BZBI

Tuesday & Wednesday Morning Minyan
2026-02-24 07:45 - 08:30 (America/New_York) | Zoom Only
Join us for Tuesday and Wednesday morning Minyan on Zoom: click here for more information.
To join Tuesday and Wednesday morning Minyan on Zoom, click here.

The Book of Daniel with Rabbi Ira Stone
2026-02-24 10:30 - 11:30 | Zoom Only
Weekly on Tuesday’s, Starting October 21 at 10:30 AM on Zoom
This year our weekly Tanach class will study the last and possibly strangest book of the Bible, the Book of Daniel. Written in the 2nd century BCE purporting to describe events hundreds of years earlier, the book has long been a source for both Jewish and Christian readers of mystical, apocalyptic, and eschatological speculation, including the first Scriptural mention of the idea of the resurrection of the dead. The book has also served as a source for literary allusions throughout the history of Western literature and is certainly one that we should be more familiar with. Join us for the adventure!Click here to register.
A zoom link will be distributed ahead of the first class meeting after participants have registered. The cost is $180 for BZBI members and $250 for community members.

World Zionist Congress Delegate Panel
2026-02-25 18:30 - 20:00 | Kahaner Auditorium
Last year, American Jews like us voted in record numbers to send delegates to the 39th World Zionist Congress that met in Jerusalem in October 2025.
Now hear what happened from a panel of local area delegates from four different slates:

Rabbi Jay Kornsgold from Beth El in E. Windsor NJ, President of the Rabbinical Assembly (Mercaz)
Mark Levenson, President of the American Zionist Movement (Religious Zionists)
Rabbi Jill Maderer from Rodeph Shalom (Arza)
Yael Dormont (Hatikvah)

Click here to register. This discussion will be moderated by BZBI member Arlene Fickler.

Monday & Thursday Morning Minyan
2026-02-26 07:45 - 08:30 | In the Chapel & on Zoom
Join us for Minyan in the Chapel & on Zoom on both Monday and Thursday mornings: for more information, click here.
To join Monday or Thursday morning Minyan on Zoom, click here.

It's About Time: Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism
2026-02-26 12:00 - 13:30
Join BZBI’s Rabbi Abi Weber and Mekor Habracha’s Rabbi Steven Gotlib as they co-teach a 5-session series in Center City (near Market Street). The focus will be the book Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism by Dr. Sarit Kattan Gribetz (Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Yale University). The class is $36 per session and kosher lunch will be served.
Click here to register.
(Center City location – address given upon registration)

Hebrew Reading II
2026-02-26 18:00 - 19:00 | BZBI, 300 South 18th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, United States
Thursdays, 6:00-7:15 PM at BZBI – January 22 through May 7 (Please note class will not take place on April 2 & April 9 due to Pesach)
For those who know the alef-bet who want to expand their vocabulary of prayerbook and Biblical Hebrew and learn some grammar. This class is a continuation of last year’s Hebrew Reading I but newcomers are welcome. We will use the First Hebrew Primer, 3rd ed available from:

Amazon
EKS

Register Now.

Hebrew Reading I
2026-02-26 19:30 - 20:30 | BZBI, 300 South 18th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, United States
Thursdays, 7:30-8:45 PM at BZBI (materials provided) – January 22 through May 7 (please note that class will not meet on April 2 & April 9 due to Pesach)
For anyone who wants to learn the alef-bet and some basic prayerbook vocabulary—or those feeling rusty at reading Hebrew aloud. We will use the innovative text-booklet from the National Jewish Outreach Project.
Register Now.

Friday Morning Mindful Minyan
2026-02-27 07:45 - 08:30 | Zoom Only
Join us for Friday morning Mindful Minyan: click here for more information.
Join Friday Morning Mindful Minyan by clicking here.

Young Professionals Kabbalat Shabbat & Dinner
2026-02-27 18:00 - 20:30
Join BZBI’s Young Professionals group for Kabbalat Shabbat Services led by Rabbi Kenneth A. Stern and Goldie dinner afterwards!
Click here to register.
For questions or to learn more about our Young Professionals group – contact Hope Wright at BZBIYoungProfessionals@gmail.com.

Shabbat Services
2026-02-28 09:30 - 12:00 | In the Sanctuary & on Zoom
This week, BZBI holds services in the Sanctuary and on Zoom.

