Events

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR UPCOMING PROGRAMS AND EVENTS, LISTED BY DATE. 
FOR A COMPLETE SCHEDULE OF THIS WEEK'S SERVICES AND PROGRAMS, CLICK HERE.

Second Annual Tzedek Initiative Shabbat

Friday-Saturday, June 24-25

Registration for the dinner has closed.

Members of Congregation Beth El in Voorhees, NJ, and Achim Sheli (My Brothers and Sisters), the synagogue’s group that celebrates ethnic and cultural diversity, will join us, and will provide the d’var Torah on Shabbat morning.

Family Promise Week

CAI is once again working with Family Promise of Essex County (formerly Interfaith Hospitality Network). We are "hosting" 6 families, now in the newly established structure of a scattered shelter system. Families will have a kitchen to prepare/reheat meals.

How Can You Help?
We are collecting grocery items for each of the 6 families, so they can have fresh foods, like dairy and fruit for the week. Please sign up for requested grocery items. You may bring the items to CAI on Wednesday, July 6, Thursday, July 7, or Friday, July 8, from 9:30 am - 2:30 pm. Non-perishable items will be collected in the bin outside of the Main Office and perishable items may be taken to the dairy kitchen.

We are also providing each family with a prepared meal. You can provide an entire meal or you can ask some friends to help you! Each meal should be delivered on Monday, July 10 to Karen Eisenberg's home. You may call or text Karen at 973-226-7493 if you need to make special arrangements, or email Karen at kareneisenberg33@gmail.com for more information. Click the button below to see how you can lend a hand to this meaningful act of Tikun Olam. Thank you!

"The Handmaid's Tale" Lunch n' Learn with Deborah Orens

Wednesdays at 12 pm Outside the Sanctuary Entrance
July 6, 13, 20, 27 and August 3

We welcome back Deborah Orens to do a weekly lunch n' learn outdoors. Bring your own bagged lunch and CAI will provide the drinks and a sweet treat!

A Zoom interest meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 28 at 8 pm.
 

Having more time in the summer for reading and reflection, I am offering a five-week class on Margaret Atwood’s most famous and prescient works of literature. We will meet every Wednesday beginning July 6 at 12 pm to discuss chapters in the novel and the political and ethical dilemmas presented.

Atwood wrote, "Having been born in 1939 and come to consciousness during WWll, I knew that established orders could vanish overnight. Change could also be as fast as lightning. It can’t happen here could not be depended on: anything could happen anywhere, given the circumstances.

One of the rules the author imposed on herself was that nothing presented in the novel would be created out of whole cloth, and that similar events would have previously occurred in history.

She created a world in which, due to environmental degradation, fertility levels were plummeting. The democratic United States was attacked by a coup, and the country of Gilead, run by strict Christian theocrats, was created in its stead. I look forward to exploring this literary masterpiece and the related issues with you. Purchase the Book (Amazon)

Registration for the class will be available soon.

Mah Jongg and More with CAI Sisterhood

Sunday, July 10 at 12-3 pm
At the home of Judy Levenstein

Come play Mah Jongg and more with CAI Sisterhood! For beginners and experienced players alike! Bring a 2022 Mah Jongg card and/or other games you'd like to play. We will be at the home of Judy Levenstein. If you'd like to enjoy the pool, feel free to bring a bathing suit, towel and sunscreen. Lunch and refreshments will be served.

The cost is $20 per person. Please register by Friday, July 1.
 

Centennial Mission to Israel Information Session

Wednesday, July 13 at 8 pm
At the home of Stephanie and Alan Bonder

What better way to celebrate Israel’s 75 years than with a trip to Israel with your CAI community? Rabbi Lucas will be joining the Jewish Federation of Greater Metrowest centennial mission to Israel July 2-10, 2023.
Trip Details: https://www.jfedgmw.org/centennial-mission/

If you want to learn more, please join an information session at the home of Stephanie and Alan Bonder on Wednesday, July 13 at 8 pm. To join the information session, please register so we can have a sense of the numbers. Address will be provided upon registration. Stephanie is going to be our CAI bus captain and if you have any questions you can reach out to her at szbonder@msn.com.

Contemporary Jewish Women with Rabbi Marge Wise

Mondays at 8 pm on Zoom
June 13, 20, 27 and July 11

Rabbi Marge Wise is excited to introduce a sequel to her mini-series, Famous Biblical Women. Her next mini-series will be Contemporary Jewish Women and will include - in no set order: RBG, Golda Meir, Anne Frank, Nechama Leibowitz, Emma Lazarus, Hannah Senesh, Rabbi Regina Jonas, Ida Nudel, Molly Picon, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl - and more. The list is still forming!

Professor Peter Schafer's "Two Gods in Heaven: Jewish Concepts of God in Antiquity" with Phil Kruger

Tuesdays from 7 to 9 pm in the Adult Lounge
June 7, 14, 28; July 5, 12, 19, 26; August 2, 9, 16

Phil Kruger returns with onsite learning this summer. He will lead a series of discussions/lectures based upon Professor Peter Schafer's book, "Two Gods in Heaven: Jewish Concepts of God in Antiquity" on Tuesday evenings. The class will not formally break for Evening Minyan, but anyone who wants to attend is welcome to step in and out of the class.

Professor Schafer, formally head of the Judaic Studies Department at Princeton University, provides the following description in the excerpt from the jacket cover of his book. "Contrary to popular belief, Judaism was not always strictly monotheistic. "Two Gods in Heaven" reveals the long and little-known history of a second, junior god in Judaism, showing how this idea was embraced by Rabbis and Jewish mystics in the early centuries of the common era and casting Judaism's relationship with Christianity in an entirely different light."

No prerequisites are required and knowledge of Hebrew or Aramaic, while certainly helpful, is not required.

Purchase the Book (Barnes & Noble)

This class is free and open to all. Proof of full vaccination is required for everyone 5 years and older when entering the building and can also be documented with CAI prior to the program. Click Here to read CAI's COVID safety protocols and upload vaccination documentation.