CBI Winter
Meeting
Sunday, February 5, 11am
Save the date!
Friday Night
Kabbalat Shabbat
& Potluck
Friday, February 10, 6:00pm
Join Josefa Briant for services
followed by a vegetarian potluck.
Kiddush
For Breakfast
Saturday, February 11, 9:30am
Rabbi Mitch will lead a
learning session at 9:30am
followed by abbreviated services at 10:15am.
Awakening the Heart
Join us on
Saturday, February 25, 9:30am
for a contemplative
Shabbat practice.
Details
Havdalah Art Club
Original Art Work by Tikva Wolf
Each Saturday at 6pm
Rabbi Mitch Levine
Rabbi Mitch Levine: Office phone (828) 252-9024, email rabbi@bethisraelnc.org
CBI is thrilled to have Rabbi Mitchell Levine as our spiritual leader. Rabbi Levine started on July 1, 2021. He and his wife Alison, also a Jewish educator by profession, moved to Asheville from Columbus, Ohio. Rabbi Levine has had a rich and diverse career as both a pulpit rabbi and Jewish educator. Born and raised in Raleigh, Rabbi Levine most recently served as Rabbi of Agudas Achim in Bexley Ohio, a position he held for 10 years. Prior to that, he served as the Rabbi at Beth Sholom in Providence, RI where he also served as rabbinic associate at Brown University Hillel and taught at the Providence Hebrew Day School and New England Academy of Torah High School. In addition, he has studied at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Learning, the Jewish Theological Seminary, Harvard Jewish Theological Seminary, the reconstructionist Rabbinical College, and was a Fellow at the Day School Leadership Training Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Friday Noon Study Group February 3 12-1
We began last Friday’s discussion of the Epistle to the Hebrews with a reminder of how frequently this text drew upon verbatim citations from the Tanach (Chapters 1-4 in Hebrews directly cited excerpts from Psalms 102:25ff., 110:11, 8:4-6, 22:22, 15:7-11, and Isaiah 8: 17-18). We speculated that such extensive reference to Hebrew scripture had the effect of making the author of Hebrews more credible (he/she had a mastery of Tanach) and of making the author’s audience more comfortable by citing from texts with which they were familiar.
We then took a closer look at chapters 5-7 in Hebrews, chapters that focused upon the priesthood of Christ, furthering the case for his superiority as an intermediary between God and Man/Man and God. These chapters confirm the concept, expressed earlier in the Hebrew Bible, that the Messiah would be a Davidic figure, appointed by divine decree: “The Lord hath sworn . . . ‘Thou art a priest for ever in the manner of Melchizedek'” (Psalm 110:4/ Hebrews 5:5-6). A good portion of our discussion was devoted to an exploration of who Melchizedek was. He appears in Genesis 14:18 as a Canaanite King and Priest who blesses Abram. Christian tradition associates Melchizedek, (“king of righteousness””king of peace”) with the “eternal priesthood” of Christ. In the Epistle to the Hebrews (and also in the Dead Sea Scrolls), Melchizedek is seen as a divine being who will judge and atone for his people. According to an encyclopedia entry shared by one of our participants, “Melchizedek is made to foreshadow Christ. . . . According to the analogy, just as Abraham, the ancestor of the Levites, paid a tithe to Melchizedek and was therefore his inferior, so the Melchizedek-like priesthood of Christ is superior to the Levites.”
We concluded our discussion session last week in the middle of Hebrews, Chapter 7:11-12, which suggests that not only was the Levitical priesthood superseded by “another priest arising according to the order of Melchizedek,” but that “when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.”
This Friday, we’ll further examine the passages just cited and then continue our exploration of the Epistle to the Hebrews with a closer look at Chapters 7:11-Chapter 10.
Our discussion group meets via Zoom every Friday from 12-1 (see the CBI web site or Weekly Announcements for a Zoom link). All are welcome to join us, regardless of their level of expertise or attendance at previous Friday study group sessions. Any copy of the New Testament is acceptable (the more versions the richer the conversation).
Refugee Shabbat 2023
Refugee Shabbat, which will take place on February 3-4, 2023, is a moment for congregations, organizations, and individuals in the United States and around the world to dedicate a Shabbat experience to refugees and asylum seekers. The fastest-growing European refugee crisis since World War II is still ongoing. People seeking asylum are being turned away at borders around the world. And this year, for the first time ever, the total number of displaced persons globally is over 100 million. This is a critical moment for all of us to reaffirm and redouble our support for refugees and asylum seekers.
Join us for Shabbat morning services in-person or via Zoom every Saturday morning at 9:30am.
Join the Zoom service by going to Our Virtual Community page here, then scroll down and click on the blue Saturday Morning Service button.
Join us every Saturday at 6pm for havdalah ritual followed by intuitive artwork creation! The individual and collaborative pieces we make together will be part of a Shavuot art display on our “collective revelation” this Spring. Bring your own art supplies/project or just show up! !
Organized by Tikva Wolf (text her with questions: 919-5-TIKVAH).
Friday Noon Study Group February 3 12-1
We began last Friday’s discussion of the Epistle to the Hebrews with a reminder of how frequently this text drew upon verbatim citations from the Tanach (Chapters 1-4 in Hebrews directly cited excerpts from Psalms 102:25ff., 110:11, 8:4-6, 22:22, 15:7-11, and Isaiah 8: 17-18). We speculated that such extensive reference to Hebrew scripture had the effect of making the author of Hebrews more credible (he/she had a mastery of Tanach) and of making the author’s audience more comfortable by citing from texts with which they were familiar.
We then took a closer look at chapters 5-7 in Hebrews, chapters that focused upon the priesthood of Christ, furthering the case for his superiority as an intermediary between God and Man/Man and God. These chapters confirm the concept, expressed earlier in the Hebrew Bible, that the Messiah would be a Davidic figure, appointed by divine decree: “The Lord hath sworn . . . ‘Thou art a priest for ever in the manner of Melchizedek'” (Psalm 110:4/ Hebrews 5:5-6). A good portion of our discussion was devoted to an exploration of who Melchizedek was. He appears in Genesis 14:18 as a Canaanite King and Priest who blesses Abram. Christian tradition associates Melchizedek, (“king of righteousness””king of peace”) with the “eternal priesthood” of Christ. In the Epistle to the Hebrews (and also in the Dead Sea Scrolls), Melchizedek is seen as a divine being who will judge and atone for his people. According to an encyclopedia entry shared by one of our participants, “Melchizedek is made to foreshadow Christ. . . . According to the analogy, just as Abraham, the ancestor of the Levites, paid a tithe to Melchizedek and was therefore his inferior, so the Melchizedek-like priesthood of Christ is superior to the Levites.”
We concluded our discussion session last week in the middle of Hebrews, Chapter 7:11-12, which suggests that not only was the Levitical priesthood superseded by “another priest arising according to the order of Melchizedek,” but that “when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.”
This Friday, we’ll further examine the passages just cited and then continue our exploration of the Epistle to the Hebrews with a closer look at Chapters 7:11-Chapter 10.
Our discussion group meets via Zoom every Friday from 12-1 (see the CBI web site or Weekly Announcements for a Zoom link). All are welcome to join us, regardless of their level of expertise or attendance at previous Friday study group sessions. Any copy of the New Testament is acceptable (the more versions the richer the conversation).
Join us for Shabbat morning services in-person or via Zoom every Saturday morning at 9:30am.
Join the Zoom service by going to Our Virtual Community page here, then scroll down and click on the blue Saturday Morning Service button.