This past Friday night, June 3, we honored Rabbi Memis-Foler and expressed our gratitude for all that she did while at Beth Emet and Temple Judea Mizpah. If you could not attend, check out the D’var Torah as well as the speeches and the gift that we gave in appreciation.  

Check out the description under the YouTube video for a time breakdown.

We recently consolidated BE Connected and EmetMail into one weekly e-newsletter, to be sent on Tuesdays! We've simplified the categories, updated the formatting, and made it easier (we hope) to read all that is happening at Beth Emet and how to get involved. Now that we have a few weeks under our belts, we would love your feedback! Our goal is for the e-newsletter to be as straightforward and informative as possible!  

Please let us know what you think! For the 18th, 36th and 54th person who offers feedback, a parking spot during the High Holy Days is yours!  

Next week, we'll be sharing the names of all of our 2022 graduates. Please fill in a few details so we can all wish you and your family a Mazal Tov!

Know how to knit and/or crochet? As a tribute to Nikki Zarefsky z”l, join us for an hour (on zoom) of knitting and connecting as we create shawls to warm people during services and/or healing shawls that will bring warmth to those in need in a hospital, home or other settings. And mark your calendars, Friday July 29, we will be presenting the shawls during Kabbalat Shabbat services.

Our very own Netiva Caftori invites us to experience the healing practice of Qigong with her. Qigong is a millennia-old system of coordinated body posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for health and spirituality.

Speakers include clergy, elected officials, and representatives from the Reparations Stakeholders Authority of Evanston

Fountain Square: 1601 Sherman Ave; Evanston

Join us for joyful, collaborative music making with Nicole Jaworski and Jamberry Music! In this class, you and your little one will bond with each other and make new friends while we sing, dance, play, pretend and experiment with instruments.

I’m fascinated with trust – what makes some people trustworthy and why we distrust others. I’ve spent my career building communities of trust and amplifying the messages through media for social change. Our project Ties That Bind, featured Rabbi London and seven other women religious leaders and their Muslim, Catholic, Lutheran and Jewish communities connecting after 9/11. We held a town hall at Beth Emet, which became part of the award-winning documentary.

Routledge, Taylor & Francis will publish my book and case studies to empower future leaders to create their own social change projects. The book includes lessons and strategies which forty colleagues and I learned over 30 years to create social change.

Do you have ideas for social justice projects? If you are 40 or under, please contact Dr. Ann Feldman – for training, partnership, and participation in a documentary for Building Communities of Trust.

This year, URJ online Torah commentaries on the Book of Numbers is being written by Beth Emet graduate Beth Young (Nikki z''l and David Zarefsky’s daughter). She is Senior Director of Education at Temple Judea in Coral Gables, FL. Read the commentaries, and make sure to click on "Learn More" and then scroll down to "The Minutes of Torah." Look for Beth's byline and you will be in the right place.

Rabbi Sara Blumenthal graduated from Hebrew College with a Rabbinical Ordination and an MA in Jewish Education. Mazal Tov to her parents, Sharon Veis and Marc Blumethal. We are so excited for Sara to continue her Rabbinic journey as the Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Agudath Israel in New Jersey.

Whether it's good news to share or you would like to be featured or know someone who should be featured "In The BE Family," let us know or contact Bekki Kaplan

Come be a friendly face in the office a few hours a week or even just for an afternoon. And of course, if you know anyone looking for full-time employment, we are seeking two talented executive assistants.

Reach out to Geoff Prass.

We’ve had a challah midrash each week since the start of 5781! Please email Karen Isaacson if you are interested in participating or have any questions!

The Beth Emet Soup Kitchen is currently recruiting volunteers to help on most Wednesday evenings in July and August. We are making assignments for sack lunches, salads, and nut-free desserts, which are made at home and delivered to the synagogue. We are also looking for help onsite to prepare the rest of the meal, and to serve it to a portion of our guests who choose to dine inside. Learn more and sign up.

The Tzedakah Committee awards grants to deserving non-profit organizations that best exemplify Beth Emet’s social justice core values of righteousness and justice, love of one’s neighbors and for the stranger, compassion, kindness, and hospitality. This fall, the committee awarded three $500 grants to the YWCA Evanston/North Shore, Books and Breakfast, and Literacy Works. See below for this week's highlight!

This Evanston not-for-profit will use their grant to support a new intensive summer tutoring initiative to address COVID-19-related reading loss. Research has shown that the pandemic has intensified achievement gaps along racial and socio-economic lines creating the need for intensive tutoring. Over six weeks this summer, B&B will make about 50 hours of one-on-one tutoring available to Evanston students from marginalized communities. The project will enhance and extend B&B and District 65’s current COVID Reading Recovering initiative.

"It's Tough Enough"; Adolescent Mental Health in our Changing World.

This conference is for teens 14-18, community members, and mental health professionals.

Sunday, June 12 | 11:00 am - 6:00 pm

The Festival is Back: Joins Us in the Park! Save The Date!

Taking Down Goliath is a climate-focused community organizing training specifically for Jewish 18 to 32 year olds by Dayenu, A Jewish Call to Climate Action. All are welcome to nominate someone. This is one training, spread out over three sessions.