The Zoom link for BZBI religious services changed in September. You can sign up for the new link here.
You can download Siddur Sim Shalom, used during Shabbat by going here.
The weekly Torah parashah can be found on our shofar blog, here.

For more information, please click here.

Purim at BZBI
2026-03-01 - 2026-03-03
BZBI Purim Carnival – Sunday, March 1 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Enjoy an early afternoon of carnival games, sweet and savory treats, performances, face painting and arts and crafts at BZBI. We invite you to beat the cold with us for some Purim fun INSIDE the BZBI building. People of ALL ages are welcome to join us for this afternoon of fun and games.
This is our biggest volunteer event of the year – click here to sign up for a volunteer shift.
Megillah Reading and Purim Pub – Monday, March 2 from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Join us in the Goldberg Sanctuary for the Megillah reading and afterwards for a festive Purim Pub and Karaoke night. Our special guest and Drag Queen Bubbie Merriam Levkowitz will be MCing and joining us for the evening! Snacks and drinks will be provided at the pub. All are welcome.

Sunday Morning Minyan and Schmooze
2026-03-01 09:00 - 10:30 | BZBI chapel
Join us every Sunday morning for a spirited, musical service: click here for more information.
To join Sunday morning Minyan on Zoom, click here.

Zohar Study Group led by Rabbi David Greenstein
2026-03-02 20:00 - 21:30 | Zoom Only
Weekly on Monday evenings at 8:00 PM on Zoom – starting September 8, please note the course will meet twice in September (8 & 29) and then resume weekly after the High Holy Days on October 20
Word by word, line by line, page by page, we follow the Zohar, the most precious book of Jewish mystical teachings, as it leads us along its paths of primordial wisdom. By turns profound, puzzling, shocking and amusing, the Zohar helps us, through our study and our open discussions, to taste of the Tree of Life. Our studies touch on such topics as – the nature of God, the relationship between God and the world, the human soul, the purpose of life, Jewish traditions and their meanings, sexuality and holiness, good and evil, caring for one’s self and caring for others.
This course will run every Monday throughout the academic year. The cost is $180 for BZBI members and $250 for community members.
Click here to register.

First Friday Dinner & Kabbalat Shabbat Services
2026-03-06 18:00 - 20:30 | BZBI, 300 South 18th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, United States
We are pleased to invite the entire BZBI family to save the date for First Friday Dinners!
This year, there are three main items to note:

ALL of the dinners will be catered by BZBI’s preferred partner, Panache by Foodarama, Panache serves a variety of delicious food options and always sends more than we need, fulfilling the Jewish truism that “if there aren’t leftovers, you didn’t make enough food.”

There will only be ONE dinner each month – Kabbalat Shabbat will take place at 6:00 PM, followed by dinner at 7:15 PM. Stay tuned for information about the L’dor Vador dinners on second Fridays, which will take place earlier.

Sponsorship and subscriptions are now available. Of course, you can always register on a monthly basis as well.

Sponsorship Levels: Household: $720/Individual $360

Full 7 Dinner Subscription: $200 per adult, $100 per child (under 3 are free)
Individual Adult Dinners: $36 non-member, $30 member
Individual Child Dinners: $18 non-member, $15 member

All the details are included here: www.bzbi.org/firstfridays
First Fridays are part of our new focus on making BZBI a Friday night destination for all of Center City. Stay tuned for details about Family Friday events, special musical Shabbats, and more!
Save these dates for a year of great Friday Nights:

March 6, 2026
May 1, 2026
June 5, 2026

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Sixers Jewish Heritage Night
2026-03-10 19:00 - 21:00
Come join Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel as they cheer on the 76ers at the Xfinity Mobile Arena! Tickets are $40 each – click here to get yours!
Included with ticket purchase:
• Group shoutout on jumbotron
• Access to pre-game warm-ups at 5:30 PM
• 25th Anniversary Rally Towel
• Jewish Heritage 76ers T-Shirt
• There will be a donation to the BZBI Men’s Club with each ticket purchased

L’Dor Vador Dinners and Services - Intergenerational Friday Night Shabbat at BZBI
2026-03-13 18:00 - 20:00 | Kahaner Auditorium
November 14 * December 12 * January 9 * March 13 * May 15
Enjoy a child-friendly Kabbalat Shabbat service and stay for dinner to meet other families with children who participate in our preschool, Tot Shabbat, Neziner After School Judaics Program and Shabbat No’ar!
Dinners are $36/household – stay tuned for registration.

