Community Corner

Temple Beth-El to Share At Biennial Convention

The Hillsborough temple will share its education know-how, philosophy tt Union of Reform Judaism biennial convention

 has been invited to share its secrets for success on Friday, December 16, at the Union of Reform Judaism’s Biennial Convention in Washington, D.C.

This year’s Biennial Convention, which runs from Dec. 14-18, is expected to be the largest gathering ever of Reform Jews in North America. Participants will learn, pray, share ideas, dance and sing, hear from inspiring guest speakers, reunite with old friends, make new connections, and make decisions about the policies of the Reform Movement. President Obama will address this year’s convention; it will be the first time that a sitting President has addressed a convention of the Reform Movement. 

At a time when synagogues across North America are lamenting the tremendous decrease in school retention and engagement with Jewish life of their students after bar and bat mitzvah, Temple Beth-El stands out as bucking the trend. Sarah Gluck and Lisa Friedman, Education Co-Directors at Temple Beth-El, will team up at the convention with Senior Rabbi Arnold S. Gluck to present a 90-minute program, "Teen Engagement Begins at Birth.”

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Friedman explains, “Our interactive presentation focuses on the importance of building relationships with children and their families from the time that the children are very small, or that the family joins our synagogue. The program we will present is modeled on Temple Beth-El’s own Confirmation Academy program for eighth through tenth graders. We will demonstrate the experiential mode of learning that we use with our own teens, while stressing the strong connection between education for all the ages and congregational life.”

For more information, contact Temple Beth-El at 908-722-0674, ext. 13.

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Temple Beth-El is a Reform Jewish congregation. A member of the Union for Reform Judaism, the temple was founded in 1953 by 15 families. Today, the congregation numbers more than 450 households and offers a variety of cultural, educational, social and spiritual opportunities to its members and to the greater New Jersey Jewish community. For more information about temple life and programs, please visit online at www.bethel.urj.net or call908-722-0674.


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