About urjnetworkadmin

Posts by :

Caring Committee

Bet Aviv, as part of its efforts to continually foster a caring community, has created a program that provides support, solace and hope to Bet Aviv congregants during times of illness, suffering, loss, and grief. Congregants are encouraged to contact Rabbi Joseph at rabbijoseph@betaviv.org if there is a need/illness in their family, or if they know of a Bet Aviv member who is in need of this type of support.

About The Caring Committee

Our areas of care include providing:

  • meals to Bet Aviv members who are ill
  • assistance during Shiva
  • get well cards
Policies the Caring Committee Has Adopted
  1.  Mi Sheberachs  – Before you include a congregant’s name to be mentioned in the Mi Sheberach  prayer, please make sure that the person gives you permission to have his/her name read at services.  Names will be read for one month. If the congregant requests further announcements at services, the Temple office will need to be notified at the beginning of the new month. 
  2.  Get Well Cards – As part of this process, we will continue to send out get well cards. If you know of a congregant who is ill, please let a committee member know . We want to make sure we do not overlook someone who is ill or having surgery.
  3. Meals – Other services that we will continue to provide will be two to-three meals for those congregants who are in need during an illness.
  4. Shiva– Also we can be available to be at a house of Shiva to receive food ordered by the family and friends when they are attending the funeral and burial.

Questions

Questions about The Caring Committee or Bet Aviv members who are interested in joining The Caring Committee should contact:

  • Ellen Rappoport
  • Joan Selekoff

Shabbat Host

Participating as a Shabbat Host is a mitzvah that enhances the warmth and closeness among our congregants. At Bet Aviv, we take turns serving as hosts. If you are unavailable on your assigned date, please make every effort to trade with someone else and notifiy the Shabbat Host Coordinator of the new arrangement. The coordinator will contact you to make arrangements for your participation to setup the room, serve as greeters and distribute wine. Shabbat Hosts are also welcomed to participate in the service honors.
Resources

 

Shavuot

Shavuot is the Hebrew word for “weeks” and refers to the Jewish festival marking the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, which occurs seven weeks after Passover. Shavuot, like many other Jewish holidays, began as an ancient agricultural festival that marked the end of the spring barley harvest and the beginning of the summer wheat harvest. In ancient times, Shavuot was a pilgrimage festival during which Israelites brought crop offerings to the Temple in Jerusalem. Today, it is a celebration of Torah, education, and actively choosing to participate in Jewish life.

Read more about the history and customs of Shavuot.

 

Passover

Pesach, known as Passover in English, is a major Jewish spring festival, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt over 3,000 years ago. The ritual observance of this holiday centers around a special home service called the seder (meaning “order”) and a festive meal; the prohibition of chametz(leaven); and the eating of matzah (an unleavened bread). On the fifteenth day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, Jews gather with family and friends in the evening to read from a book called thehagaddah, meaning “telling,” which contains the order of prayers, rituals, readings and songs for the Passover seder. Today, the holiday is a celebration of freedom and family.

Click here to read more about Passover.

IMG 6175_SEDER_2011

 

Yahrzeit

,

You are invited and encouraged to let us know the name and yahrzeit of your beloved ones who have departed from us. We will honor their memory by announcing their name at our synagogue during services. May you be comforted among all the mourners of Israel.

In Jewish tradition, when the year of mourning is over, mourners are expected to return to a fully normal life. There are several occasions each year when our loved ones who have passed on are memorialized. The most significant of these is yahrzeit, the anniversary of the death, which is observed according to the Hebrew calendar. As is the case in all Jewish holy days, yahrzeit observance begins at night. A 24-hour candle is lit and one may attend synagogue to recite the Kaddish [the memorial prayer]. It is traditional to avoid attending any celebrations or parties on the day of yahrzeit, and some people fast on that day.

In addition to Yahrzeit remembrance, we have the opportunity to remember our departed loved ones four additional times during the year at Yizkor services. Many people are familiar with the Yizkor service associated with Yom Kippur which we conduct at 5:00 immediately before the closing Ne’ilah service. There are also Yizkor services held on the last day of Sukkot; on the last day of Passover; and on Shvu’ot. Each of these three Yizkor services is conducted at 10:00 am on the date of the associated holiday. See the Calendar on this website for specific dates.

