Core Teams

We are creating this community together and are incredibly grateful for all the ways our members contribute their time and energy. It is a holy act to create and sustain community.

Illustration with blessing for community in Hebrew, English

Current teams:

Gatherings Team

  • Plans all programming, including Shabbat and holidays
  • Determines COVID policy based on science and community needs 
  • Leader: Emma Reed
  • Current team members: Fan, Jennie, Laurel, Rowan, Rabbi Miriam

Have questions or want to join this team? Contact Emma.

Community Team

  • Helps foster relationships between community members
  • Facilitates chesed support (mealtrains, mutual aid, shiva gatherings, etc.)
  • Leader: Christiana Cacciato
  • Current team members: Harley, Julie, Mist, Tim, Rabbi Miriam

Have questions or want to join this team? Need chesed support? Contact Christiana.

Israel/Palestine Working Group

  • Helps determine our Israel/Palestine priorities and plan activities related to learning, spiritual and emotional nourishment, and action.
  • Informed by the Israel/Palestine Community Meeting held on January 21st and subsequent survey. Will continue to seek input from all members.
  • Leader: Rabbi Miriam Geronimus
  • Current group members: Celeste, Cicely, Danny, Elan, Harley, Jennie, Kae, Karly, Mark, Nicole, Lila, Lucie, Tim

Teams we hope to add soon:

  • Finance Team – in charge of fundraising and keeping track of finances
  • Kids Education Team – in charge of designing a kids education program
  • Justice Team – in charge of determining our justice priorities and how we want to approach justice issues as a community
  • Governance Working Group – formalize governance structures, with lots of opportunities for community input

Have questions or want to help form one of these teams? Contact Rabbi Miriam.

More teams will emerge, and the above teams may shift or disband, as the community’s needs shift, new needs arise, and our capacity increases.

Past teams:

Visioning Team

Art by Emma Reed

Blessings for community work & formation

feminine, non-theistic, masculine, and nonbinary Hebrew options

Decision making at CJC

Currently at CJC, most decision making happens within our Core Teams, each of which is tasked with a particular focus. Any CJC member is welcome to join any team.

The Gatherings Team has existed since November 2020, when Rabbi Miriam convened a group to plan our first event, a Zoom Chanukah party. Many people have served on this team at one time or another, cycling on and off based on their capacity. This is the team that is responsible for planning our regular gatherings, including Shabbat and holidays. They also have been in charge of our COVID policy. We have periodically sought input via surveys and informal conversations, to get a sense of COVID needs and comfort, and interest in various kinds of activities and gatherings. We have approached everything as an experiment, as we learn how best to serve people’s needs.

The Community Team came together in June 2023 to foster connections between community members and to create structures that enable members to support each other during challenging times.

The Israel/Palestine Working Group is our newest group, formed in February 2024 in response to the growing need and desire for CJC to take action around Israel/Palestine. This group is tasked with determining our Israel/Palestine priorities and planning activities related to learning, spiritual and emotional nourishment, and action. They are informed by the Israel/Palestine Community Meeting held on January 21st and subsequent survey, and will continue to seek input from all members.

The Visioning Team existed from March 2022 through December 2023. Rabbi Miriam identified leaders who had been part of the Gatherings Team and had shown excitement and commitment to the community. She also strived to create a team that was as representative as possible of the community. This team was tasked with coming up with a membership structure and with community values. Because these are big, important decisions, we used a consultative decision-making process. The team did a bunch of research and came up with ideas, and then gathered as much feedback as possible from the community in order to refine their ideas. You can read more about this approach to decision-making here. This team dissolved once we finalized our community values by unanimous vote in December, 2023.

In 2024, we plan to convene a Governance Working Group that will help us figure out how to embody our values and formalize governance structures through a code of conduct and bylaws. This group will dissolve once it has completed its task. If you’re interested in being part of this working group, please let Rabbi Miriam know.