Vancouver USA's Reform Congregation
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About Vancouver USA
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The bulletins are stored as Adobe PDF files which can be viewed with Acrobat Reader. The latest version is available free from http://www.adobe.com. Bulletins are published monthly. These newsletters are available. They may take a while to open, so
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Past Bulletins:
Our historyCongregation Kol Ami began in 1989 as the Jewish Community Association of Southwest Washington (JCASW). Our initial goal was to provide a feeling of community for the Jewish population of southwest Washington. From that initial social group we have grown into a thriving congregation of nearly 100 member families. Our volunteer board works with our members to continue to expand our programs and services. In 1994, we started our Sunday School, in 1995 we got our Torah and in 1996, we established a Jewish cemetery. In 1998, we adopted our vision statement (The JCASW will be the cornerstone for living, learning and celebrating Jewish life in southwest Washington) and officially voted to become a congregation, continuing to provide social opportunities for our Jewish community, but redirecting our focus to emphasize programs aimed at meeting the spiritual needs of our members. In 1999, we officially voted to pursue hiring of a rabbi. In preparation for this, we undertook a 2 year "Values and Visions" process to better define who we were and what we wanted. Who are we? We are liberal, egalitarian and inclusive. We respect and value diversity and encourage participation of interfaith families and non-Jews. What do we want? More members favored hiring a leader over a building as the next step and more people favored hiring a rabbi over a religious educator. Our Rabbi Search Committee is currently in high gear and we hope to hire a rabbi within 2 years. In 2001, we changed our name to Congregation Kol Ami (voice of our people) and in August 2002, we voted to hire our first formal congregational leader: Jan Rabinowitch. Jan is a gifted Jewish educator who has been involved with our community since the early 1990s. Until June of 2004, Jan led most of our shabbat services (about twice monthly). In August of 2004, the congregation voted unanimously to pursue affiliation with the reform movement. We were accepted into the URJ in December 2004. In June 2005, we welcomed Susan Cosden as our Director of Life-Long Learning. Susan received her Master of Arts in Jewish Education from the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion and is a past board member of the National Association of Temple Educators. In her half-time role with Kol Ami through 2006, she was in charge of the further development of our religious school curriculum, the introduction of our Mitkadem Hebrew learning program, and oversight of our teachers and volunteers. In addition, she helped support our membership and community outreach programs. In August of 2005, we celebrated the culmination of our 4 year rabbi search process with the hiring of Rabbi Aviva Bass. Rabbi Bass won the hearts and souls of our congregation with her energy, warmth, and enthusiasm not to mention her beautiful voice.
Rabbi Bass received her ordination at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College then spent time serving congregations in Australia and New Zealand. She joined our congregation after serving as Associate Rabbi for a reform congregation in Georgia. For more information, please see the newspaper article or the press release. Rabbi Bass was officially installed as our first rabbi during a beautiful Shabbat service on November 4, 2005. We were pleased that so many people of diverse faiths attended in support of this important occasion. She was co-ordained into the Union of Reform Judaism in 2006. In September of 2006, the Kol Ami religious school got a home of its own with the dedication of the Kol Ami Learning Center (KALC). At the same time, we were pleased to welcome Lauren Trexler to our congregational family as our Religious School and Congregational Coordinator. Lauren has a BA in Comparative Religious Studies and won the Lewenthal Award for Outstanding Jewish Studies in 2003. Besides her excellent leadership skills, Lauren brings to Kol Ami her energy, enthusiasm, and extensive experience with youth programs. On Jan 10, 2007, the community was overjoyed to learn of the arrival of twin sons to Rabbi Aviva and husband Daniel. We are looking forward to celebrating their many joyous life events over the coming years. We continue to have an active social calendar with programs for adults, teens, and children. We are committed to tikkun olam through our many tzedakah projects including our annual blood drive, fund-raisers for national and international Jewish organizations, and ongoing collection of food and materials for the homeless in our county. To join the fun, or just learn more about us, give us a call at (360)-896-8088  Michael Herson, head of our Torah Acquisition Committee, shows the results of his efforts.
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Congregation Kol Ami - (360) 896-8088 - office@jewishvancouverusa.com |
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