Congregation B’nai Harim
HISTORY OF CONGREGATION B’NAI HARIM
Children of the Mountain
From the B’nai Harim printed history
Congregation B’nai Harim was the first Reform Jewish congregation in the Poconos and was established in 1995 with a membership of eight families.
The temple has grown over the years. Our first services were lay-led and were held in congregants’ homes, and then our services moved to the Mountaintop Lodge. In 2001, with the generous and gracious support of Father Boyle, Leader of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Pocono Pines, we began holding our services in the social hall of the church.
Father Boyle accompanied our outgoing rabbi, Helaine Ettinger, in the traditional Transition of the Torah scrolls to their new and permanent home.
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The two Torahs were handed to our new rabbi, Barbara Goldman-Wartel and Gene Schneider who carried the Torahs into the Temple and placed them into the arc.
In the fall of 2004, with 38 member families, we opened our new building with the observance of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. On July 4, 2005, we proudly unveiled The Temple Cornerstone. Today our “B’nai Harim Family” has grown to 79 member families.
Our current rabbi, Peg Kershenbaum, conducts bimonthly Saturday morning services. After which, our congregants socialize at an Oneg Shabbat. After a monthly Friday night Shabbat Pot Luck Dinner, Rabbi Peg conducts a Friday Night Shabbat Program.
In 2006 we hired a professional Hebrew teacher and our program has become very successful, resulting in many bar and bat mitzvahs of our children. In addition to religious services, B’nai Harim offers an array of cultural, social, adult and family events.
Sullivan Road
Pocono Pines, Pa. 18350
570-646-0100