Friendly congregation, hamish community - lay and professional leadership get along well - services…read moreare mainly lay led

This is a great conservative congregation…read more When my family arrived in the area, we weren't sure if we would be more comfortable joining a reform or conservative congregation. Back in Berkeley we were at a reform temple that used mostly Hebrew during worship, and was led by an old school Hungarian rabbi. The clergy at Ohav are fantastic. Loved Rabbi Dan. Love that the congregation shows off its egalitarian stripes with Rabbi Rena on the bima. Services were always kid friendly, from little toddlers all the way through fidgety grade schoolers. And we found it to be a warm and welcoming community. In the end, we decided our family was ultimately more comfortable being on the more religious side in a reform congregation, than the slackers in a conservative one. But this place still holds a warm spot in our heart, and it's an active and thriving part of the local Jewish community.

It's nicer on the inside…read more Don't tell my rabbi, but if my family was ever to leave our current temple, this would be where we would go instead. I love Rabbi Don, who presides over Albany's smaller reform congregation. He loves food, grows his own hot peppers, cooks, and plays a mean guitar. A rabbi who can carry a tune is a rare commodity and not something to be overlooked. Plus he's funny, and just a really nice guy. Reform Judaism is a funny thing. And there are a lot of people who go for glitz and glamor in their synagogues. That's not really my scene. I want a place where I can come as I am, and B'nai Sholom is like that. Some might dismiss the place out of hand, given the building's exterior design. It looks a bit more like an industrial warehouse than a house of God. I wasn't joking when I said that it's nicer on the inside. It is. And not just the physical aspects of the building. But there is a warmth in there, that I think emanates from Rabbi Don, which I find to be particularly appealing.

I have two children attending TI both through the lottery. We love this school so much. When I drop…read moremy kids off at school I am filled with a sense of peace and joy knowing they will be safe, loved, and cared for. I find the staff all to be very passionate about teaching and well-suited for their roles. The communication between the teachers, director, and parents is excellent. We get weekly (sometimes more) updates on what they are learning and what is needed from us / is coming up. Although my family is Christian - we love the Jewish aspect of the school. A Muslim acquaintance of mine is also looking forward to sending her child here soon. Personally, my family has enjoyed learning about the Jewish faith and celebrating the Jewish holidays. There are many kids of all faiths, races, and backgrounds in the UPK and 3PK classes. The diversity is wonderful. Packing a vegetarian lunch took a little getting used to but like other reviewers have mentioned my kid's lunches are very healthy because of it. I send them scrambled eggs, PBJ, lots of fruit, nuts (they have nut-free classes if needed), and lots of cheese and crackers. Both of my kids attend TI currently. When one was at daycare and the other at TI it was hard to manage the Christian and Jewish days off as they weren't all the same - but it was worth it because my kids are thriving at the school. Lastly, I want to say that although we have two lottery spots we loved it so much with our first child we put a deposit down for a private spot in the school just in case we didn't get a spot in the lottery. The director refunded the deposit for us when we heard from the district that we had won the lottery again. (The only lottery I ever expect I'll win, and that's okay lol)

It's understandable why nobody would leave a review for their child's nursery school. The…read morerelationships between parents and teachers is remarkably close. And by the time your child has moved on, the school may be a very different place. Regardless, I thought I would share my experiences. Both kids went through the program at Temple Israel Nursery School. We call it TI for short. And it was great. Was it the best ever? Maybe just a hair below some of the experiences with nursery schools we had in Berkeley and Princeton. But I would be hard pressed to think of a better school in the Capital Region for our needs. Yes, most of the teaches that my kids had and loved have moved on. The administration is different. But if we ended up having another kid, this would be the first place I would call to book an appointment and check out the current program. It was important for me for my kids to have a Jewish education, so I loved that this was in the same building as the sanctuary and the students were able to build relationships with the rabbi and cantors. And that is unchanged. And this may be stupid, but I really loved that little lobby where parents would wait for their kids to be done with school. I met some other parents there back in the day, and we're still friends after all these years. Not only that, but this is "smallbany" after all, so the kids keep bumping into some of the peers from nursery school. It's amazing how that works out.