Wonderful clergy, unwelcoming to newcomers. Head kosher caterer was confrontational, offensive and rude. Music is wonderful; sanctuary is ornate, but no one greeted me at all in several visits. I felt alone, surrounded by hundreds of members who did not include me. Two women sat next to me, not responding to my greeting of Shabbat Shalom. Judaism is supposed to welcome the stranger. VBS drove me away. read more

Wanted to consult a Rabbi about a matter that has been troubling me so I yelped and picked one based on the reviews and called Valley Beth Shalom. I let them know I was not apart of their synagogue but had something troubling me and was hoping to consult a Rabbi and I don't know the protocol because I've never done this and was told everyone's in meetings and so busy these days! Are you kidding me?! Someone can't make 5 min to talk to someone about something troubling them?! I would never go here... probably just thrives that take your money and don't care about their people. read more

The community is warm and welcoming and the staff is top notch. Our family loves being part of this VBS family.

Visited VBS last weekend for my daughter and future son in laws Aufruf. I've never attending this kind of ceremony before and it was really lovely. We being part of the family were asked to join the wedding couple up on the stage to gather around the torah. Once finished the congregation threw candies for good fortune and the small children came and gathered the candies on the steps. Also a younger Rabbi ( I can't remember his name) spoke on the significance of Martin Luther King day and how it was intertwined with Rabbi Joshua Herschel's support of Rev. King. Found this interesting and relevant to the holiday weekend. Also a part of history that seems to not be shared in public school history classes. read more

I grew up here. Elementary school, Bat Mitzvah, Confirmation class, the whole shebang. And I appreciate every bit of it. VBS also has the best brownies of any Oneg Shabbat anywhere! (Thanks, Steve Cohen!) read more

VBS Day School has an amazing Jewish environment.

The Rabbi's and staff are very caring, friendly and interested in Tikun Olam which is the actual practice of Judaism and it's values. The educational programs are wonderful and easy to access online. The outreach to the congregation during the Pandemic has been awesome! There are programs for youth, seniors, sisterhood, Day school, Hebrew school a preschool, and a Counseling Center. There is a new gym and playground which makes VBS the place to meet the needs of living life Jewishly. read more

NEVER EVER USE Valley Beth Shalom VBS COUNSELING CENTER. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a stranger knock on your door late at night and threaten to take your child out of your house unless you do what they say? Just call Valley Beth Shalom Counseling Center in Encino and you too can find out. Based on a recent article touting the community reduced fee counseling services at VBS Counseling Center we called and made an appointment for our 12 year old daughter. Our daughter was stressed by school and kept saying she wanted to kill herself. Did we really believe she would take action on this? Not at all. It took us two weeks to make an appointment with the counselor at VBS. A few days before the appointment, on the last day of school, the counselor called to say that she had spoken to her supervisor and they did not believe they could handle our daughter's issue. Really? Without even seeing her? The counselor, again without meeting us or our daughter, escalated our "case" to The Department of Children and Family Services, who showed up unannounced at 1 pm on the last day of school. We had to collect our daughter from a pool party celebration to do an intake form which involved each member of our family of five. At 10 pm, we had another knock on the door. Two social workers from the Los Angeles County of Mental Health and their Psychiatric Emergency Team insisted that me and my daughter wake up and get out of beds to do an intake form with them - again the whole family at 10 pm on a work night. The second two social workers threatened to take our daughter out of our home that night... they stepped outside to "call their supervisor" for half an hour before deciding that we could keep her as long as we checked her into a psychiatric program the next morning. (Which we had already planning to do via our counseling session, now cancelled, with VBS.) If there was stress on our daughter and our family before, it tripled it. Now, instead of seeking a private solution through VBS Counseling Center, we had to check our 12 year old into Kaiser via the emergency room at 8 a.m. the next morning. The result? All the doctors we have been seeing agreed - this is school and age related stress issue, our daughter is not, nor has ever been a threat to herself. VBS Counseling Center - FOR SHAME. How dare you make a judgment on a 12 year old girl you've never spoken to and never met??????? If you thought our daughter was such a threat why did you wait two weeks to cancel the appointment? Now my daughter has this on her electronic medical records. What was a small issue will follow her for the rest of her life in healthcare. Thanks a lot. WARNING - if you are considering going to VBS Counseling Center, just know that you may have the county knocking on your door pulling you out of bed for a night time interrogation too. By the way, our daughter is doing fine. Entering adolescence can be stressful for any young girl and the way VBS Counseling Center handled this is a travesty. read more

