Join members of our community to study the weekly Torah portion. Through questions and conversations we’ll make meaning from our sacred texts. All texts are in English. All are welcome.

Led by Rabbi Vinikoor

Minnie Brown Center

SESSION 2: The West Bank Frontier: Partnership in the Face of Peril

An unflinching look at the West Bank as a shifting frontier, where escalating Israeli settler violence and the quiet momentum of de facto annexation are fundamentally altering the landscape. This session examines the severe toll these realities take on Palestinian lives, the integrity of Israeli democracy, and the work happening on the ground for Jewish-Palestinian reconciliation.

Childcare available on-site

Minnie Brown Center

Dive into the week's Torah portion with conversation and community.

Minnie Brown Center

Family Shabbat morning service with potluck lunch
10:00 am - Shabbat morning service led by Hebrew School students
11:30 am - Community catered lunch

Synagogue

Kabbalat Shabbat service led by Rabbi Vinikoor.

Synagogue

Ayelet Tsabari was born in Israel to a large family of Yemeni Jews. She is the author of The Art of Leaving, winner of the Canadian Jewish Literary Award for memoir, finalist for the Writer’s Trust Hilary Weston Prize, and an Apple Books and Kirkus Review Best Book of 2019.

We are so pleased that Ayelet Tsabari will be coming to Maine and speaking at Bowdoin College. This event is free and open to the public.

Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center, Bowdoin College

This year in observance of Yom HaShoah Jack Montgomery, a Freeport based photographer will speak about his recent book, From the Holocaust to Maine, Testimonies of the Survivors.

About the book, Jack writes: “This book has its origins more than 30 years ago, when I began photographing Maine’s Holocaust survivors…I began photographing seriously when I turned 40. After a few years learning the basics, I conceived my first project — photographing the faces of the people who had endured and survived the horrors of the Shoah. I listened carefully as we made the portraits together and heard their stories of rich lives before Hitler took power, the horrible experiences during the ensuing years, and then the remaking of their lives in Maine.”

In addition to Jack’s talk, we will have a brief service of remembrance for those murdered in the Holocaust.

Synagogue

Led by Rabbi Vinikoor

Yizkor means, “May God remember” and it is a series of prayers said in community on Yom Kippur as well as on the last day of Passover, Sukkot and Shavuot. This year, on the 7th day of Passover Rabbi Vinikoor will lead a morning service and lead us in reciting the Yizkor prayers for loved ones who have died in recent days and in years past. All our welcome.

Synagogue

Led by Rabbi Vinikoor

A monthly drop-in group to provide a space for any member of Beth Israel who is grieving a loss, be it for the death of a loved one or other types of loss and grief. This group seeks to create connection and support for participants wherever they are in their grief journey. Reach out to Rabbi Vinikoor with any questions.

Minnie Brown Center

Led by Rabbi Vinikoor and Alexina Haefner

Synagogue

Join our rabbinical apprentice Alexina Haefner for a different sort of Shabbat service. It will be a beautiful evening of guitar, communal singing and being together to welcome in rest and gratitude. Come ready to sing and learn new melodies! All are welcome!

Minnie Brown Center

Led by Rabbi Lisa Vinikoor

Email us for more information about the Passover Seder

We are teaming up with Beth Israel (Waterville), Temple Beth El (Augusta) and Adas Yoshuron (Rockland) for a four-part speaker series on Israel-Palestine.

We’ll meet in person at the Minnie Brown Center to engage with the speaker on Zoom together, then we’ll gather for snacks and discussion.

 Our first speaker will be Michael Koplow Chief Policy Officer at the Israel Policy Forum. The Forum’s goal is to build support for a secure, Jewish, democratic Israel and constructive U.S. policies that help to advance a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on two states. They do that by elevating the public discourse and advancing pragmatic U.S. policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S.-Israel relations, and regional diplomacy among policymakers and community leaders.

Minnie Brown Center

Join Rabbi Lisa Vinikoor for a Shabbat morning service.