BZBI goes to the theater: Marsha Blovotnick and the Marvelous, Magical Chicken Soup by Dan Kitrosser
2026-03-15 14:00 - 17:00
Sunday, March 15 at 2:00 PM – The Bluver Theatre @ The Drake (302 S. Hicks Street)
Marsha Blovotnick is angry. At the world. At her ex-wives. At her nephew. And especially at her sister—who has just invited herself over for Shabbat dinner. Marsha doesn’t know how she’ll get through the evening… and then a mysterious ancestor appears bearing a pot of magical chicken soup that just might heal the world. Will Marsha simmer down long enough to actually serve the magical soup? Could this “Jewish penicillin” truly be the cure for what annoys her? Find out in this hysterical and tender world premiere from one of Philly’s funniest writers!
Special price for BZBI members: $25.00 (regular price: $38.75) – purchase tickets here by March 10!

Clean Your Pantry for Pesah - Food Drive
2026-03-16 - 2026-03-26
Donate unopened and unexpired packages of canned goods, pasta, rice, chickpeas and legumes for our annual Pesah Food Drive! A bin will be available in the 18th Street Lobby to drop off donations.
Donated items will be taken to Temple University’s Cherry pantry for students in need.

Winter Shelter Volunteering
2026-03-16 17:45 - 19:00 | Trinity Memorial Church, 2212 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, United States
Trinity Memorial Church is home to a shelter of 20 beds for homeless men run by the Bethesda Project. Our own BZBI member Terry Hirshorn coordinates dinner there every evening from November through April. Join the Tikkun Olam Committee by volunteering to prepare a dish (for 8-10 people) AND/OR to serve the meal and get to know the guys!
Sign up by Thursday 3/12 to provide a dish AND/OR serve the meal at BZBI @ Winter Shelter 2026. Please see the guidelines on that page. Contact Bill Brookover with any questions.

Third Annual BZBI Urban Shabbaton!
2026-03-20
Registration is now LIVE: Third Annual BZBI Urban Shabbaton!
Friday, March 20 – Sunday, March 22
Join your BZBI community for three days of learning, singing, eating, davening, and shmoozing! This year’s Urban Shabbaton will feature a full slate of guest lecturers, classes taught by community members, and a performance by the Penn Shabbatones.
Register here — you won’t want to miss it!

Pesah Wine & Cheese Tasting
2026-03-23 17:00 - 19:00
Join us for our Passover Wine and Cheese Tasting with Rosenberg Blue Star Wines. Buy all of your Passover wine and candy for your Seders and support BZBI and our Youth & Family and Early Childhood Education Programs!

Tikkun Olam Lunch & Learn: There Shall Be No Needy
2026-03-26 12:30 - 14:00
Join Rabbi Abi Weber, Davida Charney, and Bill Brookover for our next Tikkun Olam Lunch & Learn! Each month, we will meet to discuss There Shall Be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice Through Jewish Law & Tradition by Rabbi Jill Jacobs. Please read Chapter 2 ahead of the meeting.
Don’t worry if you don’t get to it in time — we’ll have source sheets available! Lunch will be provided — please register here by Tuesday, March 24.

Second Seder at BZBI
2026-04-02 18:30 - 20:00 | Kahaner Auditorium
BZBI is proud to announce that we will be hosting a second night Seder for the BZBI community thanks to a very generous and Anonymous Donor who helped to lower the cost to our community. We welcome all to join your BZBI family for a warm, inviting and celebratory occasion – catered by Deluxe Catering and led by Rabbi Kenneth A. Stern.
Registration is now closed, if you are interested in joining us next year, let the Temple Office know!
The menu includes:
FIRST COURSE
Chicken Soup with Matzah Balls
Hearty Garden Fresh Vegetables in a Vegetarian Broth
SECOND COURSE
Gefilte Fish with Beet Horseradish
SIDE DISHES
Glazed Carrots with Yams, Assorted Dried Fruit, and Accent of Cinnamon
Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes with garlic
ENTREE COURSE
Braised Brisket with House-Made Bourbon BBQ Sauce
Squash with Quinoa
Chicken Fingers & French Fries
DESSERT OPTIONS
Brownies (Not Gluten-Free) and Nut-Free Charoset
Selection of Assorted Passover Macaroons
Seasonal Fresh Fruit to include Watermelon, Honeydew, Cantaloupe, Pineapple, and Grapes

Pesah Hol HaMoed Lunches
2026-04-06 12:00 - 13:00 | Kahaner Auditorium
Pesah Hol HaMoed Lunches Are Back
On Monday and Tuesday (April 6 and April 7 at 12:00 PM in the Kahaner Auditorium), BZBI will host catered, kosher for Pesah lunch for members, and the entire Center City Jewish community. BZBI members receive a discount, so sign up today and send the link on to those who might wish to join us! Click here to register.
Maximum Capacity: 20 people for each meal.

