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Membership Information |
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If you are interested in finding out about Beth Am click here If you are a new member and want to find out about our Mentor Program click here If you are a member and want to volunteer to be a mentor click here New to Beth Am? Request a Mentor! We would like to match you with an established Beth Am congregant or congregant couple/family who can help you navigate the opportunities available at Beth Am. The Mentor will contact you, learn about your interests, invite and accompany you to a couple of Beth Am events, and be available to answer your questions. If you would like to have a Mentor, please complete this form and submit it below. If you have any questions, please contact Joanne Donsky at 650 851-1950 or by e-mail at donsky@sbcglobal.net. Extending a Hand to New Members - Become a Beth Am Mentor Our New Member Mentoring Program.creates personal connections for new members through a mentorship program. As our congregation has grown to almost 1500 families, our Membership/Community Committee has launched a new effort to welcome our new congregants. In order for newcomers to learn about all Beth Am has to offer and to make personal connections, we are encouraging members to “adopt” and help mentor those new to our community. We would like to match new members (individuals, couples, families) with an established Beth Am congregant or congregant family who will help them navigate the opportunities available at the synagogue. Mentors will contact the new family, have a visit with them, invite and accompany them to a few Beth Am events, and help them connect with Beth Am members and activities for the first year of membership. The New Member Mentoring Committee will also be there to assist you if you like. If you are interested in performing the mitzvah of “welcoming the stranger,” please complete and submit the "Be a Mentor" form. If you have any questions please contact Joanne Donsky at 650/851-1950 or at donsky@sbcglobal.net. Prospective Member Information If you would like information on membership, please contact the Beth Am office at 650 493-4661. We are a warm and friendly congregation. Our congregants make deep and long-lasting friendships among each other, learning and celebrating joyous occasions together, and supporting each other in times of need. Our families come from diverse backgrounds, and everyone is welcome, include intermarried couples, GLBT, single parent families, and multi-ethnic families.
For more information about: Youth Education We hope this page gives you a flavor for our community. Our members are diverse in age and approach, encompassing the many different viewpoints that compose the Reform experience. We are life-long learners. Our congregation is at the forefront of the Reform movement in offering educational opportunities not only for children, but for families to study together, and for adult learning. We encourage Jewish traditions and values, home and family, through warm and welcoming community, learn-ing, spirituality, and tikkun olam – working to heal the world for the Jewish people, and for all humanity. We invite you to learn more about our congregation. This page serves as an introduction to our programs. We also invite you to visit us, to join us for Shabbat services, and to contact us with any questions you might have. Our office hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can always leave us a message. Click here for detailed contact information. We look forward to welcoming you to our congregational family.
Beth Am’s youth education programs help create and strengthen the Jewish identity and commitment of our children and their families as we encounter God, Torah and
We seek to develop in our students a sense of menschlekeit. Striving to be good people who can see the world from a Jewish perspective and act according to the highest values of our tradition. Recognizing that Jewish education is an essential building block for establishing Jewish identity, we try to:
Beit Midrash Sunday Program, for pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade students is held from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Beit Midrash Shabbaton our Family Education Program for pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade is held Saturdays from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Sixth, seventh and eighth graders attend Beit Midrash Tuesday Night Program, 6 to 8:15 p.m. High school students participate in Peninsula Havurah High (PHH), a community-wide Jewish High School program on Wednesday nights, with other Jewish teens from the south peninsula. Beth Am’s Confirmation Program, taught by our rabbis, educators, and cantor, is part of the PHH. Following Confirmation, our students spend a summer in
Hebrew instruction begins in the third grade. Our Beit Midrash program is a twice weekly program that combines Hebrew and Judaica instruction. Students come to Sunday Program, Shabbaton or Tuesday Night Program and a second time either Wednesdays or Thursdays from 4 to 6 p.m. Our Madrichim Program allows high school students to work as teaching aids in Sunday program, Shabbaton, Hebrew and Tuesday Night Program. There are informal social opportunities, sponsored by the Youth Education Advisory Committee, for 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th graders. Grade level retreats and class trips are offered. Beth Am sponsors two youth groups which supplement our youth education programs with more opportunities for socializing, information education, and tikkun olam projects. BAJY (Beth Am Junior Youth) is for 6th, 7th and 8th graders. BATY (Beth Am Temple Youth) is our high school youth group, which also participates in regional and national NFTY events. Students become eligible for Bar/Bat Mitzvah when attendance requirements have been met for four years of study in our Beit Midrash program, including the bar/bat mitzvah year. Individual instruction begins six months prior to the ceremony. By participating in a Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony at Beth Am, students demonstrate their commitment to continue their Jewish education through Confirmation. Students who continue in educational programs at Beth Am are eligible for Confirmation in the 10th grade. Tefillot (services) are also a component of our Beit Midrash Program.
