150th Anniversary Celebration

This year marks an historic occasion for our sacred community: CBE is celebrating its 150th year.  It is remarkable to think that when Congregation Beth Elohim was founded in 1862, Abraham Lincoln was President, the nation was at war to end slavery, and women were not allowed to vote.  While the issues we face today are different, our synagogue, rooted in Torah, Worship, and Deeds of Loving Kindness, has been a foundational presence in Brooklyn for generations.  

 

This coming year we will celebrate together, learn together, repair and restore our beloved buildings together, and carry on the inspiring work in the broader community that derives from the values expressed above the entrance to our Sanctuary at the corner of 8th Avenue and Garfield Place:  "Mine House Shall Be An House of Prayer for All People."  

 

Our year begins on October 7, 2012, when we open our 150th year commemoration with the writing of a new Sefer Torah.  This Sefer Torah will be the first of its kind in New York City to be written entirely by a woman scribe and will symbolize the ways in which our community has been a flame of both constancy and progress for the past century and a half in Brooklyn.  We will also host a Community-wide Hanukah Rededication Festival and our largest Gala on April 27, 2013.  We will cap off our year on September 22, 2013 with a Siyyum, or closing ceremony, when the final letters of the Torah are inscribed and we mark the occasion by singing and dancing in the streets.

 

Please read through the enclosed material, stay in touch with us at CBE, and celebrate with us as we honor our past, our present and our future!

 

Sincerely,

 

Charles Nathan                        Andy Bachman             Amy Bender 

President, Board of Trustee      Senior Rabbi                 150th Chair