A Reform Jewish Synagogue in Anchorage Alaska
7525 E. Northern Lights Blvd Anchorage, AK 99504
Phone:(907) 338-1836 Fax:(907) 337-4013 JewishAlaska@gmail.com
7525 E. Northern Lights Blvd Anchorage, AK 99504
Phone:(907) 338-1836 Fax:(907) 337-4013 JewishAlaska@gmail.com
Welcome to the largest Jewish Congregation in Alaska. All visitors who wish to worship with us are welcome. Though our Congregation is very committed to Reform Judaism, people from diverse Jewish backgrounds have found our liturgy appealing. Our facilities are beautifully located in a natural setting which enhances the worship experience. Please feel welcome to attend.
With sufficient notice transportation can usually be arranged if needed.
With sufficient notice transportation can usually be arranged if needed.
2019 High Holiday Information Click Here
A message from Rabbi Abram Goodstein
Shanah Tovah and welcome to Congregation Beth Sholom during our High Holy Day season. I’m very excited to be leading High Holy Days this year, while this isn’t my first High Holy Days I have led at CBS, it’s my first as the head Rabbi of the congregation. Every year, throughout these Days of Awe we are asked to be introspective and renew our relationships with ourselves, each other, and Adonai. This is a powerful and challenging obligation within our tradition. We are charged to go through a process of Teshuvah, repentance, in order to find forgiveness within ourselves, with others and with God. As difficult as that sounds, our tradition is clear that we are supposed to do this together.
This year I wish you a Shanah Tovah and invite you to celebrate with us, as we witness the beginning of a new year. I also wish you a Yom Tov as we open our hearts and find room for Teshuvah and forgiveness in our lives. I hope that during this High Holy Day season you see Congregation Beth Sholom as a home where a supportive community can help you and lift you up through your journey of Teshuvah. And if your heart is heavy or your soul is weary, I hope you find here shelter to rest. As we enter this sacred time together, I invite you to find encouragement in the words of this poem, “You have stayed long enough in this place, God Said. Turn your face to the future. Believe that you can cross this sea and survive. Inside of you is a Moses; within you Miriam dances, unafraid. Lift up your voice and sing a new song.”
B'Shalom Rabbi Abram Goodstein
Shanah Tovah and welcome to Congregation Beth Sholom during our High Holy Day season. I’m very excited to be leading High Holy Days this year, while this isn’t my first High Holy Days I have led at CBS, it’s my first as the head Rabbi of the congregation. Every year, throughout these Days of Awe we are asked to be introspective and renew our relationships with ourselves, each other, and Adonai. This is a powerful and challenging obligation within our tradition. We are charged to go through a process of Teshuvah, repentance, in order to find forgiveness within ourselves, with others and with God. As difficult as that sounds, our tradition is clear that we are supposed to do this together.
This year I wish you a Shanah Tovah and invite you to celebrate with us, as we witness the beginning of a new year. I also wish you a Yom Tov as we open our hearts and find room for Teshuvah and forgiveness in our lives. I hope that during this High Holy Day season you see Congregation Beth Sholom as a home where a supportive community can help you and lift you up through your journey of Teshuvah. And if your heart is heavy or your soul is weary, I hope you find here shelter to rest. As we enter this sacred time together, I invite you to find encouragement in the words of this poem, “You have stayed long enough in this place, God Said. Turn your face to the future. Believe that you can cross this sea and survive. Inside of you is a Moses; within you Miriam dances, unafraid. Lift up your voice and sing a new song.”
B'Shalom Rabbi Abram Goodstein
/This calendar will be kept as current as possible, so please consider signing up for theGoogle calendar to have the most current information at your finger tips. Just click on the Google calendar icon in the lower right hand corner to subscribe to any of the CBS Calendars. Doing this will also allow you to access this calendar through your smart phone or with text message reminders sent to you for specific events.
|
Do Not Stand Idly By: A Jewish Community
Pledge to Save Lives |
CBS Board of Trustees Statement on Israel & Anti-Semitism
|
|
Congregation Beth Sholom has joined 8664 individuals and organizations in the following pledge to battle homophobic bullying:
"As members of a tradition that sees each person as created in the divine image, we respond with anguish and outrage at the spate of suicides brought on by homophobic bullying and intolerance. We hereby commit to ending homophobic bullying or harassment of any kind in our synagogues, schools, organizations, and communities. As a signatory, I pledge to speak out when I witness anyone being demeaned for their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. I commit myself to do whatever I can to ensure that each and every person in my community is treated with dignity and respect." SIGN THE PLEDGE NOW! For more information go to: Keshet Online |
Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, former president of the Union for Reform Judaism, recently pointed out inReform Judaism Magazine, the need for “a civil conversation about Israel” among North American Jews. Rabbi Yoffie warned that “Israel—the very subject that once brought Jews of divergent perspectives together as a community—has now become a catalyst for divisiveness.”
Mindful of both Rabbi Yoffie’s warning about divisiveness and the need for a “civil conversation,” the Board of Trustees of Congregation Beth Sholom declares these principles: 1. We support Israel's right to exist and to defend itself against terrorism. All nations have the right to self-defense, a principle asserted September 18, 2014 to a joint session of the Congress of the United States, by the President of the Ukraine, who cited Israel as an example of a nation exercising its right to defend its territorial integrity. 2. We agree with Rabbi Yoffie’s wise distinction between “unconditional support” from “uncritical support,” when he explained: “Zionism brought Israel into existence and bestowed upon Jews everywhere a role in determining the character of the Jewish state.” We believe that those who agree, automatically, with every decision of the State of Israel may do a disservice to the people of Israel – a people whose vigorous debates and engagements with public policy issues are now, always have been, and should always remain, vigorous and robust. 3. We have witnessed with sadness, but also with resolve, a rise in anti-Semitism, particularly in Europe. It is clear that Israel’s enemies are employing anti-Semitic language as part of their attacks upon Israel as a nation. We all must challenge any and all expressions of anti-Semitism. History teaches that to be silent is to risk allowing those with extreme and hateful views to erode the laws that protect the rights of Jews and non-Jews alike. In that spirit, we oppose also expressions, by actions or words, of hatred against people of other faiths, and we pledge to challenge those expressions wherever and whenever they are encountered. |