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What is the wide-ranging appeal of PCS?

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If you are thinking of joining a synagogue, and you are considering Pleasantville Community Synagogue, I do hope that you will have a chance soon to attend one of our Friday evening or Saturday morning Shabbat services. I say that, because I believe there is nothing which can better give you a sense of what our community is all about.

What you would see on a typical Friday night would be couples with children, single parents, seniors, and their friends - singing, sitting quietly, and at one point even dancing (yes – dancing!). You would see parents saying a blessing over their children. And you would also notice that you don’t recognize all of the songs (That’s OK, most of us just learned them a few weeks ago ourselves. Everything here is a bit new – for everyone.)

“What is this?” you might ask yourself. Is this Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist? Actually, we are none of the above. We are a young community synagogue (we only dedicated our building in the Spring of 1998), of just a few hundred families, whose goal is to be a spiritual home for Jews of all backgrounds. We are a community synagogue that tries to take the best from each of the liberal movements (sometimes we use the term “transdenominational”). We reflect, as well, the energy and interest of our members, a growing but still-intimate group; many of whom live in Pleasantville, but almost two-thirds of whom now come from as far away as Stamford, Yonkers, and Yorktown.

We are a progressive, fully egalitarian synagogue, reaching out to a broad spectrum of the Jewish population in Northern Westchester; both “inclusive” and yet “deeply rooted” in tradition. Synagogue experts have coined a term for communities such as ours. They call us an “emergent” congregation.

It’s very easy to get to know people here. Once a part of our community, you’ll be invited to participate in a myriad of activities organized by our active committees. If you have children in Religious School, you’ll quickly make many connections there as well. Tots, young children, teens, seniors – everyone is made to feel welcome and included.

Our Synagogue is a “big tent” – and there’s lot’s of room inside. Whether you’re an interfaith family, or a “tallis and tefillin” Jew; whether you are drawn to exploring the meditative (even mystical) traditions of contemplative Judaism; or you are looking for a community with whom to work for the repair of the world (what Judaism calls tikkun olam); whether you are looking to study the intellectual underpinnings of Jewish philosophy; or you are looking for a group of people who will expand your circle of caring friends - we believe you will find yourself at home with us.

We are committed to the principle of Klal Yisrael – that is, the greater good of the Jewish people at large. And so in our kitchen we follow the traditional rules of Jewish diet (kashrut), so that any Jew can eat with us. And we follow the tradition of matrilineal descent, which we see as an important bridge across the movements. But we are non-traditional, too - in very important ways. We are non-traditional in we are non-traditional in the strength of our commitment to including the inter-married; we are non-traditional in our relaxed, informal approach; we are non-traditional in commitment to diversity and inclusivity; we are non-traditional in our use of music, and meditation, and dance.

We’ve been written about in The New York Times, and in Jewish Week. We are, needless to say, excited about the level interest and attention focused on our small synagogue community. The UJA-Federation Continuity Commission awarded us a significant grant, which helped get us off the ground – the first new synagogue in the New York area ever to receive such important recognition.

“Shul shopping” can be fun: it’s a chance to experience different variations on our tradition, to see a little bit of what’s going on in the Jewish world. It can also be a bit confusing. Should you settle down where you at first feel most comfortable? How can you tell when you have found a community with which you may best grow intellectually and spiritually? Please know that I would consider it a privilege to meet with you and your family, to discuss these and any other issues you wish.



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