CMI will host our community Reform Selichot service as we begin to prepare for the High Holy Days. The communities of Temple Emanuel, Temple Beth David, and B'nai Israel Southbury will gather in person and via livestream. Our guest speaker, Rev. Jake Joseph, associate director of the CT ADL, will speak about rising antisemitism and the importance of forgiveness in forging partnerships to eradicate hate. Rabbi Immerman, Rabbi Brockman and Cantor Giglio will lead the service with the other community rabbis. The program begins at 7pm followed by the service at 8pm.
The Rev. Jake Miles Joseph is ADL Connecticut’s Associate Regional Director. Jake grew-up partially in Connecticut with a Jewish father and a Christian mother. They chose to allow his mother to raise him and his sister in her religion while maintaining deep connections with his father’s family and traditions. He received his BA in French from Grinnell College and his Masters of Divinity and Graduate Certificate in Human Rights from Emory University. Jake served as the Associate Minister at Plymouth Congregational UCC in Fort Collins, Colorado. While in Fort Collins, Jake was the Chair of the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners and the National Commissions Committee of NAHRO providing policy advocacy on affordable housing at the national level. Jake most recently served as the Associate Minister at First Church UCC of Guilford, Connecticut. Since October 2021, Jake has taken on the new challenge of combating antisemitism, extremism, hate, and bias on a daily basis as the new Associate Director for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Connecticut Region. Jake currently serves as a Commissioner for Milford Housing and Redevelopment, on the DEI Committee of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials as the Chair and Founder of the LGBTQ Subcommittee and is a member of Grinnell College’s national Alumni Council. He and his scientist husband, Gerhard, live in Milford, Connecticut where they are slowly renovating a 1930 home near the Town Green.