A Quarterly Review | Edition 1
July-October, 2018
Welcome to the inaugural issue of BJBE's new quarterly e-newsletter,  ChaiLights ! We will publish this newsletter quarterly featuring highlights of key happenings at BJBE during the previous quarter (with our publication date going forward around the 15th of the month in January, April, July, October). This new publication gives us the opportunity to celebrate retrospectively many of the important programming/developments underway at BJBE.

This publication will not be an exhaustive review of the prior quarter, but will feature key highlights across our five core values of: Torah (Jewish Learning), Avodah (Worship & Spiritual Practice), G'milt Chasadim (Acts of Loving Kindness), Community, and Israel.

We’d love your feedback. Please email Anne Robbin with reactions and ideas. And, m ake sure to keep up with BJBE's social media channels for pictures and information!
It’s been a great start to the year in the JLC! We kicked off our first day with an apple nacho bar, and have continued to have fun learning together since! Highlights have included our full school Boker Tov time, visiting the BJBE sukkah, making friends in chaverut (led by our Madrichim), and music time with our Cantors and Songleader. Make sure to follow our Instagram account to see more of the fun!

BJBE's Early Childhood Program has been filled with Joyful Judaism, a Love of Learning and expressions of Caring Community. Shabbat and Havdallah songs and brachot mingle with holiday explorations. Trails and traces of learning adorn our halls and classrooms. Acts of lovingkindness abound. Whether in the Early Childhood Program classrooms, in Tot-Adult programs, at Family Havdalah evenings, or at Max and Benny’s Nights, the fall has brought opportunities for families with young children to learn, play and form connections.

Our Symposium has been off to an incredible start. We have been inspired by powerful stories of faith and community as we learned from clergy and leaders from around our community. In an America that seems to be fracturing along cultural, political, and geographical lines, we are proud to offer an alternative - an opportunity to learn with and from people from a variety of faiths, perspectives, and backgrounds. The series continues on Tuesday mornings and on Facebook Live. We hope you will join us as we meet our neighbors. Check out the schedule and view archived sessions here.
Our 5779 High Holy Days were spiritual, engaging, and joyful. Thank you to the clergy and office teams for all of their hard and careful work to make this a meaningful time for our community.

The holidays don't just end after Yom Kippur! As always, our Virtual Sukkah Team did an amazing job transforming our Sanctuary into a beautiful, festive prayer space. Check out the time lapse video to the right to watch the transformation in just 30 seconds!
Our families with young children also had a great event decorating the BJBE Sukkah. Check out a couple of snapshots below, and then click here to see more pictures from this fun event.
Simchat Torah rounded out our fall festivities with a joyous night dancing with the Torahs, which was preceded by welcoming our newest JLC students to our community at Consecration. View pictures from Simchat Torah here.
As part of a Reform Movement-wide effort to increase voter participation, our amazing team of volunteers, led by Joel Newton, spent the summer and fall reaching out to members of our congregation to encourage people to register and head to the polls. By the end of the campaign we contacted over 1,400 members and confirmed with nearly 1,000 people that they were registered and planned to vote. Mazel tov to our team for an impressive effort to help us all participate in the sacred act of voting and participating in democracy.
On October 14 we held our biennial North Shore Jewish Community Candidate Forum, which was a powerful afternoon of learning about and interacting with candidates for elected office at the federal, state, and local levels. Over 500 people from across the North Shore Jewish Community came to hear from people who want to represent us in Washington, DC and Springfield. We were joined by over 20 partner organizations, including area synagogues and Jewish non-profits. Thank you to the candidates for their time and to our dedicated volunteers for helping to make this year’s candidate forum a success.
We had so many great events this summer - Torah on Tap at Warehouse and Beerhead Bar, Post Shabbat Salon, Onegs under the Stars, and our end of summer ice cream night at Graeters, just to name a few.

Our annual Shabbat in the Park was also a terrific event! More than 300 people came to Wood Oaks Park in Northbrook for pizza sponsored by Giordanos, an inspiring service led by our amazing clergy, and a special ice cream truck oneg! To see more pictures, click here.
Back at BJBE, our Sisterhood began a wonderful film discussion series this fall. Kicking it off was a fantastic discussion facilitated by our Executive Director, Sally Sachar, about the documentary RBG, for which they won the Rhoda Hauptman Award for Membership Engagement from the WRJ Midwest District. Other films discussed have included Won't You Be My Neighbor (facilitated by Sandy Robbins) and 3 Identical Strangers (facilitated by Margot Andersen) . Stay tuned for what's next!

