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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.

Beth Am Community Circles are your place to connect more intentionally with other Beth Am members around a shared interest or life stage. Community Circles are open to members of Congregation Beth Am and are coordinated by congregants. Beth Am staff is available to help connect members to and/or create a Community Circle.

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.
Beth Am Community Circles are open to members of Congregation Beth Am. Community Circles will vary in size depending on the type of group and activity. We recommend 3-18 participants depending on the topic or activity.
All that’s needed to start a Circle is an idea and one or more people willing to coordinate. Any member can join as many Circles as they feel they can actively participate in. Whether you have an idea for a Circle or are not sure what you might like to do, please take a look at this Community Circle Interest Form. We’ll do our best to connect you to others and form a Circle. We will also be listing our Community Circles on the Beth Am website, so check back often.
Meeting time, place and frequency will be determined by the Circle’s coordinator and those participating in the Circle. To create and foster friendships we encourage Circles to meet six times over a three-month period. At the end of three months, members can opt to keep the Circle going or disband.
If you think you might like to participate in a Community Circle, please click on this Community Circle Interest Form to tell us what you’re interested in exploring with other Beth Am members.

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.

Pickleball

Join other Beth Am members to learn and play this popular game. This Circle meets on Sunday afternoons at the Sunnyvale Tennis Center. Please email one of the coordinators, Jennifer or Rachel if you're interested in participating.

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