Welcome to
Congregation Beth Israel
Corpus Christi
Congregation Beth Israel is a A Union of Temple Beth El & B'nai Israel Synagogue. We are a Reform and Conservative Synagogue located in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Shabbat Service Schedule
Fridays: 6:30 pm
Saturdays: 9:00 am
~Due to ongoing security concerns, we request that visitors and newcomers to the community please contact us before attending services. We look forward to speaking with you and welcoming you to our congregation.
Office Hours
Monday-Thursday: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Friday: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Saturday and Sunday: Closed
Past, Present, and Future - South Texas has committed itself to continuing a strong sense of Jewish pride and a dedication to upholding the Jewish faith and cultural traditions. We offer a variety of enrichment classes, social outreach programs and mitzvah opportunities. Generations of families and friends have helped make the Jewish community in Corpus Christi and its surrounding areas the stronghold it is today. Today's families enthusiastically welcome tomorrow's new members.
Rabbi Gabrielle Cohn
Dear CBI Family,
This past month, I had the opportunity to attend the CCAR (Central Conference of American Rabbis) annual convention in Chicago, IL. Together with 500 Reform rabbis from around the world we prayed, we studied text, and we learned skills and tools to help us with our rabbinates. I found myself in a room full of rabbis of all ages and was blessed to learn along with people ordained over 50 years ago. It reminded me of the importance of intergenerational learning. As we enter into April and the celebration of Passover, I am thinking of how Seder is a great time to capitalize on learning with people of all ages. Our second night Passover Seder will bring together several generations that are present in our community to come together to pray, to eat, and to celebrate Passover. When I was in college I took a Talmud class fully focused on the study of Passover in the Talmud. We learned about how the whole point of a Passover Seder is to engage everyone, get people asking questions, and especially to engage the kids at the table. The rabbis would even place nuts in the middle of the table for people to snack on to keep the kids happy throughout the long Seder. As we enter into spring and prepare to celebrate Passover both together and at home. I invite you to try to learn the story of someone from a different generation than yourself, either older or younger, and find ways to connect and learn from their story. May we continue to learn from each other not only during Passover, but in the months ahead as we continue to build community together.
Happy Passover and Happy Spring,
Rabbi Gabrielle Cohn
David Krams, Congregation Beth Israel President
CBI Friends,
One of the biggest joys for me during my term as CBI president is when we have a great turnout at a CBI event. Over the past few weeks, we fortunately had several of those events again, with our Sisterhood Shabbat and then our Purim celebration. Thank you to Sisterhood, and then Odelia, Love and Frank Rios and the wonderful children of religious school. We all really enjoyed the Beauty and the Beast themed Spiel during services as we celebrated Purim that evening. It is great to see our Congregation come together to celebrate, pray and break bread (aka Pizza) together.
Another great event was Sisterhood’s Shout-out to go see the Fiddler on the Roof matinee performance at the Harbor Playhouse. Besides having our very own CBI member, Bethany Goldson, as the play’s director and music director, we got to enjoy Marcus Lozano act and sing on stage as well. Great job!! Many of our congregants attended… and I was fortunate enough to obtain many of your autographs!
In a few weeks, we look forward to another special event, our Congregation’s second night Passover Seder. If you haven’t already done so, please make your reservations and plan on attending.
The CBI Board continues to be actively addressing the needs of the Congregation, and among other items the Board recently approved retiring the use of the Gates of Remembrance for CBI’s Reform High Holy Day Services and purchase Mishkan HaNefesh: Machzor for the Days of Awe. This CCAR published prayerbook is in the same format as Mishkan T’filah, CBI’s current Reform Siddur, used for Shabbat. Updating our High Holy Day prayer books has been an item of discussion for a few years. And we are fortunate that Sisterhood has provided significant funds toward this initiative, and for the year Sisterhood has already donated a much needed $46,000 to the congregation.
Since the last newsletter, Chris Adler formed the Nominating Committee to fill open positions for next year’s Board of Trustees and has already completed their work with nominations. Thank you Chris! Included in this bulletin is the list of nominees. As a reminder, our fiscal year ends on May 31, so please ensure you fulfill your annual dues commitment by then.
As we close the fiscal year, we are saddened by the recent CBI member passings of Melvyn Klein and Mike Trimyer. Both dedicated to Judaism and our Congregation. We will dearly miss them and their steadfast support.
As always, if you have any CBI questions or have an issue or concern, please feel free to contact me or another board member.
Be safe and Shalom,
David Krams
CBI President
2024-2025
CBI Officers
and Trustees
OFFICERS
President
David Krams
1st Vice-President
Dr. Gary Blum
2nd Vice-President
Phyllis Roseman
Secretary
Leslie Levy
Treasurer
David Beck
Past President
Mike Trimyer
Sisterhood President
Amy Krams
TRUSTEES
Chris Adler
Roslyn Ferrell
Jordan Hans
Michael Hiatt
Fifi Kieschnick
Carol Kins
David Loeb
Robert Schmitchel
Dr. Bryan Stone
Jeffrey Pollack
Sue Williams,
Maury Wolfson
Sisterhood Organization
Sisterhood offers an opportunity for women to find spiritual, educational and friendship bonds within the congregation. For Sisterhood membership form, click here. For 2024-2025 Sisterhood Calendar, click here.
A tradition for over 30 years, the Sisterhood Organization's Annual Fundraiser serves delicious meals of Jewish Delicacies plus a sweet shop. This event usually takes place second weekend of November. CLICK HERE for more information.