BJBE’s Senior Youth Group (SYG) kicked off the new year with a board Shul-In (overnighter), bowling, and our first lounge night. We also had a fantastic time up at OSRUI for NFTY Fall Kallah, where we celebrated Shabbat with new friends and old!
Over the summer, BJBE sent 22 teens on a life-changing trip to Kolin, Czech Republic, and Israel. Rabbi & Ezra Kedar and Missy Bell led this once-in-a-lifetime trip, as the group toured the Jewish Quarter in Kolin, visited Terezin, posed in front of the Prague Skyline, cleaned up the Jewish cemetery in Kolin, studied on the beach that inspired Hannah Senesh, visited the Ayalon Institute, and much much more.
In October, Rabbi Karyn & Ezra Kedar took a group on the BJBE Adult Israel Trip. They toured the country, finding pockets of holiness everywhere they turned.
We extend a warm welcome to the newest members of our BJBE community:
Brent & Iolanta Agran
Levi, Asher

Jennifer Angel & Allen Reece
Persephone, Cordelia, Ariadne

Judith & David Belofsky
Shelby, Geoffrey

Melissa & Marc Berkowitz
Jacob, Ethan, Sloane

Sara & Michael Blumberg
Scottie

Dana & Adam Brodsky
Harper, Brody

Clifford & Judith Brooks

David Burns
Gilana, Zara

Ronald & Phyllis Chess

Courtney & Jeff Cohen
Ethan

Sheila Derman

Marissa & Harris Eisenberg
Hailee, Charlie

Jennifer Ekeberg & Brian Marcin

Rachel & Joseph Falender

Rachel & Michael Fischer
Landon

Polina & Paul Fisher
Levi, Emma, Mason

Mindy & Ryan Forman
Jaxon

Joel & Laura Geller
Dylan, Marlee, Spencer

Jennifer & Scott Gettleson
Gabrielle, Frank

Sara & Corey Goldberg
Maya, Danni

Ricardo & Karla Goldenberg
Sophia, Rafael

Ellen Goldman Kanter

Denise Goodman
Arielle, Everett, Leighton

Jason & Lindsay Goodman
Brandon

Drew & Katie Groner
Mason, Lexie
Steven & Marla Hara

Laura & Nathan Harres
Logan

Jill & Eric Helfand
Sloane, Jonah

Barry & Wendy Herst

Caryn & Donald Hlavac
Sam

Joanna & Phillip Jacobs
Maya

Andy & Kelly Jansen
Jack, Cole, Scarlett

Catherine & Eric Kalman
Lucy, Eden

David & Amy Katz
Jake, Sadie, Bennett, Liam

Michael & Sandra Kaufman

Emily & Jason Keith
Eli

Rachel & Bryan Komornik
Oliver, Caleb

Renee Kruss

Sander & Deborah Lee
Magan, Zachary, Lyndsey

Debra & Daniel Levin
Elliott, Sara

Scott & Lauren Lichtenstein
Mason, Naomi

Stephen & Meredith Manes
Isabella, Tyler

Barrie & Todd Marmor
Ella, Avery

Abagayle & Andrew Marx
Franklin, Emerson

Alana & Harison Matthew
Norman

Shara & Kevin McLennan
Chloe, Maya

Lana Medow
Brody

Bradley & Lindsay Migdal
Ava, Lila, Chase

Sonya & Bob Morgan
Ari, Amira

Jenny & Zach Patap
Jacob, Dylan
Andrea Rappaport & Joshua Amdur
Julian, Oliver

Allison & Robert Rose
Jackson, Joshua, Justin

Jeffrey & Lauren Rosenthal
Riley, Logan 

Jennifer & Brian Rosenthal
Skylar

Betsy & Kenneth Schack
Jonah, Cody

Dana & Bryant Schneider
Cole

Joel & Jackie Seeskin
Jonah, Joshua, Joie

Joe & Rachel Serlin
Eli, Leah

David & Rachel Sherman
Zachary, Emily

Michael & Diane Sherman

Marcy Shiner Edidin & Gary Edidin

Tomer & Jessica Shlafrok
Mika

Joshua & Paula Sklar
Shae, Ian

David & Bonnie Spangler

Gerald & Vicki Tenner

Hillary & Brian Teven
Oliver, Reid

Carly & Nik Turik
Max

Stephanie & Boris Voskoboynik
Owen

Nikki & Bill Wallenstein
Joshua, Jordyn

Mara & Michael Weiner
Shay

Corey & Susan Wilner

Blair & Brian Wolf
Darcy, Graham

Sloane & Aaron Wyler
Rowyn, Laken

Jeffrey & Beth Young
Rachel, Sarah