On the Eve of Purim, Saturday night, February 27, at 7:30 p.m. come in costume for our famous gala party for all ages, with our classic Hebrew-English Megillah reading (with noisemakers), crazy music by our famous Purim Band, yummy hamantaschen and other goodies to enjoy.

Purim is time for partying with a serious purpose: to remember the survival of our people despite all odds and to affirm our commitment to a better world for all. Bring some money for Purim tzedakah and we will dedicate our collection to the American Jewish World Service to help individuals in Haiti or wherever the need is most urgent.

On Sunday, February 28, 3 p.m., Menchkin and Religious School Families are invited to come in costume for our Purim Carnival. In addition to booths and games, there will be a kid-friendly Megillah reading by the Rabbi, and students will make Mishloach Manot (goody baskets), which they will distribute to our Senior
Sages. The afternoon concludes with a pizza & salad Se’udah (Purim Dinner) for families.

Sign up now for Beginner’s Hebrew! The first day of class is Thursday, February 4th at 5:30p.m.
The class will continue to meet on Thursdays at 5:30p.m. until Thursday, April 8, 2010. The teacher is Keren Carter. If you are interested in enrolling for this class, please email: admin@cbichico.org as soon as possible, or call (530) 342-6146.
Non-Members pay $75.00 for tuition & book fee.
Members pay $18.00 for book fee.

Take a look at the photo page. There are new pictures from the Hanukkah party, as well as from the B’nai Mitzvah class.

Presents:

Here is a meditation for Hanukkah, to do while you gaze at the holiday lights.

Here are some online TV Shows for Hanukkah.

And for fun, here’s a song written by Sen. Orrin Hatch for Hanukkah (and an article explaining how it came to be written).

Enjoy!

Events:

Join us at CBI on the first night on Hanukkah, Friday, Dec. 11, at 7:30 p.m.. Prof. Emeritus and CBI president Irv Schiffman will speak about the new dovish Israel lobby, J-Street, “An Alternative to AIPAC.”

And don’t forget our big CBI Hanukkah Party, Dec. 13, 5-8 PM at the ARC Pavilion, 2040 Park Ave! There will be music, latkes, and lots of fun for all ages. BYOM (Bring Your Own Menorah; if you don’t have one and want your own, our gift shop will be open that night). And bring a gently used coat for a child or teen if you can donate one. Cost is $8 for adults, $4 for kids (2-12) or maximum of $20 per family, and includes dinner.

Another timely topic is Health Care Reform. We’ll have Part II of our Panel Discussions on “Jewish Values and Health Care Reform” after our 7:30 p.m. service on Friday, Dec. 18, the last night of Hanukkah.

Want to do something Jewish on Dec. 25? The Rabbi and her family will host a potluck (vegetarian or dairy) Shabbat dinner at their home at 6:00 p.m. that night.

Our festive community Hanukkah Party for all ages takes place Sunday, December 13, 5–8 p.m. at the ARC Pavilion, 2040 Park Avenue. The party features a delicious holiday dinner with traditional holiday latkes (potato pancakes), donuts, salads and other dishes. There will also be a gift shop, raffle prizes, live music by the CBI band, folk dancing, and a performance by Religious School students. Participants are encouraged to bring Hanukkah menorahs and candles to light, and to contribute gently used coats for kids and teens to the “Coats for Kids” collection (these can also be left in the bin in the synagogue lobby).

Cost for the Hanukkah party (including dinner) is: $8 adult, $4 child, ($20 maximum per household). To help with this event, contact Terri Lind or Kristy Bergson.

For more information on either of these events, call 342-6146

We usually think of “The Oneg” as the refreshments on Shabbat, but it is really much more. “Oneg Shabbat,” means the “delight” or “pleasure” of the Sabbath, based on the verse in Isaiah 58:13, “And call the Sabbath a delight (oneg).” Jewish tradition bids us to make Shabbat the most pleasant and beautiful day of the week. The Israeli poet laureate Haim Nahman Bialik instituted the modern custom of “Oneg Shabbat” as a time to gather and enjoy Jewish cultural pursuits on the Sabbath. We had certainly had some wonderful experiences of delighting in Shabbat recently at CBI. The first week in November, we expanded our Mishpachah (family) Shabbat to include a “Tot Shabbat” for our youngest members and their families, followed by a catered dinner, a family style service (mostly led by our students!), and more. This month we had a “Shabbaton reunion,” saw slides from the school Shabbaton and did a dance that the families had learned. Most of all, everyone just enjoyed being together, and no one was in a hurry to leave.

This past Friday, we had another wonderful Shabbat eve, which began with a dinner put on by the Hillel board for the Hillel (Jewish student organization). CBI members were also welcome to participate. After dinner, we had a very lively service, with five members of our “house band” accompanying and Hillel representatives singing. Finally, Levi and Ayelet Bar-Gil led us in about an hour and a half of exhilerating and fun dances, beginning with easy ones and continuing with more advanced dances. Levi always gets everyone laughing as well as dancing. And of course, we had an “Oneg Shabbat,” in the sense of delicious desserts provided by our Sisterhood.