Join us for a participatory, high-energy Shabbat service, sure to inspire, uplift, educate and engage. Be sure to hang around for food and schmoozing at our Kiddish lunch.

CBI’s warm welcome of visitors is one of our hallmarks.  Come learn to be a Shabbat greeter!

Please RSVP to the CBI office by noon on Friday, February 21 if you plan to attend this session.

February 7, 2020, 12-1

Last week’s we discussed participants’ reactions to televised debates between Rabbi Wolpe and Christopher Hitchens and other atheists.  It’s probably safe to say that no one came away from watching these videos thinking that either side made an airtight argument.  We were particularly interested in the affect displayed by the debaters–Wolpe seeming to be overly affable and Hitchens seeming to be overly arrogant.  We then went on to continue our discussion of Chapter 4 in Rabbi David Wolpe’s Why Faith Matters.  Among the issues discussed were whether the truths of faith endured, unlike the truths of science that often changed; Wolpe’s assurance that God interacts with the world; and Wolpe’s belief that we are partners with God in an on-going process of creating ourselves.

This Friday, we’ll begin with a loose end from Chapter 4, Wolpe’s discomfort with philosopher Thomas Nagel’s saying, “I hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God; I don’t want there to be a universe like that” (p. 103).  We’ll then begin discussion of Chapter 5, “What does Religion Really Teach?”  It’s likely that we’ll only get to discuss the first half of this long chapter this week.

Our informal discussion group meets every Friday from 12-1 in the CBI Library.  All are welcome to join us, regardless of their level of expertise or attendance at previous noon study group discussions. Why Faith Matters is available on a variety of internet outlets.  If you have questions, please contact Jay Jacoby at jbjacoby@uncc.edu.

Join CBI families and kids, members and visitors of all ages as we come together to welcome Shabbat with prayer, song and inspiration.

Join us for a participatory, high-energy Shabbat service, sure to inspire, uplift, educate and engage. Be sure to hang around for food and schmoozing at our Kiddish lunch.

Multi-Gen Purim Program

All are invited to join the Youth Education staff and students for a special multi-generational holiday program this Sunday from 10:00am-noon.  Come learn, nosh and enjoy!

February 21, 2020, 12-1

We started our discussion last Friday with discussion of a few loose ends from last week’s discussion of Chapter 5 of Rabbi Wolpe’s Why Faith Matters.  In response to the rabbi’s frequent claims about the superiority of humans to animals (e.g. “. . . we are not merely animals.  We are something greater.”), several of us offered poems, anecdotes, and titles of books (H. is for Hawk, Other Minds, Gifts of the Crow) that suggested that some of our assumptions about the sensibilities of members of the animal kingdom are based on limited knowledge.  Then we addressed Wolpe’s arguments that morality has its origins in God and religion (morality is grounded in “supernatural sanction”; “Goodness arises from fidelity to God”; “Without belief [presumably in God], moral behavior has no set standard”).  Several of us challenged Wolpe’s claims but acknowledged that even a secular upbringing may be based on norms extrapolated from religion.  In response to Wolpe’s claim that religion creates a moral climate that alters . . . the behaviors of believers,” it was asked whether that alteration was always for the good, or whether we should agree with  Arthur C. Clark’s pronouncement that “One of the great tragedies of mankind is that morality has been hijacked by religion.

When we meet this week, we’ll complete discussion of Chapter 5 and then take on Chapters 6 and 7:  “Reading the Bible” and “Is Religion Good for You?”

Our informal discussion group meets every Friday from 12-1 in the CBI Library.  All are welcome to join us, regardless of their level of expertise or attendance at previous noon study group discussions. Why Faith Matters is available on a variety of internet outlets.  If you have questions, please contact Jay Jacoby at jbjacoby@uncc.edu.

Please note that the Friday Noon Study Group will not meet on February 28.  We will resume on Friday, March 6, at which time we may conclude our discussion of Why Faith Matters.

Join us for a participatory, high-energy Shabbat service, sure to inspire, uplift, educate and engage. Be sure to hang around for food and schmoozing at our Kiddish lunch.

Purim Megillah Reading at CBI

Monday, March 9

6:30pm Vegetarian/dairy Potluck meal & hamentaschen in the social hall

7:20pm Megillah reading and beverages in the sanctuary.

Come in costume with a dish to share and hear the Purim megillah read!