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Temple Emanu-El Mission & Vision
Temple Emanu-El is a Reform Jewish congregation upholding the traditions of Judaism, including Hebrew language, Tanakh, T'fillot, Mitzvot, holidays, customs, Jewish history and Israel, while empowering members to cultivate their relationships with God and Torah.
The mission of Temple Emanu-El is to cultivate and nurture the love and understanding of Judaism; provide a warm and caring environment to promote Judaism and ensure the future of our Jewish community; uphold the commitment to Tikkun Olam; and to strengthen and serve our members.
Temple Emanu-El's mission will be accomplished through the following values:
Worship: uphold Jewish rituals and traditions.
Education & Torah Study: the study of Torah is the foundation of our tradition and teaches us the Jewish way to live our lives individually and as a community in an ever changing world. We are dedicated to building and maintaining an understanding with other faith communities through education, study, communication and a respectful exchange of ideas.
Social Action/Advocacy: striving towards Tikkun Olam.
Community: to be a warm, caring and welcoming community that offers support and friendship to the Jewish and non-Jewish community.
Community Fellowship - May 2011 Mother's Day Concert
On Sunday May 8th, Mother's Day, Temple Emanu-El hosted a concert, free and open to our friends in the greater Dothan community, featuring The Dothan Chamber Quartet.
The 80+ attendees were welcomed by Rabbi Lynne Goldsmith, enjoyed eight selections ranging from Baroque to Hava Nagila, and then a warm and wonderful reception in Temple's Social Hall.
Temple Emanu-El in the News!
See a brief video clip about Blumberg Family Jewish Community Services on WTVY Dothan.
To celebrate Shavuot last week I joined with friends at a nearby community-wide tikkun leil Shavuot (an all night Torah study) hosted by our congregation, Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn. As in so many communities, it was a lively scene as people gathered together, listened, learned, questioned and challenged each other. This inclusive form of community gathering is a foundation of Reform Judaism and has served as a core element for the Campaign for Youth Engagement. Following the launch of the campaign at the Biennial in 2011, the URJ began reflecting on NFTY, URJ camps, Mitzvah Corps, Israel programs, and [...]
All eyes are on Grapevine, Texas today as the Boy Scouts of America begins the annual meeting of its National Council. Earlier this year the Boy Scouts of America announced that it would postpone a reconsideration of its policy prohibiting gay scouts and scout leaders until the meeting this week (see the letter that Rabbi Saperstein sent to the BSA in response to that decision). Today the 1,400 person National Council, including representatives from across the country, will vote on whether or not to lift this ban and make the organization a more inclusive one. In 2000 the Supreme Court [...]
By Rabbi Leon A. Morris There was a time, more than century and a half ago, when piyutim were seen largely as a kind of cultural burden to be cast aside in order to make the service shorter and more meaningful. Early liturgical reformers argued that the siddur and machzor had grown too lengthy and no longer inspired modern Jews. Piyutim – medieval poetic extensions of the traditional prayers, with allusions incomprehensible to the average congregant – were first on the chopping block. The irony, however, lies in the fact that the piyut was itself a sort of liturgical reform. While [...]
On May 2, Rhode Island’s governor signed a marriage equality bill, making it the tenth state to take this important step. Shortly afterwards, Delaware and Minnesota also passed marriage bills, making this a remarkable spring of advancement towards equality. I composed the following reflection after the last critical step in the long process of advocacy and legislative debate, the hearing held by the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee in March. The prescribed biblical reading for the beginning of Passover includes Exodus 12:42…in describing the end of the 430 years of oppression, the text describes that final night as a “leil [...]
