For the lengthening of days, stretching sunshine far past its winter bedtime,

For the bright blues and vibrant green and pops of color filling the warm world,

For the unrelenting humidity that reminds us to savor the sweetness of cooler breezes,

For all the sounds of summer – the jingling of ice cream trucks, joyful shouts of children splashing, lingering laughter over meals shared on patios, the shuddering clap of thunderstorms demonstrating something more powerful than us,

For summer camps and vacations and time spent outside,

For good AC when we’re stuck indoors,

For sun,

For shade,

For all these things and more, we thank You.

And may God bless and keep the mosquitoes… far away from us.

Amen.

Yes, folks, it’s Summer! As you remember, last summer we weren’t allowed in our sanctuary, so we improvised outdoor services that included picnics and frisbees and (occasionally) ice cream. This summer, while we can be in our sanctuary, we would like to continue the tradition of at least a few outdoor services during the summer. On Fridays we will be alternating between 6:00 outdoor picnic/service at the Acton Arboretum, and 7:30 in the sanctuary. For our 7:30 sanctuary service, we are hoping to arrange some sort of sweet dessert-ish Kiddush items outdoors before the service, at 7:15 or so. Don’t eat dessert before you come to shul!

In addition, we will be having biweekly Saturday services at CBE. These may be innovative outdoor services, or they may be traditional, depending on what the leader wants to do.

Most of these services will be lay led, by our new cadre of trained lay leaders, however Cantor Sarra has offered to lead two in August. Thanks, Cantor!!! Possibly we can arm twist our new interim to lead a service or two, as well, if the schedule works.

Friday July 1 • 7:30 pm • CBE

Friday July 8 • 6:00 pm • Arboretum

Saturday July 9 • 9:30 am • CBE

Friday July 15 • 7:30 pm • CBE

Friday July 22 • 6:00 pm • Arboretum

Saturday July 23 • 9:30 am • CBE

Friday July 29 • 7:30 pm • CBE

Friday August 5 • 6:00 pm • Arboretum

Saturday August 6 • 9:30 am • CBE

Friday August 12 • 7:30 pm • CBE (Cantor Sarra will lead)

Friday August 19 • 6:00 pm • Arboretum

Saturday August 20 • 9:30 am • CBE

Friday August 26 • 7:30 pm • CBE (Cantor Sarra will lead)

See Star-lite or the CBE website for updates on our summer services schedule. Please direct questions to ritual@bethelohim.org .

I am currently Vice President of Early Education, responsible for the Early Learning Center.

Judy and I moved to Acton in 1978, and we joined CBE within a year, making us 44-year members.

I’ve filled a variety of roles at CBE over the years. I was first on the Board as Vice President in 1983, when the Board included only one Vice President, responsible for programming and development. I’ve lead several committees, e.g., ritual, strategic planning, information technology, and the initial committee that investigated how to approach finding our successor to Rabbi Mintz when he announced his plan to retire as of June 2017. I have been ELC Treasurer and a member of the Preschool Advisory Council since the fall of 2013, continuing to serve in these roles while also as VP of Early Education for the past several years.

Helping lead the Early Learning Center as it doubled in size since 2013, when CBE began operating the preschool ourselves, while establishing ourselves as one of the best preschools in the area (demonstrated by our having a waiting list for enrollment each year) and simultaneously making a major financial contribution to CBE has been my most memorable and rewarding activity.

CBE has grown from about 50 member-families when Judy and I first joined to nearly 300 families currently. During that time, we have had to continuously grow and adapt as an organization to meet the increasingly diverse and complex needs of our community. I am proud to have participated as a Board member and as the chair or member of several operational committees in defining and organizing that process of growth over the past 39 years.

Expect the unexpected. The challenges the Board comes to grips with each year are never limited to those noted at the first Board meeting of each year.

Just as CBE’s membership is diverse in many ways, so the Board includes diverse perspectives on how to meet the needs of our entire community. To paraphrase a well-known observation, one cannot delight all of the people all of the time. Being a Board member gives each of us the opportunity, but also the responsibility, to work together as a group to reach a consensus on what will work best for our community. Achieving this can be frustrating along the way but accomplishing it can be hugely rewarding. And and it can build lifelong friendships. Join the Board and see for yourself!

Nope

Hi everyone, you may have noticed a small plot of land on the parking island dedicated to new plantings. These plants are part of the growing pollinator garden here at Congregation Beth Elohim. Many of you probably know the benefits of a pollinator garden. Butterflies and bees are in decline due to loss of habitat (e.g., converting meadows to lawns, and to pavement), and the use of pesticides. At CBE, we unfortunately have contributed to this decline, because about 20 years ago, when we expanded, we converted a small forest to three paved parking lots. But we are constantly restoring the habitat (a little bit of Tikkun Olam in Acton) with plantings of native shrubs and trees. In the parking island, after we removed the overgrown and randomly sprawling white pines to make room for the solar panels, we planted native shrubs like serviceberry, ninebark, and trees like hornbeam and cedar.

This winter we learned about an opportunity to plant a pollinator garden. The Jewish Climate Action Network (JCAN), run by Rabbi Katy Allen of Wayland, received a small grant from Kehillat Israel Tzedakah Teens, a program of Kehillat Israel Reconstructionist Congregation of Pacific Palisades, CA. The purpose of the grant was to encourage synagogues to plant pollinator gardens on their property, and educate congregations, including the kids, about the habitat value of pollinator gardens. In addition to wildlife habitat, native pollinator gardens also help soils store carbon, store water, control erosion and adapt to the climate crisis.

JCAN recruited Barbara Passero of Meadowscaping for Biodiversity (https://meadowmaking.org/) to help congregations select plants and design a garden. We are working directly with Barbara to select species. These included joe-pye weed, coreopsis, black-eyed susan, wild bergamot, swamp milkweed and bee balm and others. She purchased plants at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, and with our assistance, transported them to CBE. A small crew of volunteers cleared the land of weeds and amended the soil with compost from the Acton Transfer Station, and with compost from Black Earth. We also have a group of volunteers who are watering the plot daily.

If you are interested in volunteering to water, or to plant, or maintain the garden, please contact me, or sign up here:

I am sure that many of you are familiar with many of the flowers in the garden. So, that means you are on your way to plant your own pollinator garden! If you would like our species list or other resources to plant a pollinator garden, feel free to contact me. But I am not an expert so there are other resources, such as Meadowscaping for Biodiversity or the Native Plant Trust (https://www.nativeplanttrust.org/) from which to learn.

QUESTION: As Rabbinic Judaism was taking shape in the first century of the Common Era, there was a constant debate between the school of Rabbi Hillel and that of Rabbi Shammai. Our traditions are derived more from the thinking of Hillel, who is famed for his response to the challenge of reciting the code of Jewish laws while standing on one foot. How did he manage this challenge?

Has your family celebrated a recent simcha or milestone? Send us a photo along with a caption (limited to 80 words) so we can include them in our next newsletter. Email communications@bethelohim.org.

The congregation thanks our members, their relatives and friends, and the larger community for donations recently received, and take this opportunity to acknowledge them. If you do not see your donation, please look for it in our next newsletter, or contact communications@bethelohim.org.