Caring Community
The duties of the Caring Community according to the constitution
- Shall assist elderly or infirm members of the Congregation who need aid and comfort
- Provide expressions of concern for members of the Congregation who are seriously ill or otherwise incapacitated, or who have suffered the loss of a family member
- Aid members of the Congregation who have suffered material or other losses
- Perform other related duties when requested by the Senior Rabbi, President, or Board of Trustees.
The Caring Community Committee continued on the path of change this year. We continue to work toward our goal of helping the Congregation weave the tapestry of community more tightly. Every member of the congregation has been placed in a Chavurah with other CBI members that reside within their zip code. David Kline continues to assist with Chavurah assignments. Thanks to Pam Hanna’s assistance, the Chavurah assignments have been added to the information in Membership Management so members wanting an up-to-date list of who is in their Chavurah can get it by calling or emailing the office.
Many Chavurot have met, extending the Temple community out into our neighborhoods. People are enjoying getting to know new friends. Also, meals are being delivered by Chavurah members to others within their Chavurah when needed due to illness or family emergency. The Congregational tradition of delivering Comfort Bags to bereaved members continues with the bags being delivered by members of their Chavurah.
The relationships begun with the “Friendly Visitor Program” have continued. The visitors were put in the same Chavurah as the people they were asked to visit, to enable the strengthening of those relationships.
Meryl Wasserman continues the mitzvah of sending Sympathy cards on behalf of the Congregation. Andy Jew continues to provide the beautiful handmade cards.
In addition to the meals distributed by the Neighborhood Chavurot, Caring Community worked in conjunction with Sisterhood to distribute meals as needed to members with illness or family emergency.
For the next year, the focus of the Caring Community Committee will remain primarily on continuing to strengthen the Neighborhood Chavurah program. We will continue working jointly with the Membership Committee to utilize the structure of the Neighborhood Chavurah program to help welcome new members into our Congregation.