Welcome to Temple Emanu-El!
Our focus is on community, learning, worship, and friendship. We have eased back into in-person services and celebrations, and it has been wonderful. (Click here to read our Covid-19 policy.) On the other hand, we discovered that Zoom actually suits some of us, so we are working on making a Zoom option available even for our in-person services, celebrations, and events. Whether in-person or online, we strive for connection and warmth. We’d love to have you join us.
Included in Temple Emanu-El membership….
Membership includes all life-cycle events: baby naming, bar/bat/bax mitzvah preparation and services, engagements, marriages, birthday and anniversary blessings, and funerals. We offer free Hebrew tutoring and many other learning opportunities. Importantly, we also offer our members the chance to make a difference by adding their unique strengths and interests to our community.
A note about membership dues….
There is always a tension when asking our members for financial support. On the one hand, we sincerely want there to be no financial barrier to anyone who wishes to join with us. On the other hand, we have expenses including salaries and the rent we pay.
The largest part of the income we receive is annual dues from our members. At Temple Emanu-El, we have instituted a unique dues pledge system, whereby members decide by themselves, based on their relationship to our community and their personal finances, how much they are comfortable giving every year. As an aid to making that decision, we let our members know each year, based on that year’s budget, the actual cost per adult member of running Temple Emanu-El. Our hope is that our members decide that Temple Emanu-El is worth supporting in a generous and joyous way.
We invite you to wander….
Take your time wandering through our website and getting to know us further. Better yet, please feel warmly invited to come to any of our programs, events ,and Shabbat services – whether virtual or physical. We would love to meet you! If you’d like more information ahead of a visit, please contact our Interim Secretary, Bernice Rayburn (emanuelrochester@gmail.com, 585-461-2000, ext 203) or Rabbi Drorah Setel (rabbisetel@gmail.com). If you would like us to contact you, please click here, and you will be taken to our Contact Us page, where you can fill out the form at the bottom of the page.
Becoming a member….
To become a member, please fill out a membership form and a dues pledge form. You can fill out both forms online, and they will automatically be sent to our office for processing, or you can print out the two forms, complete them, and mail them in.
Membership and Pledge forms
Click here for a printable version of our Membership Form – coming soon!
Click here for a printable version of our 2023-2024 Pledge Form.
Mail your completed forms to
Temple Emanu-El
1200 Edgewood Ave
Suite E
Rochester, NY 14618
We look forward to welcoming you into our community!
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