Yom HaShoah at BZBI: The World that Was
2026-04-13 18:00 - 19:30 | BZBI chapel
Join us on the eve of Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) for a moving ceremony and presentation by Nancy Scholem (sister of Rabbi Ken Stern). Nancy will speak about her mother’s experience — Rabbi Ken says that she “channels our mother” — surviving Auschwitz and the death marches, ultimately to be liberated from Bergen-Belsen. From Germany, she went on to convalesce in Sweden before coming to relatives in Chester, PA.
Nancy will share family stories, photos, and history about the Jewish community in Czechoslovakia and Hungary prior to the Nazi invasion.

Community Gathering for Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut
2026-04-19 09:00 - 13:00
Special guests from Jerusalem Nava Tehila will lead us in a powerful ceremony transitioning from Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day for fallen Israeli soldiers and victims of terror) to Yom HaAtzmaut (Israeli Independence Day). Keren Keshet, the leader of Philadelphia’s Israel Scouts unit (“Pa’amon Tzofim”), will present about her experience as a child born during the Yom Kippur war, now a mother of Israeli soldiers since October 7.
Light refreshments will be served. Register here (donations optional).
This program will be in conjunction with our Morning Minyan.

Rebuilding the Future: Resilience, Recovery, and Hope in Israel
2026-04-23 19:00 - 21:00
Please join us for a meaningful discussion with Gilles Darmon, Founder and President of Latet, Israel’s largest NGO fighting poverty and food insecurity, for a rare and intimate conversation about the effects that the prolonged war had on poverty, resilience, and hope in Israel, and the role of Israeli civil society in rebuilding the country. We hope you’ll be able to join us for an evening of discovery, insights, and solidarity.
Click here to register.
The event will take place in Philadelphia (near Rittenhouse square), exact address will be provided closer to the event. For questions please contact Ortal Margalith.

Resilience and Return: Segev Kalfon’s Survival of Captivity in Gaza
2026-04-26 15:00 - 17:00 | Society Hill Synagogue, 418 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19106, United States
Join us as Segev Kalfon shares his remarkable story of the resilience, determination, and faith which sustained him through 738 days of captivity in Gaza. He will discuss the strength, purpose, and hope that can emerge even in the darkest of circumstances.This program will be held in Society Hill Synagogue’s Sanctuary, with a reception and Israeli hors d’oeuvres to follow in the Social Hall.
This program is presented by Society Hill Synagogue’s Israel Connections Subcommittee in partnership with Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel and the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
Click here to register.

Get Siddurized: A Class on the Siddur with Leslee Schwartz
2026-04-27 18:15 - 19:45
Ever wonder when to stand and when to sit during Shabbat services? How and when to bow? Why to repeat some lines and not others? Wish you had notes in your siddur? If so, join Leslee Schwartz for these classes where you can talk through the order of the service and personalize your own copy of Sim Shalom!
Click here to register.
Purchase a copy of the blue Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat from the Rabbinical Assembly here.
If cost is in any way an obstacle to registering please call or email Leslee directly!

Whatever Exists, Exists in God: A Contemporary Jewish Encounter with Spinoza’s Ethics led by Rabbi Ira F. Stone
2026-04-29 18:15 - 19:45 | BZBI chapel
A brief introduction to the work of one of the greatest Jewish philosophers whose work caused his excommunication from the Jewish community 500 years ago.. a ban that is theoretically still in force. But Spinoza’s worldview is one that may be much more compelling to contemporary Jews. In fact, it may serve as a firmer basis for religious affiliation and practice than more traditional frameworks do for many. We will explore the basic outline of his thought and its potential applications for today.
There are four sessions within the course, each costing $25 ($100 for the full four weeks). Click here to register!
