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Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org
January 1 to February 13, 2016
LOCAL NEWS
Temple Anshe Amunim and First Baptist Church to Commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. with Joint Service PITTSFIELD – On Friday, January 15, Rabbi Josh Breindel of Temple Anshe Amunim and Pastor Sheila Sholes-Ross of First Baptist Church will hold a service in commemoration of Martin Luther King Day. This joint event will be held at Temple Anshe Amunim, 26 Broad Street at 7:00 p.m., and is open to all members of the community. A light dessert reception will follow. The service, an annual event, will reflect the joint themes of social action and
awareness. It will include inspirational readings, as well as music by the Temple Anshe Amunim and First Baptist Church choirs. “Reverend King lived the mantra to ‘love thy neighbor as thyself’…meaning, no matter the neighbor’s thought pattern or belief,” says Pastor SholesRoss. “Lovingly, as Rabbi Josh and I come together with our congregations, are we not living the dream of neighbor-focused love?” Rabbi Breindel adds: “Rev-
Pastor Sheila Sholes-Ross of First Baptist Church erend King taught that people of faith must stand together. Pastor Sheila and I hope to demonstrate the truth of this lesson. By singing together, by praying together, by learning together, we feel that we can show hope and healing to our community.”
Last year’s MLK Day service at TAA For more information, contact the Temple Anshe Amunim office at (413) 442-5910,
or email templeoffice@ ansheamunim.org or visit www.ansheanumim.org.
Congregation Beth Israel Adds an Association with the ALEPH Network NORTH ADAMS – In November, Rabbi Rachel Barenblat announced that Congregation Beth Israel, which is affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism, is adding a connection to a collaborative initiative called the ALEPH Network. Rabbi Barenblat serves as a national co-chair of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, and was ordained a rabbi within the Jewish Renewal movement. CBI joins Rimon: A Collaborative Community for Jewish Spirituality as the second Berkshires Jewish institution associated with the ALEPH Network. “I’m excited to be connecting CBI with the ALEPH Network for at least two reasons,”
says Rabbi Barenblat. “One is personal: CBI is my home congregation, and ALEPH is my spiritual home and maintains the seminary that ordained me. So bringing them together feels like a homecoming. The other reason is that I think it will be great for CBI. I’m excited to be connecting CBI with this growing network of innovative, creative, heart-centered communities, institutions, and individuals around the world. “In my rabbinate at CBI,” she adds, “I draw on a variety of Jewish Renewal spiritual technologies, from chant to spiritual direction. Joining the ALEPH Network is a small way of giving back to the organization which brought these spiritual technologies into the
Rabbi Rachel Barenblat world. I want to connect us with other communities where people are exploring these resources. I can’t wait to see what emerges in the connections and conversations between members of the ALEPH Network.” Rabbi Barenblat explained that the ALEPH Network is an alliance of organizations, individuals, shuls, and more at the vibrant cutting edge of Judaism, and is not a denomination. It can be congruent with denominationally-affiliated congregational life and also with organizations, institutions, and individuals who are independent or post-denominational.
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