Membership
Baruch Haba! Welcome!
Temple Israel was established in 1920 as the first Jewish congregation in Alameda. Since then, we have grown to become the heart of Alameda’s Jewish community.
With 130 member families, our congregation is small enough to provide a warm and personal experience and established enough to build a foundation for Jewish culture in Alameda. With services every Friday night and special family programing throughout the year, we strive to foster a love for Jewish learning and play.
Our Roots Are Deep and Long
Temple Israel of Alameda is the historic and contemporary Jewish community in Alameda. Our programs, celebrations and observances have not only sustained us, but also helped us strengthen our bonds with Judaism and each other.
About Donations
With a donation, you can honor and remember friends and loved ones, or celebrate important life cycle events. You can either designate your gift to the General Fund, to use where most needed, or designate your gift as restricted to benefit one of our ongoing funds. Either way, your generosity helps us deepen and expand our kehillah kedosha, our sacred community. Remember, contributions are tax deductible! You may go here on our website to make an online donation: https://www.templeisraelalameda.org/giving Thank you.
2021/2022 Membership renewal and president's greeting
Dear Congregation:
We are so glad that you are with us and I do not take that for granted. When we closed the building over a year ago, I wondered how we could possibly hold our congregation together with no sanctuary to go to and no classrooms for the school. What I learned was that Temple Israel is far more than a building and that closing the doors was not closing the Temple. We went virtual with our school and services and you showed up. We held classes, events, and even fundraisers on Zoom and you attended. We did lose rent income and could not do a planned gala fundraiser however due to your generosity and a PPP loan we survived the year with the budget in the black.
At the end of May the school held two sessions in person in our newly paved courtyard. Wow, what a treat to see old friends in three dimensions and the kids, they have grown so much. Cantor Brian has built a wonderful school community and it was good to see them all at our building once again.
I have long believed that a congregation is like a family in that it is a group of individuals that you did not choose and yet you are connected. As Jews we are connected through thousands of years of shared history, through life-cycle and holiday events that we have attended together, and through the knowledge that however long we are apart, we will take up again right where we left off. As we open for services at our building, I am so looking forward to seeing each of you, if only to exchange an elbow bump.
This year we will be holding High Holy Day Services in “hybrid” mode. They will be live for some congregants and on Zoom for the rest. You may be asking who gets to attend in person. Individuals must be fully vaccinated, and priority will be given to those for whom Zoom is a difficult obstacle. For security reasons families will need to preregister to receive the Zoom link. Also, we still require that families be current members to receive their HHD “tickets”, so please renew today. It is now very easy on our website to renew your Membership dues, see below to do so.
Welcome Home. We have left a light (the ner tamid) on for you. May we all gather around that light, and with joy, prayer, and song, fan that flame into the bright light that is Temple Israel.
L’shalom,
Eric Strimling
President, Board of Directors
Membership Dues
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Sustaining: $261 per month or $3132 per year
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Reduced: $135 per month or $1620 per year
Note: Families with children attending Beit Bina are required to be members. Tuition grants are available as needed, please contact Cantor Brian to learn more.
Enhanced Dues
Our community has a dedicated staff and an aging building to support. Only through Enhanced Dues, generous donations, and the support of the Temple Israel Foundation are we able to generate the funds necessary to operate. If your means allow, please consider an annual gift.
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Chesed – Kindness $10,800 and above
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Shalom – Peace $7,200 and above
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Tzedakah – Righteousness $3,600 and above
Capital Campaign/Building Fund
Each new member family is expected to contribute a minimum of $1100 towards our building fund, generally paid over a 4-year period ($275 per year), which goes towards the upkeep and improvements to our building and facilities.
FORM INSTRUCTIONS:
If you are not logged into your Membership Account via our Website and do not have a payment method set-up within your portal, you will be required to provide credit card information below.
If you are logged into your Membership Portal and have established online payment methods you will have the option of applying your membership and capital/building campaign contributions here.
If you do have trouble, please contact Deb Balot at Treasurer@TempleIsraelAlameda.org
Thank you.
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