Congregation Beth Shalom

Slideshow

Tu B’shevat Seder & Pot Luck

Friday evening, February 10 at 6:00 p.m.

Tu b’shevat — the birthday of trees — is celebrated on the day when the direction of the sap reverses flow in Israel. This original arbor day is celebrated by a mystical seder, first developed by the kabbalists of S’fat. Please join us for this fun (and kid friendly) experience. Seder foods and desert will be provided by the Temple, thanks to Jennifer Bordy, but please bring a salad or main dish to share at this pot luck (no meat, please).

Mystical Contemplative Chanting Service, Followed by Torah Study

Saturday, February 11 at 8:30 a.m. **** Torah Study to follow at 9:30 a.m.

What is a contemplative chant-based service? During this Shabbat morning service (which we do on the second shabbat of each month), we’ll use a stripped-down liturgy. We’ll pray just one or two lines from each prayer, singing each line several times so that we can really get inside the words and the words can really get inside us. The aim is to move more deeply into each prayer’s theme, and to connect with gratitude, awe, light, love, redemption, and more! After each chant concludes, we’ll sit in silence for a few minutes so that the prayers can reverberate inside us before we move on. The chanting service will be followed by the more cerebral Torah study at 9:30.

Purim: Carnival, Shpiel & More

Thursday, March 8, at 5:30, Shpiel at 6:00

Purim is coming, the time when the Jewish world turns upside down, full of fun and frolic, cheering of Mordechai and Esther. And booing the wicked Hamen. This year, the kid’s carnival will begin at 5:30, followed by a fabulous adult Purim shpiel (a musical comedy performed by 14 members of our congregation) at 6:00 p.m., that promises to have you singing and laughing, booing and applauding. We will then share a meal and hamentaschen, of course.

Memorial Service for Stanley Rosenberg

Sunday, March 18 at 3:00 p.m.

“Happy is the man who finds wisdom, the man who attains understanding. His value is better than silver, his yield greater than gold.” – Proverbs 3:13,14

We gather to remember Stanley Rosenberg, a giant in Bozeman’s Jewish community and in the community at large. Stanley passed away Tuesday, January 24, with his son, Archie, at his side.

Stanley was the spiritual leader of Bozeman’s Jewish community since its inception. Before Bozeman had a rabbi, Stanley stepped up to the plate and filled in wherever he could. He would later do some formal para-rabbinic training, where he learned to perform and lead many Jewish rituals, and he did weddings, bnei mitzvah, baby namings and much more. Stanley not only served the Bozeman Jewish community for some 20 years, but he represented us with honor and dignity in the interfaith community. Stanley boldly attended the ministerial association meetings at an early time when he wasn’t even considered a full member. The Gallatin Valley Interfaith Associaiton was born of the desire to include Stanley as a full member. He welcomed various church groups and showed and taught them about Jewish tradition. He proudly introduced Jews and gentiles alike to the Torah. The original interfaith forums which we now do monthly were his idea. All of Stanley’s life was dedicated to greater understanding of people in the name of shalom, peace and wholeness.

Stanley led a good Jewish life and it ended with the same dignity with which he lived it. He made a difference in the world.

Zichrono livracha (May his memory be a blessing)

Congregation Beth Shalom: Who Are We?

Beth Shalom is a Jewish community in Bozeman, Montana, which prays with joy and meaning, celebrates the history and traditions of Judaism, and cares and nurtures one another. We love to study and we offer many adult and child education opportunities.

We are committed to equal participation and status for men and women, those of all sexual orientations, and others who have been marginalized in Jewish life in the past. We welcome all Jews and interfaith families, at all stages of life. We strive to eliminate any conflict between Judaism and modernity, fully embracing science as consistent with our understanding of G!d and Jewish tradition.

We are involved in g’millut chasadim (acts of loving-kindness) and tikun olam (repairing the world), engaging in social justice work throughout local and global communities. We are deeply committed to interfaith dialogue in which we understand that all religions offer access to G!d and spiritual growth through their respective traditions. And we embrace a global vision of the role of human beings and their individual spiritual paths in the transformation of our precious planet … read more