The B'nai Coffee Buzz

With thanks to the Sisterhood Endowment for Jewish Engagement Projects, B’nai Israel encourages our members to meet for coffee ON US while engaging in meaningful conversations. Details below:

WHAT
Take a fellow B’nai member whom you don’t already know well to coffee (or tea or lemonade or chai or cold brew), ON US! 

WHEN
Anytime that works for you.

WHY
To have a meaningful conversation* with a fellow member. Having meaningful conversations builds relationships and relationships build community!

HOW

1. Click here and let us know who you’ll be meeting and when or let us know that you’d like to be matched with someone.
2. We will email you a $10 gift card to your choice of Starbucks, Java Nation or Panera, or you can come pick it up at B’nai.
3. Have your conversation and then both of you follow this link to answer this one question — What is one thing you learned about your new friend that B’nai Israel should know?

*WHAT IS A MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION?
A meaningful conversation is one that goes beyond discussing the latest TV show you’re bingeing or what the weather forecast says. A meaningful conversation involves curiosity and story sharing so that each person comes away with an understanding of the other’s values and unique dreams, desires and challenges. When sharing experiences during a meaningful conversation, it is important to discuss how those experiences made you feel. Having a meaningful conversation should help you understand what motivates the other person and identify possible common interests you both may have.

As you have your conversation, be thinking about the question we’d like you to answer – What is one thing you learned about your new friend that B’nai Israel should know? While you get to know each other, this will help us get to know our members better and learn about ways everyone can contribute to our community. For example, maybe your coffee partner is an Immigration Attorney and passionate about assisting folks along their path to get settled here. We can then make sure they know about our Refugee and Immigrant Aid Committee and get them involved. Or maybe your coffee partner shares with you that they’ve been missing some of the tunes used for prayers from their childhood. We can then reach out and let them know that our participatory Friday night Shabbat services can be a great way for them to share these tunes with others. There are myriad ways our members can bring their passions and interests for the benefit of our community! 

NEED MORE? Here are some suggested topics and questions to cover:

• Life experiences
• Family (past) – parents/siblings
• Family (today) – spouse/partner, kids
• Faith / Values
• Religious training
• Culture
• Neighborhood
• Current job
• Personal development    
• Recreation
• Community
• Education

QUESTIONS

• Where did you grow up? What were your early experiences of community?
• What makes you angry and why? What makes you hopeful and why?
• Was your family involved Jewishly – in what way(s)?
• What has been your experience with the Jewish community in the past?

Adapted with thanks from JUFJ Resource materials

SPONSORED BY THE B’NAI ISRAEL SISTERHOOD ENDOWMENT FOR JEWISH ENGAGEMENT PROJECTS