| Information about Joining Temple Beth El
|
 |
Temple Beth El welcomes new members. We are a small congregation and informal. Because we are the result of the merger of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform synagogues, we welcome new members whether they are Conservative, Reconstructionist or Reform. We support the URJ policy and welcome new members whether they are Republican or Democrat, straight or gay. We welcome non-Jews as Members-in-study. Because we are a totally volunteer organization, our dues are very low.
|
| We provide regular religious services, holiday celebrations, opportunities for adult study, and other activities. We are the social life of many of our members and want to be a safe place, a source of peace, for all members. We try our best to accomodate life cycle events such as Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, conversions, baby namings and funerals within the regular course of our scheduled activities. We have a "Sunday School" childrens' education program in cooperation with Temple B'Nai Israel in Olean, NY. Parents are invited to participate in shaping this new educational effort.
|
|
Our service ritual is a relaxed blend of Reform and Conservative. We use the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) siddur but include features of the Conservative service such as the Misheberach. Many services apart from summer include a chanting of the parashat from the Torah. Hebrew is an important part of our ritual, but English is used primarily. Our D'Vrai Torah are drawn from divers sources: Conservative, Orthodox, Reform and Chassidic.
|
Persons interested in joining should either attend a service or simply call the Temple and leave a number where they can be reached. The Temple phone number is 814.368.8204. a member of the congregation will get back to them.
|