Bet Aviv
Best Reform Synagogue in Columbia, MD
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Shabbat Service Resources

June 27, 2013 urjnetworkadmin Shabbat, Worship

Blogging about Shabbat
Share your thoughts and ideas about celebrating and sanctifying Shabbat. Stop by and leave us a comment!
Recommended Reading and Music for Shabbat
Enjoy these selections from URJ Books and Music.
18 Little Things You Can Do For Shabbat
Ideas for Celebrating!
Got Shabbat
A variety of resources from URJ for Shabbat including the weekly Parshiyot library.
Celebrate Shabbat at Home

Celebrating shabbat at home with family and friends creates a warm and wonderful end to your week. Saying or singing blessings over family, candles, wine and challah helps make it sacred. Enjoy this guide from Larchmont Temple, NY. Shabbat Shalom!

Shabbat Service Honors

June 27, 2013 urjnetworkadmin Shabbat

Each Shabbat one of the members of our Ritual committee contacts congregants to offer them the special honor of partipating in the service. Our members recite Shabbat candle blessings and participate in all aspects of the Torah service – from opening and closing the ark to reciting the Torah blessings.

To assist those who have agreed to participate, we’ve published a list of instructions so that you’ll know exactly what to do. Click here for the Shabbat service honor instructions.

Non-Board Committee Chairs

June 24, 2013 urjnetworkadmin Leadership

Board and Committee Structure

The chart below shows Bet Aviv’s Board and Committee Structure.  The blue boxes show Board Positions and the yellow positions show non-board positions.

20230207 Committee Structure Chart

 

Bet Aviv runs smoothly through the tireless efforts of a number of committees. Click on the colored links to see a list of responsibilities for that chair. The chairs of these non-board committees are:

Archives Jim Shiffrin
Choir Bob Hurwitz
Facebook Jeri Lipov
Finance Review TBD
Genealogy Marlene Bishow
Gratitude Alison Ebert
Liaison with Kol Nefesh Diane Willen
Liaison with Kol Nefesh Sylvia Bloch
Mailchimp System Laura Salganik
Mailchimp System David Isquith
New Member Welcome Packet Barbara Kaplan
Newsletter Jerry Bookin-Weiner
OMI Green Team Chelle Ginsburg
Onegs Gayle Miller
Security Steve Sternheimer
Shiva Coordinator Ruth Sandberg
Shiva Coordinator Chelle Ginsburg
Singles Group Judy Silver Weisberg
Singles Group Phyllis Rice
Ushers Morris Levine
Webmaster Geri Epstein
Weekly Bulletin Geri Epstein
Yahrzeit Administrator

Board

June 24, 2013 urjnetworkadmin Board, Leadership

 

Bet Aviv’s Vice President Blesses Candles During the Board Installation Service

Bet Aviv is governed by a Board of Directors who meet once per month to discuss issues of importance to our synagogue.  The Board consists of the officers who comprise the Executive Committee, and the Committee Chairs and Members-at-Large who form the Board of Directors.  We discuss new directions for Bet Aviv, review our financial health, hear status from Committee Members and respond to various opportunities to do mitzvahs in the community.

Board and Committee Structure

The chart below shows Bet Aviv’s Board and Committee Structure.  The blue boxes show Board Positions and the yellow positions show non-board positions.

20230207 Committee Structure Chart
Executive Committee

Bet Aviv’s officers, except for the immediate past president, are elected for a two-year term and may continue in the same position for one additional two-year term. Click on the Secretary and Treasurer Titles to see the responsibilities for that office. Bet Aviv’s officers are:

Co-President Darla Strouse
Co-President Art Brody
Vice President Hal Kassoff
Vice President Gayle Miller
Co-Secretary Jeri Lipov
Co-Secretary Greta Schoenberg
Treasurer Jim Shiffrin
Immediate Past President Lou Ebert

 

The Executive Committee meets monthly to discuss operational issues and recommends options for complex issues facing the board.

Trustees/Committee Chairs

Click on the links to view a list of the responsibilities for that role within Bet Aviv.

Adult Education Jim Strouse
Caring Committee Ellen Rappoport
Caring Committee Joan Selekoff
Communications Linda Feldmesser
Fundraising Darla Strouse
High Holiday Committee Linda & Howie Feldmesser
Jewish Community Relations Kelli Rives
Membership Recruitment Bill Salganik
Membership Engagement Hal Kassoff
Member at Large Marsha Birnbaum
Member at Large Sally Levin
Member at Large Jean Grinspoon
Member at Large Morris Levine
Men’s Club Bob Hurwitz
OMI Representative Darla Strouse
OMI Representative Hal Kassoff
Ritual/Worship Darla Strouse
Social Action Terri Clayman
Social Action Barbara Fasteau
Women of Bet Aviv Hattie Katkow

Clergy

June 24, 2013 urjnetworkadmin Our Clergy

Bet Aviv’s clergy consists of our Rabbi, Linda Joseph, and our cantorial soloist, Beth Rubens. Bet Aviv is also blessed with a Rabbi Emeritus,  Seth Bernstein, a Rabbi Emeritus, Marc Lee Raphael, and a Cantor Emeritus, Margery Auerbach.

