Temple B’nai Or

This is a very warm and inviting congregation. They have nice services for the high holidays, including family services.
The preschool program is quite extensive filled with caring teachers. The director is very knowledgable.

This synagogue boasts a good nursery school, but that’s about as far as Jewish education goes in this synagogue. There is very little in the way of higher adult Jewish education. There’s Bagels and Torah on Sundays, but that weekly program does not run consistently. The lack of Jewish education as the main objective of this synagogue makes it another «once-​a-​year Jew» synagogue where everyone shows up once per year for the High Holidays. The synagogue tries to be a part of the community with programs such as Mitzvah Day and ongoing programs with the Interfaith Soup Kitchen and the local black community organizations, but if you’re not wealthy enough to send your kids to Jewish summer camps, your family is out of the loop. From my experience with the Rabbi, he made me feel guilt — as if I was trying not to be Jewish — for not asking my parents to send me to Reform Jewish summer camp (something that costs thousands of dollars). At High Holiday services the girls wear whatever skimpy clothing they can put on, and most of the time I hear the teenage girls complaining about the rabbi in the bathroom. The rabbi pretends to be conservative («I do not like the direction that the country is going in.»), but then he reforms the synagogue’s practices to fit modern society, such as employing a gay rabbi and cantor and supporting interfaith marriages. The truth of the matter is I left Hebrew High School knowing so little about the Torah that a Christian girl at my high school (who had the Torah and the New Testament memorized) could humiliate me in any discussion or arguement over religious differences. Do not send your kids to this Hebrew School if you really want your kids to be Jewish or to be able to defend their beliefs with a real understanding and knowledge base of Judaism. I’m going to the local Chabad to catch up on the Jewish education that I never received from Temple B’Nai Or.
Despite having not received an adequate Jewish education, I would say that their most dedicated members are excellent people. For example, when my father passed away a volunteer group came to my house to help us set up the Shiva by bringing coffees, teas, food and extra chairs. I also received free prayerbook Hebrew lessons from a very dedicated and observant member of the synagogue. She, too, receives the core of her education from other more religious sources.
I think Temple B’Nai Or is good for High Holiday services and Shabbat services. They hire excellent musicians and singers to play at the services, but if you want to actually know what you’re reading and why you’re reading it, I would go someplace else.
Another problem I have with the synagogue is the rabbi. He has a lot more knowledge of Jewish culture, history, language and theology than what he shares with the congregation or encourages the congregation to explore. He also tells the congregation that he grew up as a lonely orphan with his grandparents, and that he doesn’t have any siblings or any recollection of his childhood. That’s not what he told me in his office. He has mentioned siblings and experiences with his parents. He will also tell you that he has a terrible memory («I can’t remember what I had for lunch» — that’s bull), but he actually remembers every word that you or anyone else has ever spoken. I personally had a terrible experience with the rabbi in high school and college that will leave me never going back to that synagogue or opening myself to that community again.