Beth Am offers several opportunities for families to learn together, in both ongoing and one-time experiences. They include: Parent Participation Days: Once or twice a year, families join their Beit Midrash Sunday Program and Beit Midrash Tuesday Night Program students at the synagogue to spend time sharing, learning and growing together. Beit Midrash Shabbaton: Beit Midrash Shabbaton is our family education program for families with pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade students. It is an alternative to our Beit Midrash Sunday Program. Families meet approximately three Saturday afternoons each month from 3:30 to 6 p.m. to sing, create, share, learn, pray, and celebrate. The program includes both family activities and parallel adult and child study in groupings by grade. Family projects, pizza parties, potluck dinners, social action projects and a half day retreat are a part of Beit Midrash Shabbaton. Each week concludes with the havdalah ceremony marking the end of Shabbat and the beginning of a new week. Toledot – Parallel Parent Education: Parents engage in their own Jewish learning, studying the same topics as their children enrolled in Beit Midrash programs, on a meaningful, adult level. Toledot provides an opportunity for parents to socialize with parents of children in the same programs, and for parents to serve as role models as they actively participate in their own Jewish education. New knowledge will allow parents to reinforce the classroom experience at home, by continuing the Jewish conversations begun in class. Tzavta (“Together”) Shabbatot - Our 6th Grade family B'nei Mitzvah education program. Tzavta Shabbatot create an authentic context for learning about Shabbat, Jewish community, and Tefillah. Sixth grade students and their families attend 10 services throughout the year, some on Shabbat evenings (5-8:30pm) and some on Shabbat mornings (9-12:30pm).
Adult Learning opportunities are abundant at Congregation Beth Am where we are committed to building a community of life-long learners. From basic Judaism, to Hebrew instruction, to ongoing drop-in classes on Torah, Talmud, Bible, and mysticism, Beth Am is a place devoted to the life of the mind, as well as the spirit. Highlights include: Adult B’nai Mitzvah class studies weekly with Cantor Bandman in preparation for a group service every other spring. Scholar-in-Residence weekends, chances to learn, study, pray, and socialize with top-notch Jewish scholars. Weekend Study Retreat at Asilomar, a picturesque, ocean-front conference center on the
Tikkun Leyl Shavuot, an evening of study in celebration of Shavuot. Chai School, co-sponsored by Lehrhaus Judaica, includes an introduction to Judaism class, classes in poetry and literature, and a large range of Hebrew classes.
Torah Study engages learners in an intellectually stimulating and spiritually meaningful discussion of the Torah. Talmud Study focuses on texts of interest to modern readers. Jewish Spirituality is an ongoing class devoted to reading traditional to modern thoughts on what the world is all about. Conversational and Prayerbook Hebrew, students learn to read Hebrew, make connections between the words of the prayer book and modern Hebrew conversation. The Chavruta-Study Partnership helps form deep friendships and build community while controlling your own learning. Rabbi Josh Zwieback, adult learning coordinator, helps learners form study-partnerships and serves as a resource and helper.
Shabbat Services are held every Friday evening and Saturday morning; for service times, please check our website, beta.betham.org, our monthly newsletter, the Builder, or call the office at (650)493-4661. Once a month Tizmoret, our Shabbat instrumental group, adds their beautiful and dynamic music to the service. We are a community that values worship and treasures the peace, comfort and spiritual meaning it brings to our lives. Our worship is joyous and participatory, featuring a blend of traditional and creative prayers, poetry and song that help us experience the gift of Shabbat. Services are enriched, as well, by the thoughtful and moving sermons and Divrei Torah (Torah teaching) offered by our clergy and members of the congregation. Children are welcome at all services. At 6:15 services on Friday evening, during the silent prayer and sermon time, we offer a parallel program for kids, consisting of stories, songs and snack. A fun, casual and interactive service for families with young children (toddlers through age 5) is held on the second Saturday of the month from 9:30-10:00 a.m. Junior Congregation services, for Hebrew program students and their families, are held on Shabbat mornings throughout the year. Beth Am is blessed with four beautiful worship spaces: our Sanctuary, the Beit Kehillah (Community Room) on the lower campus, and our indoor and outdoor Chapels. Throughout July and August, Friday night services are held in the outdoor Chapel, under the trees -- truly a delightful and inspiring experience!