MOURNER’S KADDISH

Click to enlarge.

 Yit-ga-dal v’yit-ka-dash sh’mei ra-ba,

b’al-ma di-v’ra chi-ru-tei, v’yam-lich mal-chu-tei
b’chai-yei-chon uv’yo-mei-chon
uv’chai-yei d’chol-beit Yis-ra-eil,
ba-a-ga-la u-viz-man ka-riv,
v’im’ru: Amen.

Y’hei sh’mei ra-ba m’va-rach
l’a-lam ul’al-mei al-ma-ya.

Yit-ba-rach v’yish-ta-bach,
v’yit-pa-ar v’yit-ro-mam v’yit-na-sei,
v’yit-ha-dar v’yit-a-leh v’yit-ha-lal, sh’mei d’ku-d’sha, b’rich hu,
l’ei-la min kol bir-cha-ta v’shi-ra-ta,
tush-b’cha-ta v’ne-che-ma-ta, da-a-mi-ran b’al-ma,
v’im’ru: Amen.

Y’hei sh’la-ma ra-ba min sh’ma-ya,
v’cha-yim, a-lei-nu v’al kol-Yis-ra-eil,
v’im’ru: Amen..

O-seh sha-lom bim-ro-mav,
hu ya-a-seh sha-lom a-lei-nu v’al kol-Yis-ra-eil,
v’im’ru: Amen.

An English Translation
Glorified and sanctified be God’s great name throughout the world which He has
created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during
your days, and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon; and say, Amen.

May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity.

Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded be
the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises
and consolations that are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen.

May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us
and for all Israel; and say, Amen.

He who creates peace in His celestial heights, may He create peace for us and for all
Israel; and say, Amen.


May they rest in peace and may their memory ever be for a blessing… At this moment, I pause for thought in memory of my beloved………………………I give thanks for the blessing of life, of companionship and of memory. I am grateful for the strength and faith that sustained me in the hour of my bereavement. Though sorrow lingers, I have learned that love is stronger than death. Though my loved one is beyond my sight, I do not despair for I sense my beloved in my heart as a living presence. ustained by words of faith, comforted by precious memories, we kindle the light in remembrance. “The human spirit is the light of Adonai” (Proverbs 20:27). As this light is pure and clear, so may the blessed memory of the goodness and nobility of character of our dear…………..illumine our souls.

 

Healing

We invite you to announce during a Shabbat service or send us the name(s) of loved ones who are facing the challenge of illness, that we may support them, and you, by inclusion in our communal Mi Shebeirach prayers.

The Mi Shebeirach prayer is one of the central Jewish prayers for those who are facing the challenge of illness. The prayer includes pleas for both physical and spiritual healing within the community of others facing illness. Traditionally, the Mi Shebeirac is said in synagogue when the Torah is read. In modern times, the Mi Shebeirach is often said by professional health caregivers, patients, and loved ones at various times during treatment and recovery from illness of all sorts.

At Bet Aviv we traditionally sing the Debbie Friedman version of Mi Shebeirach.

Mi Shebeirach

Lyrics by Debbie Friedman and Drorah Setel

Mi shebeirach avoteinu
M’kor habracha l’imoteinu

May the source of strength who blessed the ones before us,
Help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing
And let us say: Amen.

Mi shebeirach imoteinu
M’kor habracha l’avoteinu

Bless those in need of healing with refuah sh’leimah
The renewal of body, the renewal of spirit
And let us say: Amen.

Click here to listen.

Our Leadership

At Bet Aviv our leadership consists of the, the Clergy, the Board and Non-Board Committees.

  • The Clergy consists of our rabbi and cantor.
  • The Board Consists of the officers who comprise the Executive Committee and the Committee Chairs who form the Board of Directors.
  • The Non-Board Committees  create opportunities for many Bet Aviv members to become involved as leaders and members who accomplish the important volunteer work that makes Bet Aviv the special place that it is.

