Congregation Netivot Shalom

Netivot shalom is a great place for jewish kids to be in a good academic school. Defiantly recommend this place to all the jewish in the Bay Area.

Congregation Netivot Shalom is a very welcoming synagogue with a warm, intelligent and activist Rabbi, Menachem Creditor. Members themselves often lead services. Netivot’s adult education classes are excellent and very diverse. There are many events at the synagogue in which to participate so if you are not so interested in one aspect of the shul, you can join in with others; Hebrew classes (modern and biblical), lectures on topics ranging from book talks by Jewish authors, to Israeli speakers informing us about their recent research sponsored by V’Zot Israel; the Kol Truah Jewish Choir of the East Bay meets there and is affiliated with Netivot; there’s a jazz band; classes in Jewish meditation, and much more. For a Conservative synagogue one would be surprised that the membership’s God beliefs run the gamut from atheist to very frum!

You could say that we’re one of the «older» famiilies at Netivot Shalom. We had our kids later in life, so we have a foot in both the kids’ world, and the adult membership.
There is no perfect community, but we’ve been very happy with our 15 years at Netivot Shalom. The community has grown lately, but still makes an effort to welcome all newcomers. «Non-​tradtional» famililes (not even sure what those are, in Berkeley) are welcomed. The service is inclusive, and if you like to sing — come on down! They’re happy to add you to the roster of those who lead services, teach, or organize activities for the Synagogue community, or beyond. I wish the services themselves were more along the lines of traditional Conservative Judaism (they read the Torah on the triennial cycle, which always makes me feel I’ve come in the middle of something), but it is in Hebrew, and Hebrew learners have access to a transliterated prayer book, or classes if they’d like to learn more about the service. This has been helpful to my spouse, a Jew by choice, who did not grow up with any religion, never mind one that worships in another language. Be sure to stay after services for Sabbath lunch, which is usually a relaxing meal and a chance to meet the community, or to study. Best way to meet other people, if you don’t have kids in the kids programs, is to VOLUNTEER for something. Otherwise you may find it hard to make deeper connections — but isn’t that true everywhere?

My husband and I love Netivot Shalom. We are intermarried, so it’s a lovely thing to be welcomed so warmly. Lovely building, nice programs for all kinds of families, and a very participatory congregation.

I’ve been a member of Netivot Shalom for 2 years and am very happy
with it. The congregation is about 350 families, with a lot of
participation by the members. The members are friendly and
welcomed us.
As for Eric B’s review, I can’t tell what happened. Until there
is a real explanation, I’d treat it with a grain of salt. As for «Lashon
Hara», prohibition in Jewish Law of telling gossip, truthful remarks about a non-​present person or party (def. in wikipedia), isn’t that what Eric
is doing in his review?

UPDATE — Yom Kippur — 10/​09/​2008
I did receive a very nice phone message a few days ago from Board member Karen B. wishing me a warm «Shana Tova». However, I’m not in shul for this High Holiday since (per Rabbi C) my son is not welcome at Netivot Shalom (and for reasons I still know not why). The doors of tshuva or return continue to be closed to him here on these High Holidays.
Note to Jeremy B. regarding your «drive by» review (e.g. one review — no picture) and Wiki-​Torah commentary — This situation is hardly a grain of salt and if you care to return my previous email, I would still be happy to explain this situation to you. My child’s good behaviour isn’t the issue.
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
Down 1 star for a significant case of questionable truthiness and ethics on the part of the new Rabbi and the Executive Director as it relates to my unsuccessful and well documented attempt to provide a Jewish education for my son.
I still have many friends here who can’t believe that our shul staff would treat a now well behaved, endearing, and willing to learn child with such disrespect and lack of inclusion and dignity. I’ll accept the argument that a community with limited resources, may not be able to fully serve each member. But this? I suspect that part of it may involve a «black ball» effort thanks to my former Rabbi and friends of long memory at Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland.
To be fair, the current President was gracious enough to take the time to listen to my concerns (and confirm some of them) and provide some fair insights and opinions (and an apology).
Also, here is some other comments/​advice that I have received recently:
A non-​Jewish friend — Let me get this straight, your Jewish community is unable or unwilling to educate your Jewish child? What kind of community allows that?
Jewish Friend #1 — Try Chabad. They welcome EVERY Jew.
Jewish Friend #2 — Try the Roman Catholic Church (!) They’ll teach your child Judaism.
I have actually heard stories about other Jewish parents turning to a Christian congregation to get their kids a Jewish education that our community is not positioned or willing to provide. But I’m really not interested in getting too far into the Jesus stuff or the Jewish community’s lack of shame by implicitly encouraging this sort of behaviour.