Great synagogue located in sherman oaks. They have many programs offered here. Everyone is welcomed with open arms. Valley Beth is one of the valleys better synagogue. Plenty of parking available. I've been coming to Valley Beth for 2 months now and so far so good! I recommend you check Valley Beth out if you are looking for a synagogue. read more

a really good synagogue. I really like the Hazak program because the speakers are very interesting. I learn something every time I go there. Rabbi Feinstein is a great speaker, never a dull moment when I listen to him. read more

We have found an amazing family experience at VBS. My husband and I came from other synagogues and needed to find one that met our needs. There is so much available to experience, but we are really engaged as we meet more families. Also, we finally feel that our kids are getting educated Jewishly at their Hebrew school, rather than Jewish babysitting. read more

I am speaking from the point of you I have a former elementary school teacher and a grandmother. I have two grandchildren who are in the first grade at VBS day school, and I find that the children are very happy both emotionally and educationally, and that the teachers I have met have given much inspiration for the love of learning to these children. This is a great place to educate your child. read more

My fiance and I have gone to a few synagogues to get a feel for the environment, congregants, etc. None of them have been as great of an experience as we have had at Valley Beth Shalom. When we arrived for Saturday morning services, we were warmly greeted by Cantor Fox and several congregants. My fiance and I were also warmly welcomed by Rabbi Feinstein and many of the congregants. Overall, I truly believe that the warmth and the friendly environment is encouraged from the top and works its way down to the congregants. Some of the other synagogues that we visited were no where near as welcoming. It was an extremely refreshing, welcoming and pleasant experience. It's also comforting to know that there is a mommy and me program and schooling through the sixth grade, offered at Valley Beth Shalom. All in all, we were engaged throughout the service and felt very welcomed. read more

Been coming to this synagogue for a few years now, most families (theres always 1) we truly love. Everyone seems to be part of the family here.. We love the rabbi, the staff in general, and classes are quite neat. We mainly attend during holidays, but knowing we have a "home" to go to is priceless. read more

We joined a few years ago and so happy we did. Everyone is so warm and they have so many great programs to offer for everyone. Services are wonderful and Rabbi Feinstein is such an inspiration! read more

Randi is so helpful and caring...she really looks out for the community!

Where do I even begin. At the part where my childs photos were erased all over her classroom, the part where the head Rabbi offered no support, or the part where they lied to us to get us into the school and screwed us over later. We came to vbs looking for a mommy and me for my son only, knowing my daughter was not the type for temple schools, they rallied for us to come. We suggested we wanted a shadow for her for the first 3 weeks to help her transition. "We don't do that here, we have people on staff for that" slowly they started in on our daughter like a project. Meanwhile the on staff people hadn't offered one bit of advice at all for her problem at 4 years old of not wanting to come in from the playground or killing a spider they agreed to let live. The preschool head who I thought was a friend from a pervious temple. Offered us an ultimatum, to either have a full time 250 dollar a day shadow (which they don't do there remember) or leave "her" school. So I tried to get support from the famous Rabbi(s) who had never met my daughter, I went in for counseling for myself and the famous Rabbi refused to answer the question I went in for and instead told me my child had special needs and that I was in denial. A 4 year old, who he had never met, who's doctor laughed when she heard this. Im sorry the teachers don't want to mess up their hair for preschoolers. To make matters worse. I was the bigger person, apologized to the head rabbi for getting upset and Famous head Rabbi can't accept an apology apparently. THEN... I asked if my family could attend services and we were denied. Wow! Way to treat your fellow jew. This is why I studied my torah portion for this. Meanwhile other kids with serious problems go shadowless. Who the fk can afford an extra 250 a day especially after buying a house. read more

Hard to believe we got such a warm cozy feeling from such a large shul. There's something for everyone in this synoguge. My family particularly enjoys the text study with Rabbi Feinstein. we find him insightful and inspirational. read more