Rabbi Linda Joseph joined Bet Aviv in 2019, following her most recent service as rabbi at Har Sinai in Baltimore.  You can learn more about Rabbi Joseph by clicking here.

Beth Rubens joined Bet Aviv in January 2022 as our Cantorial Solist.  You can read more about our cantorial solist by clicking here.

Our most recent rabbi, Seth Bernstein served from July 2011 until June 2019, when he retired.  You can learn more about his distinguished career by clicking here.

Our first rabbi, Marc Lee Raphael was with us from our inception until 2011.  We were fortunate to have such an astute scholar serve as our rabbi for so long.  You can read about his accomplishments by clicking here.

Cantor Margery Auerbach served Bet Aviv from 2001 until her retirement in 2014.  She and her husband Jim remain a vital part of our congregation.  You can read about Cantor Auerbach by clicking here.

 

Our Rabbi Emeritus

June 24, 2013 urjnetworkadmin Our Clergy

marc

Marc Lee Raphael was rabbi of Bet Aviv from 1998 to 2011. He is also the Nathan and Sophia Gumenick Professor of Judaic Studies, Professor of Religious Studies and Chairman of the Department of Religious Studies at The College of William and Mary. He recently completed a twenty-year term as editor of the quarterly journal, American Jewish History, and edited The History of Jews and Judaism in America, published in 2009, for Columbia University Press. This same press published his Judaism in America. In 2005, The College of William and Mary published his Towards a “National Shrine” : A Centennial History of Washington Hebrew Congregation, 1855-1955, the most recent in a long list of books he has written and edited on the history of Jews and Judaism in the United States. Also, Rabbi Raphael wrote A History of the Synagogue in America for New York University Press that will be published in 2011. A native of Los Angeles, Professor Raphael is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (B.A., History and Ph.D., History) and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (M.A., Religion and rabbinic ordination). Residing in Washington, D.C., he frequently leads walking tours of the Washington Jewish community of the nineteenth century (“Of a world that is no more”). He and his wife Linda Schermer Raphael (George Washington University) frequently teach “The Representation of the Holocaust in Literature and Film” using their edited book (Rutgers University Press), When Night Fell: An Anthology of Holocaust Short Stories.

Membership Events

June 24, 2013 urjnetworkadmin Membership

Bet Aviv encourages all prospective members to review our website to get an initial sense for our values. One of the best ways to get to know us is by attending a Shabbat service. So that we can be prepared to welcome you, we ask that you contact Lori Kassoff, our membership chair to let her know you’re coming. Lori can answer any questions you might have.  Once you join, you’ll receive a Welcome Bag with goodies, music and information, that we think you’ll find useful, as well as your name tags, which we hope you will wear to future Shabbat services so that we can learn your name.

During the year Bet Aviv hosts two events specifically geared to new members.

New Member Shabbat

Once a year we highlight members who have joined within the previous year at our New Member Shabbat. New members participate in our service as candle lighters, readers and in the Torah service. It’s a warm tradition that Bet Aviv uses to make our new members feel welcome and part of our family.

New Member Reception

In the fall of each year, we invite our new members to come to a get together whose purpose is three-fold. First we want to impart information about Bet Aviv and answer any questions you might have. Second, it’s a chance for our leaders and Rabbi to get to know our new members. Last, but certainly not least, it’s a chance for our new members to get to know each other in an informal atmosphere. Our goal is to make you feel welcome and let you know the various ways that you can become involved at Bet Aviv.

Our Cantor Emerita

June 21, 2013 urjnetworkadmin Our Clergy

Marge IMG_1297e

Cantor Margery Auerbach served as  Bet Aviv’s cantor from February, 2001 through August 2014. Her goal as cantor was to encourage congregational singing and to enhance services with a wide variety of traditional and contemporary Jewish music.

Singing and Jewish music have been part of Cantor Auerbach’s life since childhood. She learned to lead services before Bat Mitzvah age and studied Hebrew at a Student Zionist Organization Ulpan in New Jersey. She sang and was a soloist in choruses throughout high school and college, where she was a member of the Smith College Chamber Singers. She later sang with the Prince George’s Community Chorus and Zemer Chai, a Washington Jewish chorus.

