Temple Beth El of Somerset

Welcome and thank you for your interest in The Jewish Center of Princeton. We are committed to providing our members of all ages with opportunities for spiritual, intellectual, social and Jewish growth. Our congregation has a rich tradition of welcoming Jewish and interfaith families, couples and singles into our highly diverse community. We are fully egalitarian in all respects ( see Egalitarianism page ). Our congregants have strong connections - to each other and to the Jewish community as a whole, and we are affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism ( USCJ ) www.uscj.org. We invite you to join us at The Jewish Center of Our Lives.Who we are is defined not only by where we have been ( see Brief History below ) but by where we are going. Here is a list of our current strategic goals based on a recent survey of our membership, staff and lay leaders. These goals tell you how we will be focusing our efforts as we move into the future, while at the same time continuing to provide the full range of services and activities already in place. The Princeton Jewish community first organized its own congregation in 1926, calling it Congregation B'nai Zion. Previously, the few Jews in Princeton attended services in Trenton, and for many years after 1926 their children continued to be educated in Trenton synagogues. The Sunday school was organized in 1944, at which time classes were begun in private homes. In 1947, following a significant post-war influx of Jews into the community, B'nai Zion hired its first rabbi, shared part-time with the newly established Hillel on Princeton University campus. This arrangement continued until 1951. In 1955, Rabbi Joseph Gelberman became the first full-time rabbi. Our first Cantor, Robert Freedman, was hired in 1982 and became full time in 1985. He stayed in that position until 1996, when he left to attend Rabbinical school. In 1949, the rapidly expanding Jewish community felt that a more formal organizational structure was needed, and the result was The Jewish Center, which adopted its first constitution on December 11, 1949. Soon after a building was purchased on Olden Street. The congregation quickly outgrew the Olden Street building and purchased land at the current site. The first building at 435 Nassau was completed in January of 1958. The Beit Am Building ( currently used for Nursery and Religious School Classes ) was acquired in the early 1970s. Ground breaking for the current ( expanded ) main building occurred in 1983.

Ours is a Reform Synagogue whose members reside throughout Union County and beyond. Affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism, Temple Emanu-El was founded in 1950 and currently serves more than 1, 100 member families. The story of Temple Emanu-El is best told in its context of colonial Westfield, New Jersey. A scenic, classic American town founded in 1794, Westfield was home to only a handful of Jews beginning around the First World War. By 1950, a group of 43 families of disparate religious backgrounds came together, resolved to create a Jewish identity. At a time when Jews could not purchase land in much of Westfield, and residents circulated petitions against the building of a synagogue, these founders persevered. They created a community that flourished in size and influence, while broadening the town's understanding and vision of itself. The founding families came from Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform backgrounds, with varying attachments to each. Assisted by our first Rabbi, they devised an interpretation of Reform Judaism uniquely their own: an organic Jewish community with integrated religious, cultural, social and philanthropic efforts. Traditions of Judaism were retained, including required kipot on the bima, extensive Hebrew worship, and customary observances. For more than 60 years, Jews of all backgrounds and beliefs have felt welcome in Temple Emanu-El