Last night, Rabbi Steven Folberg was installed as the new rabbi. His effusive enthusiasm, incredible intelligence, unwavering kindness, deep compassion, and undeniable authenticity are evident in his dedication to this congregation. He is a remarkable teacher- to the young, old, AND everyone in between. As someone who is taking classes and looking forward to conversion, I can assure anyone who enters this synagogue that they will be treated with dignity, respect, and love. It's an awesome place with awesome people- and NOW- with an awesome rabbi to foster this joyous community! read more

Congregation is friendly and very accepting. Rabbi is new and has worked hard on making services meaningful and accessible. And he teaches a very unique Torah Study on Shabbat morning. read more

After reading the reviews for this Temple ( Which are all over 3 yrs old ) I decided to leave a review. 1st off I am not a member. YET. But I hope to be. LOL. I moved to the area 2 yrs ago and I have check out numerous Temples. I have gone to services as a guest at these places. Temple Emanuel is by far the only Temple I would ever consider. Sara, in the membership dept is AMAZING in her help. I am disabled and she has been so helpful I couldnt tell all the great things shes done. Both services i have gone to here were TERRIFIC. When I walk in I am greeted by so many people you'd think I'd been a member for yrs. Nobody knows me but they say hello and ask my name and ask all about me since im a guest. When services were over I received a heartfelt goodbye and a number of people asked how I enjoyed the services and they hoped I'd come back AND they hoped I would consider joining. What more could anyone ask? read more

You'll notice the newer reviews are getting worse and worse. There is a reason. The reason is the "new" rabbi, Dean Shapiro. While to a regular member sitting in the congregation who has not seen what's behind the real person, maybe offering him a brief hello or a topical conversation, he appears friendly and warm, he is genuinely not at his core. He is actually more of a Narcissist who acts the part of a caring, giving, service oriented Rabbi without living it. The warmer people at Temple Emanuel, the people who "truly" seemed to care have all left, likely due to him. The cantor, Emily, with a voice like an angel, left the congregation. The best Rabbi that Temple Emanuel had ever had, Jason Bonder, also left. The office manager, Eve, who was great and took the brunt of frustration from people that Dean Shapiro created, also left the temple; who could blame her? Rabbi Dean Shapiro is the embodiment of a primadonna - "a very temperamental person with an inflated view of their own talent or importance." Dean is genuinely not a warm or personable person. As an example, after years going to Emanuel, he likely won't know your name unless you are in a position to help him or treating him as if he lives on a pedestal (he loves that). Once you get past the "candy coating", underneath is not warm, friendly or caring with a service attitude,....he is self-serving, self-righteous and self-important. He talks negatively and insensitively about people when he thinks they aren't listening. People are listening. As other reviewers have said, Temple Emanuel feels "soul-less", cold and unfriendly for the most part. This is true. It really isn't warm and friendly and certainly doesn't feel like home. Don't misunderstand, there are some great congregation members, good people and some caring staff, but from a leadership-down perspective, it is not welcoming and not good. It's easy to feel. As a member for over 30 years, not once did Rabbi Dean Shapiro ever recommend to the congregation to welcome new people, to reach out, nothing. As a leader, wouldn't you think there would be a committee or at least individuals at each service to do this? If not, wouldn't you think he'd say, "here is how we do things here, please help." Never happened. Even as someone attending for 30 years, it felt not-welcoming and cold. Dean and Temple Emanuel have a single MO, that is money. That's it. They want you to pay more dues, more fees, more donations. The focus is getting more money, period. As a business, they will never recognize money already paid or time already invested, donated and volunteered. Their consistent message is "open your wallet, we want more!" I was on the Board of Directors for Temple Emanuel, started and ran various boards and groups, ran fundraisers for Temple Emanuel that raised millions for the building expansion and saved tens of thousands on landscaping when the yard maintenance person was in the hospital. There was literally never even a thank-you, a hand shake, a head nod, nothing. I was never looking for a pat on the back, just wanted to give back and do the right thing, but you-know, a simple thank-you would have been nice. So, after being a member for 30+ years myself, my mother being a member for that long and my cousins being members for that long, we all left. Mostly due to Rabbi Dean Shapiro and the "feeling" he brings to the whole place - top down poor-leadership. None of us received a goodbye, great knowing you, thanks for everything. Nothing. So, to Rabbi Dean Shapiro, the worst of 5 Rabbi's I've seen come and go, "thanks for not much." read more

