• About Beth El

    About Beth El

    Congregation Beth El was first conceived in the Winter of 1959 when several families met informally to consider establishing a Reform Congregation. After many successful meetings the small group resolved to establish Congregation Beth El and held religious services in Southwood School in the Spring of 1960. A large house on Oullette Avenue served as the first home for the congregation  As  the membership grew, the Congregation broke ground for a new building in October, 1961. Construction began in May, 1962, and the cornerstone was laid that July. An addition was built in 1981 and was officially dedicated in early 1982.

     

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  • Vision and Identity

    Vision and Identity

    Congregation Beth El represents a modern interpretation of ancient Jewish tradition, designed to meet the needs of the twentieth-century Jewish community of Windsor.

    Congregation Beth El offers its members a setting conducive to our search for personal identity and meaning, within the modern context of an ever-changing and expanding faith.

    Congregation Beth El is affiliated with the Union of Reform Judaism and the Canadian Council of Liberal Congregations.

     

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 ALL in-person services and programming are cancelled until further notice.

Please follow the weekly eblast for virtual programming opportunities.

Please monitor this site for updates, or call 519-969-2422 or email bethelwindsor@cogeco.net.

 

Rabbinical Leadership

 

Rabbi Lynn Goldstein

Rabbi Lynn Goldstein was appointed Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth El in 2018. Previously she had served congregants in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, New York, and New Jersey. Rabbi Goldstein is married to Jack, and they have three adult children: Jenny and her husband Will, Becky, Andrea and her husband Eric, and Claire, and their 2-year-old granddaughter.

Rabbi Goldstein believes that it her task as a rabbi to bring the heart and the hand of Judaism to the real world. As she wrote in her introductory letter to congregants in the bulletin following her appointment,

“To be relevant, the Judaism we teach in our synagogue must directly address the concerns of our world. If we are concerned about the environment, we ought to be addressing the issue in a Jewish way. If we are facing a biomedical ethical dilemma, we should be able to find guidance in our tradition. If we are sickened by homelessness, we ought to be out helping to change the situation because we are Jews and our tradition demands it of us. If we are indifferent to the problems of the world around us, our Judaism ought to challenge us to care.” She believes in the power of each one of us, and all of us together, to bring to our community social justice, compassion, and tikkun olam.

 

Rabbi Emeritus Jeffrey Ableser

Rabbi Jeffrey Ableser served as the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth El from 1993 – 2018. He came to Windsor after serving pulpits in Toronto, Carmel, California, and Phoenix, Arizona. Rabbi Ableser is married to Judy, and has three adult children: Daniel, Rachel, and Jake.

During his tenure at Beth El, Rabbi Ableser has seen children he named become Bnei Mitzvah, and welcomed children he consecrated under the chuppah.


What's Happening At Beth El?

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Services

1st Fridays of the month:

6:00 pot luck dinner, dairy
7:00 Shabbat services

2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Fridays of the month:

7:00 Shabbat services

 

 

From the Union For Reform Judaism / Reform Movement

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