Temple Emanuel Calendar
A full view for the Temple calendar can be viewed here
Upcoming Events:
Temple Emanuel Welcomes You!
"Welcome to Temple Emanuel in Roanoke, Virginia. We are the only Reform Congregation in the greater Roanoke and New River Valley region. We take an innovative approach to Jewish tradition, while remaining true to the values and ethics of our heritage. Affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism, we strive to embody the ideals of “Doing right, loving goodness, and walking humbly with our God.”
Our Temple represents a wonderful blend of people from many countries and walks of life. As a relatively small congregation, we serve each other as a warm and welcoming family — always ready to support each other, and always ready to include new members in our mix. Our doors are open to all who wish to learn about Judaism, explore their Jewish heritage, or deepen their Jewish commitment.
Temple Emanuel is an active, dynamic, and spiritually fulfilling community. Explore our website and you will see the amazing energy of our congregation!"
– Rabbi Kathy Cohen
Message from the Covid Task Force
Fellow Congregants,
The past 2 ½ years have been challenging as we, and the rest of the world, dealt with the novel coronavirus, COVID 19. At Temple Emanuel we acted in the spirit of upholding the highest Jewish value - Pikuach Nefesh, saving human life - and took this responsibility seriously. We followed the science and available data, developing procedures to protect the health and well-being of our Temple community. As the impact and the nature of the virus changed, we modified our procedures.
It now appears that we are entering the next phase in the response to COVID and its variants. The approach emerging in our community and country is that COVID is being considered more as an endemic condition (rather than an epidemic or pandemic) and hopefully can be treated in the future like a flu that will require annual boosters. We continue to support recommendations to mitigate the impact of COVID 19 and all communicable diseases: maintain and update vaccinations and boosters, observe good hygiene practices, and please stay at home if you feel ill (stream our services on Facebook). We are modifying our procedures at Temple to reflect the change in the response to COVID. Please note the following changes that will be effective for High Holy Days and future worship services at Temple Emanuel:
-We are moving to a position of masks and vaccines as optional and will no longer be checking for vaccination proof or marking a vaccination list at the door. We continue to encourage vaccination and boosters but will not require or check for proof of vaccination. The task of checking at the door will be more of a security issue and the Security Committee will take that on. As we have always done, visitors or guests who wish to attend services should contact the office so the security committee can expect the visitors at the door.
-Anyone who wishes to wear a mask should feel free to do so. Masks will be available at the entrance of the Temple and at the doors of the sanctuary.
-We will have a designated area of the sanctuary (back 2-3 rows on the window side of the sanctuary) set aside for those congregants who are masked and feel more comfortable sitting with others who are also masked.
We look forward to seeing you at Temple for High Holy Days and wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year,
Kathy Cohen, Rabbi
Andy Goldstein, President
Sara Beth Katz, Covid Task Force
The March Bulletin is available! Bulletins can be found here
Welcome to Temple Emanuel!
ABOUT US
Temple Emanuel is conveniently located near the intersection of Persinger Road, SW and Brambleton Ave, SW, near Virginia Western Community College. Our office is open Monday-Friday 10:00am-4:00pm. (540) 342-3378 Shabbat services are held each Friday evening at 7:30 pm and on Saturday mornings at 9:30 am. We will be live on Facebook on Temple Emanuel's page..
WORSHIP
Worship at Temple Emanuel is nearly always filled with music. Children are always welcome at services and Rabbi Kathy Cohen encourages them to participate.
Shabbat services are held each Friday evening at 7:30 pm and Saturday morning at 9:30 am Our Summer Shabbat services start at 7:00 pm and are held from June 1 – August 31.
WELCOME!
Whether you're new to Judaism, or you're hoping to deepen your Jewish commitment ... whether you're considering a move to the Roanoke Valley, or you're a Roanoke or New River Valley area resident exploring the benefits of Temple affiliation ... we've got resources to answer your questions!
