We regret that in-person services are cancelled at this time due to the COVID 19 situation.  We will be holding an abbreviated online Shabbat morning service on alternate Saturdays.

Just as healthy foods nourish us through the blood stream, so Jewish meditation nourishes our “soul stream.” Meditation can be transformative, taking us from the intellectual awareness of ourselves to a deeper spiritual practice that links us to Judaism in the most profound way. Each mitzvah, holy day and cycle of life has its own rhythm, nuance, taste and character. Jewish meditation is a practice of infusing their essence into our daily spiritual lives.

Ready to give it a try? Join us via Zoom (every Sunday from 2:30pm – 4pm. No previous meditation experience necessary.  This opportunity is free and open to all. Please contact Linda Wolf at linda@networktype.com for the online meeting information.

July 10, 2020 12-1

17 participants were on hand for last Friday’s discussion of Chapters 3 and 4 Barry Holtz’s Rabbi Akiva.  Among other things, we

• wrestled with the question of what kind of husband Akiva was.  Is there any justification for his abandoning his wife in order to study Torah–for 24 years?!?  While some of us viewed this a tremendous flaw for any role model to have, others viewed Akiva’s absence from his wife as being a “necessary fiction,”  intended to elevate his status as a  scholar and to elevate Rachel’s status as a supportive spouse.

• discussed whether Rachel was an exemplary (her tomb in Tiberias is a shrine for pilgrims) or cautionary role model.  Was she valorized as an ideal wife who encouraged her husband’s study or was she victimized by a patriarchy that basically built the reputation of men on the backs of their wives.  Is there an alternative subtext that suggests that women might have seen her as a clever woman who got what she desired (freedom for the homes of her father and husband).

•   took a look at Akiva’s pedigree as a sage:  he studied with the most esteemed of the sages, but his genealogy and poverty kept him from being promoted to the head of the academy at Yavneh.

• considered some of Akiva’s early learning experiences (i.e. discovering that the subtleties of Jewish law may not always conform to a person’s understanding of “the right thing”; discovering the need to learn noty only from texts, but also from observing the behavior of sages).

• began discussion of the “changing tide of intellectual and moral authority that was taking place in the rabbinic world.”

At our Zoom session on July 10, we’ll complete our discussion of  Chapters 4 (focusing on Akiva’s tact, modesty, and kavannah) and then move on to Chapter 5,”Among the Rabbis, ” a continuation of our discussion of rabbinic authority, especially with regard to the “Oven of Akhnai” (pp. 99-129).  If time permits, we may begin talking about Chapter 5 in Holtz, which recounts what is probably the most famous of the legends connected with Rabbi Akiva.

Our informal discussion group will be conducted online every Friday from 12-1.   All are welcome to join us, regardless of their level of expertise or attendance at previous noon study group discussions. If you have questions, or would like the Zoom link, please contact Jay Jacoby at jbjacoby@uncc.edu.

With services unavoidably cancelled, the Ritual Committee is working hard to find ways we can support each other as a community when we can’t be together in person. It’s very distressing to be unable to say Kaddish for a loved one, or to contemplate not sharing a Seder meal with friends and family. We’d like to share with you some plans we have for filling these gaps in our lives.

Please join me beginning this Friday, March 27, at 6:00pm, when we will begin holding Kabbalat Shabbat services via Zoom.  A rotation of folks will lead the service, including Josefa, who will lead Family Shabbat on the second Friday of each month. As long as at least 10 adults log in, we’ll be able to say Kaddish, so please consider attending, even if you’re not a Friday night regular.

A link to the online service is below.  Zoom is easy to use and will let us see and hear each other as we welcome Shabbat.  If you haven’t already downloaded Zoom to your computer or phone, you must do so before joining the meeting on Friday at 6:00pm.  You only need to download Zoom once, after that you simply log in, always using the same Meeting ID: 406 391 4937.  Easy instructions are below this message.

We recognize that this is a big departure from traditional practice, and the Ritual Committee did not make this decision without serious discussion. This is a temporary measure to keep us all connected while we can’t be together physically.

If you’d like to borrow a siddur for use at home while services are cancelled, we’ll be happy to lend you one!  Please contact the office for details.

Eva Blinder

CBI Ritual Chair

Instructions for Downloading Zoom

The first time you ever use Zoom on a computer, do the following:

Go to https://zoom.us
Hover over (don’t click) “RESOURCES” on the top right and then click “Download Zoom Client” from the drop-down menu that appears
Click “Download” under “Zoom Client for Meetings”
If it asks you to allow it to download “zoom.us”, click “Allow” or “Yes”
Open the downloaded file and follow the instructions to install Zoom on your computer

The first time you ever use Zoom on a smart phone, do the following:
Go to the App Store and find “Zoom Cloud Meetings” and download it (it is free)

Instructions for attending services on CBI’s Zoom Account 1:

Right before the start of services, either go to https://zoom.us on your computer or open your Zoom app on your smartphone
Click “Join a Meeting”
Type in this Meeting ID: 406 391 4937 and click “Join”
If you’re using the computer and Zoom asks you to allow it to open “zoom.us”, click “Allow” or “Yes” or “Open” and then click “Join With Computer Audio”
If you’re using a smart phone and Zoom asks you to allow using the microphone/camera, allow it
If it says “Waiting for the host to start this meeting”, just wait a few minutes for CBI’s service leader to start the meeting