Hello! I had small classes with Reznikoff and was taught my Torah work under Pinkwasser at this synagogue. Now it is cold. Now it is about political activism and not religion. There is no such thing as social justice - there is only justice and then there is bigotry. If justice has a qualifier then it is not blind. It is only for some. It makes sense what others say because with bigotry comes a cold and unwelcoming aura. I am one of the first people to have a Bar Mitzvah in this synagogue. The second one, I believe. It was a great religious and community place. A religious space is supposed to be based on biblical teachings not current social trends. If a synagogue bends to society it is no longer an oasis of truth to radiate out into society. If things change direction, they back up and flow in the other direction. The community oasis becomes a drain where the waste ends up. read more

My daughter recently had a Bat Mitzvah through Temple Emanuel and although we hadn't planned on going the Zoom from home route, it turned out to be better than we could have ever expected. Rabbi Shapiro made sure it was a meaningful experience for our family and found special ways to include our out of town family over Zoom. We have been so happy to be members of this Temple over the last 8 years and this experience made us even more grateful we are! read more

We are new to the area and were looking for a place to call home. We were very excited as we had heard many great things about Temple Emmanuel so we decided to purchase High Holy tickets to get a feel for what we might expect. We went to the services. The Rabbi did a wonderful job. Here's what turned us off to and made us decide not to pursue a membership with them. Not one person in ALL of the High Holiday services we attended, not one single person had the common decency to utter a simple hello. What a disappointment. read more

I have been there a few times in the past. I have to agree with Annie A, the Rabbi I really like, he is kind, very friendly and welcoming. The members however are rude, not friendly at all. She is correct when she states that no one says hello introduce themselves or make you feel welcomed. I was very disappointed in this as well. It is as the members have their own group and do not want anyone new to join them. It is a real shame, because I really do like the Rabbi. read more

I love this place, I rejoined as a member last year after being away for 15 years. I happen to love Rock Shabbat, lots of Temples do it. The pre-school staff is amazing, and every time they throw a party (Purim, Chanukah) you are welcomed with open arms,. Everyone introduces themselves, and every one is welcome. I happen to love the Rabbi and the new Rabbi, Jason, is so open and friendly. I feel lucky to be a member here and love it. read more

Lovely evening of Bingo and shared desserts. My grandson won at Bingo and was thrilled with the prize. A great evening of family fun!!!

I was able to visit this Synagogue as a guest with my friend earlier this year. We attended a morning Shabbat service and everybody that we approached with a question beforehand was quite helpful and friendly. We were glad to witness a perfectly handwritten Torah scroll as well as to be there to experience the music and Bat mitzvah. As a guest, I felt that there was no reason to be anxious while attending even though I was originally nervous to offend someone. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of this service and to be a part of a beautiful celebration of life and living. Anybody planning to visit should not be afraid to offend so long as they bring a respectful attitude. The Rabbi did an excellent job welcoming everyone with a song at the start of the service and made us feel comfortable in doing our best to sing along and participate without judgment; all the while, Jewish tradition was respected and shared. read more

We attended a bar mitzvah here last week and I was very impressed. Although we usually go to a Conservative shul, I enjoyed the liturgy here. I also was impressed with Rabbi Dean's inclusiveness and commentary on the service. I also liked the cantor's singing. I do wish they would announce page numbers in the Chumash or siddur to make it easier to follow along. The congregation was friendly and I would probably go here if I lived in the area. read more

My daughter had her Bat Mitzvah in October and Rabbi Dean and Cantor Suzanne were absolutely amazing. We had a lot of guests whom were not Jewish in attendance and they were amazed with the inclusion and warmth that was offered by the Rabbi and Cantor. My cousin whom had not been to services in over 40 years confided in me that if Rabbi Dean was his Rabbi he would not have stopped going to services. read more

So I was a member...found it to be like the suburbs -kinda barren and soul less, so to speak. Also it has a strong undertow of political activism which I do not appreciate from a synagogue. I think they kinda try but at the end of the day it's big, not particularly friendly, and lacks character. Also, they've got some churchy/goyish "rock Shabbat" thing. No thanks. I'm happier unaffiliated. read more

This is the best choice of synagogues in the valley. Worth a trip from any part. The Rabbis and Cantor engage you as a congregant in worship. The traditional and contemporary service each have a special meaning to those looking for a spiritual experience. The amount of activities available, will satisfy the interests of a most varied spectrum of people. I haven't found any other Temple in the valley that can compare! read more

I go here, it's great, but with a new rabbi, everything seems out of order and will be for the next few years