Find community news & program details
in our weekly update, including:
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Parshat Tazria: d'var Torah from Rabbi Cohen
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Kesher: connecting our community
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April 14: Yom HaAtzmaut - Israel at 73
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April 18: Volunteer for community dinner
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Healing Blessings
Pesach Sheini • Zoom
A Second (Chocolate) Passover Seder
6:30 pm • Monday April 26
If one was not able to celebrate Passover on the first date it occurs, then according to Numbers 9:10-11 they can do so a month later. This is known as Pesach Sheini.
This year Rabbi Cohen is holding Pesach Sheini with a twist. All of the traditional seder foods, excluding the meal itself, will involve chocolate in some form or another. Rabbi Cohen will send out a resource sheet to everyone who is registered.
This is an event for all lovers of chocolate regardless of age.
ABOUT US:
Areas We Serve
Beth El serves a broad geographic area including southwestern Vermont, northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts, and eastern Rensselaer and Washington counties in New York. Click Contact to see a map of our location.
Affiliation
We are affiliated with Reconstructing Judaism .
Vision Statement
Congregation Beth El is a diverse and welcoming Jewish community, balancing traditional Jewish core strengths and values with a forward-looking perspective that respects our ever-evolving culture.
Building on an inherited congregational history dating back to 1909, Congregation Beth El looks to its history and roots for inspiration, while forging multiple paths for its members to address and express their Jewish identity.
Programs and activities that appeal to a wide range of congregants, opportunities to socialize with our geographically dispersed membership, and responsible financial stewardship are actions which will carry Congregation Beth El onward through a sustainable and secure second century.
Rabbi Emeritus Howard A Cohen
Rabbi Howard A Cohen, was our first full time rabbi in over 20 years when he came to the community in 1994. In 2006 he retired from full time pulpit work to pursue other interests. Currently, Howard is also the part time rabbi of Shirat Hayam, another small congregation located on Boston's South Shore, and the deputy chief (retired) of the Bennington Fire Department.
Contact Rabbi Cohen: voice/text 802-440-1023 ravfirefighter@gmail.com
Our Staff
Susan Armstrong is our Assistant Director, managing facilities, communications,
and day-to-day operations.
Contact Susan: phone 802-442-9645 cbevtoffice@gmail.com.
David Adams is our bookkeeper.
Dennis Rose provides facilities maintenance.
Our Trustees
Our Members
Click to meet some of our members through interviews
and stories lovingly collected by Susan Armstrong.
Wendy Klein-Faller, President
Diana Gradus, Vice President
Andrea Kolbe, Vice President
Karen Levin, Treasurer
Ellie Roden, Secretary
Scott Burg, Trustee
Stuart Duboff, Trustee
Alice Greenspan, Trustee
Spencer Jarrett, Trustee
Jeff Teitel, Trustee
Sarah Travis, Trustee
Congregation Beth El is an inclusive community for individuals and families. Our members have followed a wide variety of paths: some were raised Jewish, some are unfamiliar with the synagogue or the liturgy, while others are part of an inter-faith family. All are welcome.
We believe that Judaism requires a community, and it is as part of a community that we can best express and develop our spiritual paths.
Congregation Beth El depends on both dues and donations to maintain its home and provide and expand its wide range of services. We provide Jewish education, cultural and educational programming, and outreach for members and the wider community of all incomes and age groups.
It is traditional to provide donations not just during the High Holidays, but also to commemorate life-cycle events such as births and birthdays, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, weddings and anniversaries and Yahrzeits. We are grateful to all those who have given so generously.
Our secure online donation / contribution portal allows you to make a paperless payment by credit card, Paypal, or electronic transfer from your bank.
Thank you!
CONTACT:
Congregation Beth El
107 Adams St. Bennington VT 05201
phone: (802) 442-9645
email: cbevtoffice@gmail.com
Office Hours: suspended during pandemic.
Please call or email.