Congregation Beth Israel

All Events

Thursday ,
OctOctober 9 , 2025

Sukkot in the Garden
Thursday, Oct 9th 12:00p to 1:00p
Join us for an afternoon of music, joy, and community in the CBI Garden Sukkah
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Saturday ,
OctOctober 11 , 2025

Women's Shabbaton
Shabbat, Oct 11th 3:00p to 4:45p
CBI will celebrate Sukkot this year with two great events: our Women’s Shabbaton returns on Saturday, October 11 from 3 - 5 pm, led by Cantor Alisa Fineman and Rabbi Eli Cohen (of Chadeish Yameinu of Santa Cruz). Rabbi Leah Novick will also offer a special teaching and meditation. Come to pray and study together in an intimate setting in and around our Sukkah. No prior knowledge of Hebrew or Judaism required! Our Women's Shabbaton is always a beautiful experience with a meaningful blend of Torah study and Jewish learning combined with a commitment to enhance spirituality and build community. The Women’s Shabbaton is a free event, open to women of all ages (donations to defray costs gratefully accepted). RSVPs greatly appreciated.
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Friday ,
OctOctober 24 , 2025

Community Shabbat Dinner
Friday, Oct 24th 6:15p to 7:30p
Join us as we offer blessings for the bread and wine, enjoy a delicious dinner, and sing traditional music to begin our erev Shabbat. Evening services follow at 6:30 pm. The cost is $18 for adults and $10 for military & children. Online registration ends the evening before the dinner. Once online registration closes, please call the office to check availability.
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Sunday ,
NovNovember 2 , 2025

CJFF Opening Celebration: No Name Restaurant
Sunday, Nov 2nd 3:00p to 5:00p
2:30pm Seating. 3:00-5:00pm Film Followed by an Opt-In Dinner at Flaherty’s Restaurant in Carmel In this spirited and absurdist culture-clash comedy, two men of different strict religious faiths - a lost and befuddled ultra-Orthodox Jew from Brooklyn and a dyspeptic but helpful Bedouin man - must work together to survive in the Sinai Desert. The lost and befuddled Ben missed his flight to Alexandria, where he is to help the ever-dwindling Jewish community in need of a 10th man for its Passover celebration. Adel, a Bedouin man driving a Renault 4, is trying to track down his runaway camel. After Adel’s car breaks down, the men travel on foot, giving their plans a chance to go increasingly haywire. Comedy, 2 hours, Hebrew, Arabic, and English with English subtitles
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Thursday ,
NovNovember 6 , 2025

CJFF: The Other
Thursday, Nov 6th 6:30p to 9:00p
6:30 pm Light Snacks. 7:00pm Film An award-winning documentary exploring the complex relationship of shared humanity, culture, and connection between Israelis & Palestinians - and the transformative journey that follows when they are faced with meeting ‘the other’. Filmed amidst the difficulty of the conflict and occupation. A profound work of art about people committed to peace in a land and life and circumstance where they are not the norm. The Other offers an extraordinary example of what we are all capable of as humans. Documentary, 1:50
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Saturday ,
NovNovember 8 , 2025

CJFF: Ain't No Back to a Merry Go Round
Motzei Shabbat, Nov 8th 7:00p to 9:00p
Join Us at the Newly Renovated Lighthouse Cinema 7:00pm 525 Lighthouse Ave, Pacific Grove Five Howard students sat down on the gilded horses of a whites-only carousel at Glen Echo Amusement Park (MD) in1960. The white community nearby, mostly middle age and mostly Jewish, joined the Black students en masse and set up picket lines--an unprecedented collaboration was born. Then the American Nazi party showed up. Picketing together led to partying together. Union organizers mentored student activists, ultimately producing ten 1961 Freedom Riders, including Stokely Carmichael, and a Supreme Court case. With never-before seen footage, and immersive storytelling by Emmy-award winning director Ilana Trachtman, four living protesters rescue this untold story, revealing the price, and the power, of heeding the impulse to activism. Documentary 1:30
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Sunday ,
NovNovember 9 , 2025

CJFF: The Plunderer: The Life and Times of a Nazi Art Thief
Sunday, Nov 9th 1:00p to 5:00p
Special Event: La Mirada, Monterey Museum of Art 1:00pm VIP Reception and Art Book Sale: $10 per Bag of Books; $20 per Box 2:00-4:00pm Film 4:00-5:00pm Post-Film Discussion Corey Madden, Executive Director, The Monterey Museum of Art-MMA
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Thursday ,
NovNovember 13 , 2025

CJFF: An Evening of Shorts
Thursday, Nov 13th 6:30p to 8:30p
SandBox: https://sandboxsandcity.com 440 Ortiz Ave, Sand City 6:30pm Doors Open & Light Snacks; 7:00pm Films "Iron Ladies" Documentary 51 minutes This film by Irish director Aoife Kelleher tells the true story of "The 35s," a network of British and Irish Jewish women who organized daring protests and clandestine missions during the Cold War to support persecuted Soviet "Refusenik" Jews seeking to emigrate to Israel. The film features interviews, archival footage, and insights from former Refuseniks and the former head of Nativ, an Israeli agency that supported the activists. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suy4XNah5Aw “Hope on the Water” Documentary 8 mins This film was meant to document the Pink Lionesses’ dragon boat competition, but the event’s tragic overlap with the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack changed the course of their journey and the film. "Paddling for Life" Documentary 18 mins. About the Pink Lionesses in Israel, a unique women sports group whose common goal is to recover and recuperate from breast cancer. They paddle in Dragon Boats, on the Sea of Galilee and the Yarkon River, Israel. These women choose action, caring, and camaraderie despite their personal difficulties. Website: https://www.7thart.com/films/paddling-for-life/ "Fiddler on the Moon” Documentary 30 minutes Fiddler answers the question that has plagued scientists, theologians and comedians for millennia: Will Judaism survive in space? Starring Neil deGrasse Tyson, astronauts Jeffrey Hoffman and Jessica Meir and a quorum of rabbis and researchers. Trailer: https://www.ironboundfilms.com/fiddleronthemoon Website: https://www.ironboundfilms.com/fiddleronthemoon
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Saturday ,
NovNovember 15 , 2025

CJFF: Sabbath Queen
Motzei Shabbat, Nov 15th 7:00p to 8:45p
522 Central Avenue, Pacific Grove (diagonally opposite PG’s Museum of Natural History) 6:30pm Light Snacks, 7:00pm Film, 8:30pm Post-Film Discussion Sabbath Queen, filmed over 21 years, follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie's journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis including the Chief Rabbis of Israel. He is torn between rejecting and embracing his destiny and becomes a drag-queen rebel, a queer bio-dad and the founder of Lab/Shul—an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation. The film documents Amichai’s quest to creatively and radically reinvent religion and ritual, to challenge patriarchy and supremacy, to champion interfaith love, and to stand up for peace. The film interrogates what Jewish survival means in a difficult rapidly changing 21st century. Documentary: 1:45
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