the Women of Beth El
Wednesday, April 23, 6:30pm
Dairy Potluck $8 to cover wine/rituals foods
All women are invited--bring your mom, your daughters, your friends, your neighbors--to celebrate the season and this special meal together. If you have readings you would like included in this year’s haggadah, please send them to Rabbi Jane Litman by April 17th.
Select this link for secure online reservations
First Annual
Together for Israel
Thursday, May 8 at Congregation Beth El
6:00-7:00pm Delicious Israeli Food & Hip Israeli Music and Dancing • Balloon Animals • Fun Giveaways • Kids Arts & Crafts Activities
7:00pm Guest Speaker: Elizabeth Rogers - Producer of New Award Winning Documentary "Exodus 1947" and The Amazing Jeremy Shafer Show - Juggling, Magic & More!
Event is free of charge as a gift from our community sponsors.
We need volunteers! Please contact Susie Marcus for more information.
A Gathering
of the Tribe
Beth El Retreat at Walker Creek Ranch
Beth El Community Shabbat Retreat
with Rabbi Yoel Kahn
Friday, May 30 through Sunday, June 1, 2008
You are invited to Beth El’s first retreat in many years. This is an opportunity for all members of our community to gather for a weekend of Shabbat celebration, learning, community and relaxation. The weekend schedule offers separate activities for adults and kids as well as activities for families. People of all ages will enjoy organized activities, find their own adventures or kick back and relax, getting to spend time with other Beth El folks. Walker Creek Ranch is a beautiful camp setting, one hour and 15 minutes north of Berkeley in West Marin. Located on 1700 acres of rolling hills, the land is blessed with 20 miles of hiking trails, Bay Laurel Forests, open grassland and clear water flowing in Walker Creek all year long.
For more information, including lodging and pricing options, please click here.
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