Our History

15thAnniversary img_0212

A Saturday evening party was one part of our 15th Anniversary Celebration Weekend.

In December 1997, a group of men and woman convened at a private home for worship and study and to work through their idea of a synagogue community. Over time, and as more people attended the monthly services, the gathering evolved into a congregation. And although many of the congregants were no longer in the spring of their own lives, they named this burgeoning congregation Bet Aviv–House or Tent of Spring–tent for its welcoming policy of inclusion and spring to symbolize its energy and the power of Jewish community to renew lives at every juncture.

Soon, the group was guided to Rabbi Marc Lee Raphael, who conducted his first Bet Aviv service in May 1998. Not long after, the synagogue settled into a neighborhood center, Amherst House. Morris Levine, the first President, had the foresight to set aside reserve funds which allowed us to move in fall, 2004, as permanent owners, to the Meeting House in Oakland Mills. It felt like home, especially since it was in this space that, from the beginning, we had held our High Holiday services.  After the first couple of years, Marge Auerbach joined us as our Cantor and served until she retired in 2014.

After Morris’s term, Saul Lubitz assumed the presidency, followed by Barbara Hurwitz, Sami Klein, Howie Feldmesser, Richard Tobin, co-presidents Geri Epstein and Marty Stein, Lynn Green, Bill Salganik, Richard Rosenblatt, Richard Madonna and Azi Siner. Our current presidents Lou Ebert and Art Brody. Each president brought his or her own talents and strengths to the position and left an enduring legacy.

Founded with approximately 35 families, we hit our peak at 262  families strong. We have celebrated several bnai mitzvot, including a memorable one for nine adult women in 2005 and our most recent one for six adults in November 2016. In June of 2022 we celebrated a single Adult Bar Mitzvah.  On our fifth anniversary, we retold the Bet Aviv story in narrative and song. We celebrated our 10th anniversary in November 2008 and our 20th anniversary celebration weekend in June 2018.

In May 2011 we bid a fond farewell to Rabbi Raphael as he retired, having served as Bet Aviv’s spiritual leader since its early days. In July 2011 we welcomed Rabbi Seth Bernstein as our new spiritual leader.  In July 2014 we welcomed Cantor Linda Baer to lead us in song.  When Rabbi Bernstein retired in 2019, we welcomed Rabbi Linda Joseph as our rabbi.   For several years, Cantor Stephanie Weishaar, served as our interim cantor.  We are delighted to have Beth Rubens grace our services with her beautiful voice as our current Cantorial Soloist.

Beyond our twice monthly services, led by Rabbi Joseph and Cantorial Soloist Beth Rubens and enhanced by occasional appearances by the Bet Aviv Choir, Bet Aviv has, since its founding, demonstrated its commitment to social action and study through adult education classes.  Our Lunch and Learn classes are a highlight for many members.  We have a strong Women of Bet Aviv group and a growing Men’s Club.  Recently we added a Caring Committee and social groups like the Singles Club.

Since its inception, Bet Aviv has flourished and grown without sacrificing its original intent to construct a vital synagogue community, enriched with experience and welcoming to all.

About

From the celebration of new life to the saying of Kaddish, Bet Aviv is your spiritual family for honoring life cycle events, as well as the Jewish holy days. Rabbi Joseph, our members, and our staff assist you to meet your spiritual needs.. During the year, you will enjoy participating in our ritual services, including Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hanukkah, Purim, Passover and other events which honor and celebrate the history of our people.

This page is the portal to the following information about us.

Directions Directions provides a map and written directions to The Meeting House where we hold most events.
Reform Judaism Reform Judaism provides a brief overview of some of the principles of Reform Judaism.
Our History Our History provides some highlights in our history since our inception in 1998.
Media Media is where you’ll find photos, videos and the latest blog from the Union for Reform Judaism.
Communications Communications tells you about the ways we communicate with our members via e-mail, our newsletter and our weekly bulletin.
Interfaith Community Interfaith Community describes our relationship with the Intefaith Community as an equity owner of The Meeting House.

«‹ 5 6 7 8›»

Contact Info

info@betaviv.org

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

Shabbat Times

Yom Shishi, 21 Heshvan 5785