Join us for Shabbat Services: Friday at 6:00 pm, Saturday at 9:30 am
An egalitarian Conservative congregation serving the diverse Orange County Jewish Community

Welcome to Congregation B’nai Israel! We are delighted that you are considering joining our village.

We are an inclusive and family-friendly community, welcoming members at all levels of religious observance, those born Jewish, those who have chosen Judaism, and interfaith families. Our diverse, multi-generational congregation welcomes people of all ages, racial and ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those at any point on their Jewish journey.

Belonging to the community means taking an active role in shaping our future and demonstrating your commitment to helping Judaism to flourish in OC and beyond. In addition, members access clergy support throughout life’s ups and downs, Jewish education for children – from preschoolers to teens – participation in High Holy Day services and events year-round, and a precious and priceless sense of belonging and home.

We look forward to having you as a member of our congregation!

To learn more, please see our list of contacts. To schedule a conversation, please contact the office at cbi18@cbi18.org or (714) 730-9693. We look forward to welcoming you.

We also invite you to join us for upcoming events. Information is shared in our weekly e-newsletters. To receive updates: sign up here.

Click here for our new member information form.

July 2023 – June 2024 – Click here for our membership payment form

Family Category
(please note that financial assistance is available to those with need)
Donation Amount
Couple (ages 36-67)$3,550
Single (ages 36-67)$1,950
Senior Couple (age 68+)$2,100
Senior Single (age 68+)$1,250
Young Couple (ages 35 and younger)$600
Young Single (ages 35 and younger)$330
Sharon” Families (Building Maintenance)$525
“Friend of CBI” (associate membership for those outside our area, does not include High Holiday tickets)$360
Benefactor Membership: Platinum Chai Honors Circle*$18,000
Benefactor Membership: Golden Chai Honors Circle*$11,000
Benefactor Membership: Silver Chai Honors Circle*$8,000
Benefactor Membership: Bronze Chai Honors Circle*$6,000
Benefactor Membership: Copper Chai Honors Circle*$4,500
*Honors Circle membership is accompanied by event tickets and sponsorships throughout the year.
Specific details can be found within the membership forms and documents.

Membership at CBI includes many wonderful benefits including:

  • Belonging to a community with people to share life’s joys and ease life’s sorrows.
  • Our Rabbi, Cantor, and staff are there for you through important life cycle events and every day for counseling, teaching and care.
  • Opportunities for Jewish education for children, including B’nai Mitzvah training, and continuing education for adults.
  • Priority enrollment and reduced fees at our preschool.
  • High Holy Day tickets (unless otherwise noted)
  • Opportunities to live your Jewish values by caring for others in need.
  • Leadership opportunities to become a board or committee member, or to lead worship services.
  • A varied and rich offering of events, programming and classes to enrich and engage.
  • The ability to secure a place in CBI’s section at Harbor Lawn cemetery.

Torah: B’Shallah – Even miracles do not necessarily change a fixed interpretation of reality.

Torah: B’Shallah Even miracles do not necessarily change a fixed interpretation of reality. How could the Egyptian leadership have changed their minds again? Ten plagues have come and gone and so have the Israelites. Remarkably, the Torah text does not say this time that “God had hardened their heart.” The leadership’s reversal has a psychological…

The Immigration Ban

Dear Friends, I am a child of refugees. With Auschwitz and forced labor behind them, my parents languished for two years in a Displaced Refugee camp in Stuttgart, Germany. Visas were hard to come by. Neither of my parents had a learned skill. Neither had finished high school amidst the disruption of war. Such visas…

Torah: Va’Era

Torah: Va’Era – Our Torah finds us in bondage. Moses and Aaron appear before the powerful ruler and warn of impending plaques. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel speaking in Chicago in 1963 at a conference on “Religion and Race,” began: ”At the first conference on religion and race, the main participants were Pharaoh and Moses. Moses’ words were:…

Torah: Shemot

Torah: Shemot – “And a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8). This week’s Torah reading begins the Exodus account. The rabbis wonder how the new king could not have known Joseph’s achievements on behalf of Egypt. Mishnat Rabbi Eliezer, composed during  the first two centuries of the common era, states that Pharaoh…

Torah: Va’Yigash

Torah: Va’Yigash- What does it take to be a tzaddik, a righteous person? Joseph is distinctly called ha’tzaddik, the righteous one, by the sages of the Talmud (Yoma 35b). They primarily point to Joseph’s overcoming the sexual advances of his employer Potiphar’s wife and emphasize that his self-restraint revealed his exemplary character. Elie Wiesel points…

Rabbi Elie Spitz Reflects On The Passing Of Professor Huston Smith, A Communal, Spiritual Treasure

Huston Smith (2009) Huston Smith, who died at the age of 97 this past Friday in Berkeley, was a towering, spiritual sage. My visits with him endure as gifts of spiritual wisdom and the modeling of genuine goodness. Professor Smith was a trailblazing explorer of religions from the inside, stating, “If we take the world’s enduring…

Partnership with HIAS refugee organization

Aleppo Falls- Tragic images of families leaving Aleppo are a reminder that “Never Again” remains an unfilled longing. As Elie Wiesel taught, “… True, we are often too weak to stop injustices; but the least we can do is to protest against them. True, we are too poor to eliminate hunger; but in feeding one…

Torah: Jewish Origins of New Year’s

Did you ever consider the Jewish origins of New Year’s? For Jews the eighth day after the birth of a son is brit milah, the festive welcome into covenant and community. The Jewish origin of New Year’s celebration often goes unnoticed, but it is there. Although Christians differ on the date of Christmas, so that for Orthodox Christians the date is January…

Torah: Anticipating Hanukkah

“The Right to be Different” Sages of the Talmud asked Mai Hanukkah? What is Hanukkah? It is a surprising question. For the question, arising in the context of a discussion on Shabbat wicks, occurred well over a hundred years after the Maccabee’s successful revolt. In response, the rabbis introduce the miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days. In more contemporaneous accounts of…