Your family is invited to worship with us.
We welcome both Jewish and non-Jewish family members to worship at all services. Weekday, Shabbat, and holiday services are open to members of all faiths. Temple Israel is a vibrant egalitarian Conservative congregation that invites members of all backgrounds to participate in everything we have to offer.
If you are part of an interfaith families or couples, related to one, or would like to learn more about interfaith outreach at Temple Israel, please contact Rabbi Fine.
Keruv means to draw closer and is spearheaded by the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs (a constituent arm of the Conservative movement). It was launched in response to needs of interfaith couples and families, and, in the words of the Torah, to “welcome strangers into the tent.”
As a couple or family affiliated with Temple Israel, you are welcome to participate in our Torah service and are entitled to be honored by being called to the bimah for:
Baby-namings, bar and bat mitzvahs, weddings, funerals – these are all times when the rituals of our tradition can be either exclusionary or opportunities for closeness and connection by interfaith households. At Temple Israel, we take the latter approach, seeking ways to include non-Jewish relatives, whether immediate or extended family, in Jewish spiritual practice. Rabbi Fine is happy to talk to you about your life-cycle event and how, at Temple Israel, Jewish tradition will enrich the experience.
Click here to learn more about Life-Cycle Events at Temple Israel.
One need not be Jewish to take advantage of the many educational opportunities offered by the synagogue. Everyone is welcome to our adult education programs classes. A child need not yet be Jewish to be enrolled in our consortium religious school – Northern New Jersey Jewish Academy (NNJJA) – nor to participate in our congregational youth groups. We only ask that the family has made a commitment to raise the child in the Jewish faith and intends to have the child formally converted to Judaism, according to Jewish legal requirements of the Conservative movement, before bar or bat mitzvah. Please discuss your plans in greater detail with Rabbi Fine.