Congregation Beth El

I have been attending services at Beth El off and on since I was 4 years old. I really enjoy Rabbi Zellman and Rabbi Kahn at the new and beautiful location on Oxford in Berkeley. Very inclusive, warm, inviting environment. I drive over from San Francisco! It is worth the trip.

When we moved to the east bay from San Francisco five years ago I could not foresee how our panicked, last minute choice of a nursery school would result in the group of friends that we have met through the nursery school and Congregation Beth El. Honestly, when I drive down Spruce I start feeling the Beth El warmth around Regal Street and I keep feeling it until I hit Rose.
Beth El, to me, radiates friendship, warmth and inclusion and is a fantastic way for your family to make friends and give your kids positive feelings about Judaism.

NOTE: THIS IS CURRENT 2010 INFORMATION ON CONGREGATION BETH EL.
The congregation is now at 1301 Oxford Street, in a beautiful, spacious building. Rabbis are Yoel Kahn and Reuben Zellman.
BERKELEY is a wonderful place to be if you are Jewish, but Congregation Beth El is the BEST place to be in Berkeley if you are seeking a SMART, warm, and caring Jewish community.
This is THE PLACE for excellent liturgy and outstanding education for children and adults.
Rabbis Yoel Kahn and Reuben Zellman constitute a strong and talented team who know and teach the best of progressive Jewish thought and practice. At the same time, they recognize and value traditional observance, with intelligent services and sermons, good music, and insightful and meaningful Hebrew and English. This is a Reform congregation, and it is truly a cut above what you might have experienced or even think you know about Reform Judaism and its practice.
Rabbi Zellman, who was ordained in June 2010, is a gifted cantor and musician who has enriched the Beth El experience on every level and is a great teacher. Rabbi Kahn is a warm and wise teacher with decades of experience. We are blessed to have two great rabbis!
Most of the year there are 3 Shabbat Services each week: Friday night, the Saturday morning minyan (8:30 a.m.) and the 10:15 a.m. service (during which there is often a bar or bat mitzvah and everyone is invited to attend). Excellent Torah study every Saturday at 9:30 a.m. And superb adult education, often in conjunction with Lehrhaus Judaica and other congregations in town, is offered throughout the year. A strong religious school and summer camp for kids are both well known in the East Bay.
The members of Beth El are great people who bring a lot of energy and soul to the congregation and the programs which also serve the local community, including — but not limited to — the meals and medical clinic for the homeless.
To learn more, check out the Beth El website at
and come and join us!

I was a member of this congregation at its old location at Arch and Vine for a few years. This is where my stepdaughter had her Bat Mitzvah here and participated in Midrasha and Camp Kee Tov. My son also attended religious school for a time and his mother participated in a neat chorus group.
Yet, with all this activity and the nice people associated with Beth El, and with exception of the Bat Mitzvah, I rarely felt a connection or an inspiration here. At times, I felt that our family and the congregation were all going through the motions. If G-​d was in this place, I, i did not know…

I have been looking for a spiritual home for me and my two sons for quite a while. We have been attending services for the past four months. Everyone I have had contact with, from the Rabbi to the fellow service attendees, has been warm and welcoming. They have child care for almost every event, which my kids just love. The child care providers are usually Camp Kee Tov counselors. My oldest son will be attending Camp Kee Tov this summer and will probably start religious school in the fall. I will also start classes in the fall. Lots of warmth and room to grow here at Beth El. Come visit.

What I find interesting at Beth El is the openness to change and a deliberate intention to welcome new members and old ones, as well. When you stop for a snack before or after services (how could there be a Jewish event without food?), someone will likely reach out to say hello.
The new rabbi, Yoel Kahn, has created a prayer book that has the Hebrew and a literal translation on one page, and poetry and other inspirational comments on the opposite side, for those of us who may be touched by different approaches. There’s a genuine effort to explain what’s going on in the services, and to invite the congregants to participate, to answer questions, and to think about our spiritual connections and what we want in our own lives.
If you’re considering a synagogue experience in Berkeley, check out Beth El. I think you’ll find a renewed emphasis on social activism, an interest in what members and visitors find and want in services, and opportunities for people to get involved. And if you have complaints, I think that you’ll find people willing to consider your concerns and to respond as best they can.
check out:

I love Beth El, and am sad to be leaving.
When I grew up in Miami, our reform temple had a choir of people on a tiered stage… in white robes. They sang to organ music. In comparison, the guitar seems almost orthodox. Still, Cantor Brian puts the guitar away for Saturday morning services, and the guitar is largely an institution for Friday night. So you can take or leave the stringed accompaniment, at your pleasure.
That said, Brian is a much more «chant-​er friendly» cantor than others I have experienced in the east bay. He is very encouraging of congregation participation (even if you can only hum along), and his melodies are all very accessible. I am not a gifted singer, and I feel very comfortable there.
What has always made me a bit uncomfortable is some of the holding hands and swaying moments. But those are few and far between. Havdallah. They do that a lot at Havdallah.
Some of the bar mitzvah’s can be a bit overwhelming. But there is an active early service on Saturdays, followed by an intellectually stimulating gathering at Torah study. The Torah study group is a bit small, but very warm and welcoming. It is worth checking out. If you break out of your comfort zone, you will be rewarded.
Rabbi Raj (pronounced Roy) is sadly leaving, and I have not met the new Rabbi. But I loved Ferenc more than I can say, and he will be the measure by which all future rabbi’s will be measured.
The dues at the temple are not insignificant. But I was briefly on the board, and I was also a partial dues paying member. The administration has always been flexible with dues. There are plenty of people who are members that are on reduced dues, and none (myself included) have ever been made to feel like second class citizens.
I think I figured out once that if I took my reduced dues, and applied it to a weekly figure, and ate all the free food at every event I would make out ahead. Seriously, when is the last time you had creamed herring on grand bakery challah? Damn that’s good… but you may have to be Jewish to appreciate it. If only they would serve more chopped liver and rye ends. Drool.

Nice people, pretty new building — I just can’t get past the guitar music thing (the literal playing of the guitar and the way «guitar music during service» seems to capture Beth El perfectly).