High Holy Days In order to accommodate our large congregation and interested community members, Congregation Beth Am holds High Holy Day services at the
Congregants bring their own prayer books, the Gates of Repentance, available for purchase at Bob and Bob Judaica, (650) 329-9050. Child care is available, by reservation, for all High Holy Day services at
Children’s (pre-K through 3rd grade) services are held on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur afternoons. Tashlich, the casting of one’s sins into the sea, is held at
Sukkot (the Feast of Booths) We celebrate this harvest festival at Beth Am by building a communal sukkah (a Hebrew word meaning “booth” or “hut”) decorated with fruits, vegetables and colorful paper chains. Members are encouraged to build their own sukkot at home; guidance is available from the Beth Am staff. We greet the holiday with a festive evening service, and members light candles at home. Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah These two holidays mark the end of the High Holy Day season, and are often observed on the same date in Reform congregations. On the evening of Simchat Torah (Rejoicing in the Torah), the annual Torah reading cycle comes to an end -- and immediately begins again! We read the concluding words of Deuteronomy and the first few words of Genesis, and celebrate our love for Torah with music and joyous dancing in the social hall. This is an especially popular and festive evening for all ages. On the morning of the festival we recite Hallel (Psalms of praise) and Yizkor (prayers of remembrance for those who have died). Chanukah This festival (which means "Dedication" in Hebrew) celebrates religious freedom and the right to live as a distinctive minority. The home observance consists of lighting candles in the chanukiyah (the Chanukah menorah), singing, dreidl games, eating latkes, and in some families, exchanging gifts. At Beth Am, we light a giant chanukiyah and join together for services and singing. Purim This colorful holiday tells the story of Esther, a Jewish woman chosen as queen of
Pesach (Passover) Pesach is a home-based holiday, centered around a dinner service, called a Seder, which retells the story of our people’s Exodus from
Yom Ha’Atzmaut
Shavuot This springtime festival (meaning "Weeks" in Hebrew) commemorates the traditional date of the giving of the Torah at
Tisha B'Av The Ninth of Av, which always falls in the summer, commemorates the destruction of the ancient
Yitzkor services are held at the end of Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot.
Beth Am members are involved in a wide variety of activities, which focus on learning, spiritual growth, community service or socializing. There are many opportunities for creativity and leadership -- see the list below! All of them strengthen our community, and offer a wonderful way to get to know others with similar interests. Adult Learning Council – initiates and plans a spectrum of learning opportunities for adults at all levels of background and interest, including our annual adult study weekend at Asilomar, ongoing weekly courses,
ARZA and World Union – Association of Reform Zionists of America and the World Union advocates for and supports Progressive Judaism in
Beth Am Women – formerly the congregation’s Sisterhood is the voice, presence and arena of action for the women of the Beth Am community Budget and Finance – in consultation with our professional staff, develops the annual budget and ensures that the congregation's financial resources are employed responsibly Caring Corps – provides services to congregants in need of support Communications – designs and maintains our various communications media, including Menschlink (our weekly e-newsletter), the Builder (our monthly newsletter), our website and our weekly Shabbat hand-out Émigré Outreach – resettles and integrates Jews of the Former Soviet Union into the Jewish community and synagogue life Havurah – brings together small groups of congregants who meet regularly for friendship, and to explore Jewish and other interests
Jewish Community Relations Council – is the central public affairs arm of the organized Jewish community. Beth Am’s participation joins 70+ Bay Area organizations and synagogues Library and Archives – supports the library staff by helping process, repair and maintain books and archival materials Membership/Community – reaches out to prospective and new members; sponsors Shabbat potluck dinners and other activities to enhance the warm and welcoming spirit of our congregation Outreach – helps Jews by choice and interfaith couples feel comfortable at Beth Am through a broad range of programs and services Parent Kesher – is Beth Am's parent association, whose purpose is to make it easier for parents to connect to other parents, to support their children's teachers, and to volunteer their time and talents to help our education programs. Peninsula Interfaith Action (PIA) – a dynamic advocacy organization in which Beth Am joins with other local congregations to address issues affecting the quality of life in our community, including affordable housing, health care and education Seniors – sponsors social, educational, cultural and service activities for older adults Social Action – organizes a variety of ongoing and one-time projects to involve congregants in Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) activities in such areas as hunger, homelessness and the environment; also sponsors our tzedaka box project, which allows our members to support a different worthy organization each month Worship – works with our clergy to develop worship services that are vibrant, participatory, spiritually uplifting and engaging; also coordinates congregant honors on Shabbat and holidays Young Adults – Beth Am members and their friends who are in their 20s and 30s get together for social, community service and worship activities; singles and couples are welcome Young Families – coordinates a variety of fun and engaging activities for children under 6 and their parent |
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