About Us

Judaism is a religion of time aiming at the sanctification of time. Unlike most of us moderns, who experience time as unvaried and homogeneous, who see all hours as alike, our tradition senses the diversified character of time. There are no two hours alike, every hour is unique and the only one given at the moment, exclusive and precious. We at the Village Temple believe in the attachment of holiness in time, to be attached to sacred events, and we are committed to the consecration of sanctuaries that emerge from the magnificent stream of a year. Our rituals, be they within the realm of prayer, education and social action, constitute architecture of time. All of them centre on a certain event, a social theme, and a certain hour in the day or season of the year. How good it is to celebrate time rather than material things, for it is our human challenge to become attuned to holiness in time.

The Village Temple, a Reform synagogue affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism, blends the beauty of tradition with the creative expression of modern Judaism. Worship at The Village Temple is both participatory and joyful. The Temple sponsors a vibrant religious school, exciting adult education programs, an active community outreach effort and many enjoyable social events.

A defining characteristic of The Village Temple is its engagement in social action. This commitment is based on the prophetic vision of Judaism, which demands that we as a community dedicate ourselves to social action and social justice.

• Ours is the task to understand the words of the prophet and to teach them by making them meaningful in this day and age. As a community of kindred spirits and seekers, we must ask ourselves again and again " Ayekah - where are you, Eternal One?"
• Ours is the responsibility to be able to answer with clarity "Hinenu, here we are."
• Our tradition requires that each of us work to feed the hungry and cloth the naked, to give voice against injustice, to help repair this world - letaken et haOlam - and shape it into a more meaningful and peaceful place.

Ours is the task to pray with mouths, hearts, hands and feet. Israel is the tree, we are the leaves. It is the clinging to the stem that keeps us alive. Judaism is a theology of the common deed, dealing not so much with the training for the exceptional, but rather with the management of the trivial. By focusing on the world around us, by defending those in lesser positions, the trivial itself acquires a measure of holiness.

(Based on Abraham Joshua Heschel)