Synagogue

Kabbalat Shabbat service led by Rabbi Vinikoor.

Synagogue

What are we saying when we say that someone or something is antisemitic? Where did the term come from? And what’s the history behind the behavior and speech that we call antisemitic? In this 4-part course we will talk about history, going back to the time of Christ and moving forward to the contemporary world. We will talk about language, action and response. We will talk about our own experiences of antisemitism. 

This class will be taught by John Dunn, a faculty member of Midcoast Senior College and member of Beth Israel. 

Please register for the class by emailing office@bethisraelbath.org. In addition, please borrow or buy the book Antisemitism: Here and Now by Deborah E. Lipstadt.

Minnie Brown Center

Join Irwin Brodsky for a Shabbat morning service.

Synagogue

Gather together for a meal of soup and bread.

Synagogue.

What are we saying when we say that someone or something is antisemitic? Where did the term come from? And what’s the history behind the behavior and speech that we call antisemitic? In this 4-part course we will talk about history, going back to the time of Christ and moving forward to the contemporary world. We will talk about language, action and response. We will talk about our own experiences of antisemitism. 

This class will be taught by John Dunn, a faculty member of Midcoast Senior College and member of Beth Israel. 

Please register for the class by emailing office@bethisraelbath.org. In addition, please borrow or buy the book Antisemitism: Here and Now by Deborah E. Lipstadt.

Minnie Brown Center

A monthly drop-in group to provide a space for any member of Beth Israel who is grieving a loss, be it for the death of a loved one or other types of loss and grief. This group seeks to create connection and support for participants wherever they are in their grief journey. Reach out to Rabbi Vinikoor with any questions.

Minnie Brown Center

Purim Megillah reading followed by carnival and snacks..

Come in Costume -  Fun for All

Bowdoin College

Family Shabbat morning service with potluck lunch
10:00 am - Shabbat morning service led by Hebrew School students
11:30 am - Potluck lunch

Synagogue

Musical Kabbalat Shabbat Service with Rabbinical Apprentice Alexina Haefner

Minnie Brown Center - new location

What are we saying when we say that someone or something is antisemitic? Where did the term come from? And what’s the history behind the behavior and speech that we call antisemitic? In this 4-part course we will talk about history, going back to the time of Christ and moving forward to the contemporary world. We will talk about language, action and response. We will talk about our own experiences of antisemitism. 

This class will be taught by John Dunn, a faculty member of Midcoast Senior College and member of Beth Israel. 

Please register for the class by emailing office@bethisraelbath.org. In addition, please borrow or buy the book Antisemitism: Here and Now by Deborah E. Lipstadt.

Minnie Brown Center

A monthly drop-in group to provide a space for any member of Beth Israel who is grieving a loss, be it for the death of a loved one or other types of loss and grief. This group seeks to create connection and support for participants wherever they are in their grief journey. Reach out to Rabbi Vinikoor with any questions.

Minnie Brown Center

Join Rabbi Lisa Vinikoor for a Shabbat morning service.

Synagogue

Kabbalat Shabbat service led by Rabbi Vinikoor.

Synagogue

What are we saying when we say that someone or something is antisemitic? Where did the term come from? And what’s the history behind the behavior and speech that we call antisemitic? In this 4-part course we will talk about history, going back to the time of Christ and moving forward to the contemporary world. We will talk about language, action and response. We will talk about our own experiences of antisemitism. 

This class will be taught by John Dunn, a faculty member of Midcoast Senior College and member of Beth Israel. 

Please register for the class by emailing office@bethisraelbath.org. In addition, please borrow or buy the book Antisemitism: Here and Now by Deborah E. Lipstadt.

Minnie Brown Center

Lay led Shabbat morning service.

Synagogue

Whether you’ve tried to make a family tree in the past or just didn’t know where to start, this class will introduce you to the online tools available for you to find out more about your ancestors.

Instructor Rebecca Dunham

Minnie Brown Center