Community Circles
Community Circles
Building community and friendships through shared interests.
Beth Am Community Circles are your place to connect more intentionally with other members around a shared interest or life stage. Community Circles are affinity groups open to members of Congregation Beth Am and coordinated by congregants. Help start the group you are looking for! Beth Am staff is available to help connect members to and/or create a Community Circle. Current Circles include hiking, board games, single adults and parents of young adults.
Community Circles are an opportunity to try something new with other members of the Beth Am community. A Community Circle can be organized around anything; an activity, craft, age and stage in life, cultural interests, Jewish or not. Specific examples could include: hiking, volunteering together, photography, pickleball, wine tasting, celebrating Shabbat together or single parents. If you’re interested in doing it and already have some folks in mind or want help finding others who share your interest, please contact Rabbi Heath Watenmaker.
Community Circle Offerings
Our current Community Circle offerings are listed below. Please reach out to Rabbi Heath Watenmaker with your questions and interest. He will get back to you with more details about the meetings and activities, and add you to your Circle list(s) of interest.
Don’t see a Circle for you? Please share your idea with us for a Community Circle.
We look forward to building community together!
Hiking
Youth Ed Parent Hiking Circle
Meet and chat with other youth ed parents while getting some exercise in the beautiful Los Altos Hills. Please email Rabbi Heath if you are interested.
Additional Hiking Circle
Don't have kids in Youth Ed? Join fellow Beth Am hikers for moderate Sunday morning hikes in the area. Dates, times and hike locales TBD by the Circle. Please email Rabbi Heath if you are interested.
Art & Wine
If you enjoy getting creative and want to share/learn new forms of art with fine (or not so fine) wine, join this Circle of six fellow enthusiasts that will meet monthly or every other month to craft together. Please email Rabbi Heath if you are interested.
Board Games
Come play with us over dessert. We enjoy games such as 6 Nimmt, Concept, Just one, Hanabi and Codenames. If you want to know more, join on every other Tuesday from 7 to 8:30 PM in Room Alef at Beth Am. Email Marcy with questions or to be added to the group.
Parents of tweens and teens.
Connect with other parents of tweens and teens. This group is now forming. Dates and events TBD by the group. Please email Rabbi Heath if you are interested.
The Tahiti Project
(A Community Circle for parents with older teens, young adults in college and beyond)
Coordinated by Jennifer and Nicole, this Community Circle is for those with older kids and adult children whose original connection to Beth Am was through their kids, who want to meet new people, to find a smaller community within Beth Am, and are looking to do an empty nest, post-COVID reset. This fun group’s name “The Tahiti Project” started as a joke about the kinds of activities they might do together — why not a trip to Tahiti?! This Circle is full, but if it sounds like something you’d enjoy, please contact Rabbi Heath and he’ll connect you with others. Who knows where your group might go!
B’Yachad (Together)
This Community Circle is for single adults over 40 years of age. B'Yachad is fun, with unlimited possibilities and easy to participate in. Come join this welcoming group if you are a single member of Congregation Beth Am in your 40’s, 50's or 60's and up for experiences built around socializing, community service, temple, nature and more. If you are not yet part of B'Yachad, but would like to consider joining us or have some questions, contact circle coordinator Zach. He will be happy to include you in this Community Circle.
Sun, June 4 2023
15 Sivan 5783
Upcoming Events
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Sunday ,
JunJune 4 , 2023Slow Torah: Lay-Led Torah Study Class
Sunday, Jun 4th 9:00a to 10:00a
Slow Torah is a lay-led class that continues the Beth Am tradition of studying the Torah verse by verse. -
Sunday ,
JunJune 4 , 2023Facing Our Truths: Conversations on Race – Facilitated by Beth Am Member Emily Nagaonkar
Sunday, Jun 4th 10:00a to 11:30a
Beth Am’s Racial Justice and Equity Initiative will be convening another set of several small groups of 5-10 participants to meet for a series of 6 sessions about how we face our truths about race, privilege, power and the biases that we all hold. -
Sunday ,
JunJune 4 , 2023Beth Am Women Honors Five Remarkable Women at 2023 YES Tea
Sunday, Jun 4th 3:00p to 5:00p
The YES Tea is a biennial BAW event to honor women from the Beth Am community who have made outstanding contributions to Beth Am Women and to our entire congregation in support of youth, education and special projects. -
Sunday ,
JunJune 4 , 2023Discussion Group for Parents/Grandparents of Trans and Gender Expansive Kids
Sunday, Jun 4th 7:00p to 8:00p
We'll gather for facilitated discussion in a supportive environment. -
Tuesday ,
JunJune 6 , 2023Music, Healing and Meditation with Cantor Jaime Shpall
Tuesday, Jun 6th 6:00p to 6:30p
Songs of healing and strength, as well as some brief meditation. -
Thursday ,
JunJune 8 , 2023Thursday Morning Minyan
Thursday, Jun 8th 8:00a to 9:00a
These services are led by members of the congregation — all are welcome. -
Thursday ,
JunJune 8 , 2023Talmud Study
Thursday, Jun 8th 12:00p to 1:00p
Led by Beth Am clergy, in this weekly class we study selections from the Talmud and other rabbinic sources. -
Friday ,
JunJune 9 , 2023Congregant-Facilitated Learning: Beth Am Reading Group
Friday, Jun 9th 1:00p to 2:00p
Join us for explorations of various contemporary Jewish writings. -
Friday ,
JunJune 9 , 2023Pride and Pizza Tot Shabbat: With Jewish Baby Network
Friday, Jun 9th 5:30p to 7:00p
Join Beth Am clergy for a short story and a few songs! A nice way to start your Shabbat. This event is for families with children ages 0-5 years. -
Friday ,
JunJune 9 , 2023Erev Shabbat Summer Outdoor Service
Friday, Jun 9th 6:15p to 7:30p
We're thrilled to welcome the congregation back to Beth Am for Kabbalat Shabbat services in our beautiful Outdoor Chapel.