Congregation Emeth

About

Congregation Emeth is a Reform congregation with a welcoming spirit and diverse membership. We engage in lifelong learning, worship, social action, and community while celebrating Judaic spiritual and cultural traditions.

Story

A Message from Rabbi Israel:

The essence of home is family. When you step across the threshold, you are reminded about times past and hopes for the future. In a loving home, one feels a connection that transcends time and space. Your spiritual home is no different. In a synagogue, one feels a link to generations before and experiences the visions and dreams of the future.

Congregation Emeth invites you to join our extended family and be part of our spiritual home! We are a caring community who will rejoice with you during happy times and comfort you during sadness. At Congregation Emeth, the hand of friendship and welcome is always offered. We have taken down the walls that close hearts and opened the door to a deeper and more meaningful experience of what it means to be part of a Jewish community and connected to God.

Congregation Emeth welcomes people from diverse Jewish backgrounds and traditions. We embrace interfaith families as well as non-Jews who are on the path to conversion. We welcome LGBTs.

Come learn with us! Come celebrate Shabbat, holidays, and personal milestones with us! Come help us bring Torah alive! Here at Congregation Emeth you will find people who want to make a difference in the lives of one another, impact the greater community, and elevate the degree of holiness in our world. We are waiting to welcome you, to have you become part of our congregational family.

Come home to Congregation Emeth!

B’racha Ha’ba-a (blessed are those who come),

Rabbi Debbie Israel

Mission

Congregation Emeth: Let Torah be a way of life, and welcome every person as a friend. Pirke Avot (The Ethics of the Fathers), 1:15

Congregation Emeth is dedicated to nurturing the spiritual, intellectual, and social needs of all individuals and families who seek a meaningful Jewish connection in Gilroy, Morgan Hill, and the surrounding communities.

Torah (Education)
With the understanding that a commitment to live a Jewish life is enhanced by lifelong learning throughout the Jewish lifecycle, we are dedicated to providing a quality Jewish education for our children and adult congregants.

“The one who studies in order to practice will be enabled to study, and to teach, to observe and to practice.” Pirke Avot 4:5

Avodah (Participation)
With an emphasis on member participation, we study Torah and worship God in a safe and supportive environment that encourages opportunities for both individual growth and family involvement.

“Do God’s will as if it were your own, so that God may do your will as God’s own.” Pirke Avot 2:4

G’milut Chassadim (Community)
With understanding of our responsibility to the global community where our ethics and values meet the challenges of the secular world, we are dedicated to the goal of Tikkun Olam (repairing of the world in the name of God).

“Let all who work with the congregation do so for a higher purpose.” Pirke Avot 2:2

“The world stands on three things: Torah, Avodah, and G’milut Chassadim.” Pirke Avot 1:2