Marge began her cantorial career after thirty years as an educator. After graduating from Smith College with a major in education and a minor in music, she pursued graduate studies in education, receiving a Masters of Education and PhD from the University of Maryland. The transition to a professional cantorial career began when she and her husband joined Tifereth Israel Synagogue in Washington, DC, which uses volunteer cantors to lead all services. Soon Marge was leading Shabbat and High Holiday services. After study, she was able to fulfill her childhood dream of becoming a cantor, receiving cantorial certification from the Maalot Seminary in Rockville, MD in 1998. She also serves Am Kolel Judaic Resource Center as a Jewish Life Cycle Consultant, officiating at weddings, baby namings, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, funerals, and other services. In addition, she has been High Holidays Cantor at Temple Emanuel in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and has served as guest Cantor in Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist congregations throughout the United States.

Cantor Auerbach was married to Jim Auerbach of blessed memory, who served as Senior Vice President at the National Policy Association in Washington, DC, and was author/editor of books and articles on social determinants of health, industrial relations, and income inequality. He was a photographer whose images were shown at numerous exhibitions, and Jim had done volunteer photography for the Kennedy Center and many non-profit organizations.  Marge is the proud stepmother of two grown sons and will be glad to show you pictures of her grandchildren, Jonathan, Cole and Sky.

Newsletter

June 21, 2013 urjnetworkadmin Communications

 

One way our congregants keep abreast of what’s happening at Bet Aviv is through our written publication, the Observer. Published 5 times per year and either e-mailed or sent to our homes, the Observer brings us a message from our president, rabbi and cantor’s news of important events, committee reports, stream of life information, a calendar of events, reports of donations and more.

We welcome your contributions to our newsletter. Please send articles or news to our editor  at newsletter@betaviv.org by the next due date.

If you are a prospective member and would like to receive an electronic version of our newsletter, please send us a message to request that we add you to our mailing list. There is no charge for this service.

If you currently would like to change how you receive the newsletter, please send us a message and let us know whether your preference is to receive the newsletrer via e-mail or through the US Mail.

Bet Aviv accepts advertisements in the Observer. You may select one or multiple issues for your ad. To submit an advertisement, please click here to submit an advertisement form.

FAQs

June 20, 2013 urjnetworkadmin Membership

To make your decision about membership easier, we’ve compiled a list of questions that prospective members ask us time and again. This list will probably answer some of the same questions that you have. Should you have a question we haven’t answered here, please contact us so we can provide you with an answer.

1.  What is Bet Aviv’s dues structure?

Bet Aviv’s annual dues cover a calendar year. For 2025, our dues are $675 for a single membership and $1350 for a couple membership. For members who join after July 31st of each year, there is a reduced rate. Membership includes High Holiday tickets for members and their immediate families. Invoices go out to each member household early in the calendar year. Members may choose to pay the amount due in full or in several installments. Payments are accepted by paper check, or online with a credit card (with a nominal fee) or e-check.  Dues must be paid by June 30th of each year.  Special arrangements, if needed, can be discussed in full confidence with the treasurer or president.  New members are eligible to Pay From the Heart for the first year.

2.  Does Bet Aviv have a building fund?

No. Bet Aviv was founded on adherence to the Interfaith Concept. You can read about it by clicking here . In 2004, we became equity owners in the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center in Columbia, where we share space with other Jewish and Christian congregations. Because of this arrangement we do not now, nor do we ever anticipate having a building fund. Many members find this reassuring.

3.  What kind of educational arrangements does Bet Aviv have for children?

Because our focus is on our adult members, Bet Aviv does not provide youth activities.  Bet Aviv celebrates Jewish Holidays and Life Cycle events with Kol Nefesh, a congregation focusing on children.  Click here to learn about Kol Nefesh.

4.  My son/daughter’s fiancé is not Jewish. Would your rabbi perform this marriage?

Yes. Our rabbi officiates at Jewish marriages for interfaith couples. Contact us to discuss your situation.

5.  My son/daughter’s spouse is not Jewish. Would your rabbi perform a baby naming for my grandchild?

Yes. Baby namings are a delightful addition to our Shabbat services. The grandparents, as well as both parents may choose to participate in the ceremony. Our cantor even sings a special song to the baby to commemorate the occasion.

6.  Does Bet Aviv have a cemetery?

Bet Aviv members may choose to purchase burial plots and services in the Columbia Memorial Park. We have a number of plots designated for our members in the Jewish section of this cemetery.

7.  Why should I join Bet Aviv instead of other synagogues in the area?

In a nutshell, we are a family that joyfully welcomes visitors, guests and new members to our midst. Should you come to a Shabbat service, you won’t find yourself standing alone. We’ll make a special point to introduce you to the congregation and to seek you out at the Oneg. For more reasons why you should join Bet Aviv, click here.

 

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Bet Aviv
The Meeting House
5885 Robert Oliver Place
Columbia, MD 21045
Office Phone: (410)-992-9994
Rabbi Phone:  (410)-992-9995

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