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.

Cultivating Memory Despite Pain

Neurologist Oliver Sacks described a patient with absolutely no memory and asked, “Does this person have a soul?” Underneath his question was the awareness that our identity, our relationships, our life’s journey depend on our recollections. To cultivate memory is to honor an essential ingredient of life. Hebrew Scripture is obsessed with remembering and commands…

With Grace

A humble person sees the essential dignity and value of others. In religious terms, humility stems from an awareness of the unmet personal potential for each person who is created in the image of G-d. Rabbi Israel Salanter, the master teacher of Mussar, Jewish ethics, taught that a person should look up to see needed…

To BE A MENSCH

My mother, a native Yiddish speaker, would repeatedly emphasize: “Just be a mensch!” My siblings and I understood that she did not expect perfection, but rather that we behave as good people despite inconvenience or adversity. For my mother, being a mensch was much more than being well behaved. A mensch would include the shy classmate during recess activity, would…

Welcoming the New Year

A family reunion offers the gift of belonging. On Rosh Hashanah we gather as members of an extended family, whether born into the Jewish people or adopted by our choosing. We link ourselves to those in the room and to generations before us. The celebration is a Hi Holiday, as we meet and greet those…

SUMMERTIME TRAVEL

Summer is a time for travel. While I welcome relaxation offered by a change of scenery, less responsibility, and rest, when given a canvas of time I am driven by curiosity. I am eager to see how other people live in order to understand their lives. This requires background reading of history, demography, and politics…

A mitzvah opportunity – help us make a minyan!

Do a mitzvah of attendance on Friday nights and Sunday mornings: In order for congregants to say Kaddish, we need to make a minyan on Friday nights and at Sunday morning minyan. Please consider committing to 1 or 2 Friday night services during the next 6 months.  Click here to sign up for Friday night and here to sign up…

Beauty Matters

In Hebrew the phrase hadur mitzvah, means the beautification of a mitzvah. The concept is linked in the Torah with the holiday of Sukkot and the command to take a “fruit from a beautiful tree” -“pri eitz hadar” (Leviticus 23:40). The sages of the Talmud (Sukkah 35a) will identify that fruit specifically with the etrog,…

Thanks Giving

Dear Friends, Thanksgiving celebrates the many gifts in our lives.  Please consider adding some sharing with those around your table beginning with “I am grateful for…” May your harvests of gratitude add to your days of happiness. The prayer below, composed by Rabbi Naomi Levy, is a good way to sum up the words that…