Today is October 13, 2025 ()
Welcome to B’nai Sholom! We’re really glad you’re checking out the membership page and hope you will visit us, talk with congregants and choose to join us as a member.
B’nai Sholom welcomes newcomers to our congregation, including people in interfaith marriages and of all races, abilities, sexual orientations and gender identities. We work to introduce and orient new members to our vibrant community, in part through programs designed to deepen the connections among all B’nai Sholom congregants.
Learn more about us by signing up for our weekly email announcements and/or joining us for Friday night services or one of our many educational, social action or just-for-fun activities.
Below are some common questions about membership. Please click on the category to access the more detailed drop-down information.
If you have additional questions or want to sign up to receive our weekly announcements, feel free to contact the B’nai Sholom office at 518-482-5283 or via email at office@bnaisholomalbany.org. Our office manager can answer most questions, and she can refer you to our rabbi or someone on our Membership Team as needed.
We look forward to welcoming you!
Members of our congregation have entered into a brit, or covenant, to support and be supported by the congregation. Membership allows the synagogue and the member to affirmatively acknowledge their commitment to each other.
Yes. You can be a regular or associate member as an individual or a family. Most of our congregants are regular members. Associate membership is for those who are either full members of another synagogue or who live out of town for at least a substantial portion of the year. With either type of membership, you can belong as an individual or a family. Family membership is for households with more than one adult or with children.
Membership in the synagogue affords the following privileges to regular and associate members, as indicated: | Regular Membership | Associate Membership |
Services of our rabbi for a deceased member’s funeral* | X | X |
Services of our rabbi for other life cycle events* | X | |
Opportunity to enroll your children in our religious school, B’Yachad (operated jointly with one other Albany synagogue, Congregation Ohav Shalom) | X | |
Step-by-step guidance for your child to become a bar/bat/bet mitzvah | X | |
Opportunity for your child to attend highly acclaimed summer camps of the Union for Reform Judaism — Crane Lake Camp and Camp Eisner, both in the Berkshires | X | X |
Eligibility to be buried in the B’nai Sholom Cemetery and to purchase burial plots at reduced member rates. | X | X |
Congregational support in the form of meals, rides, and other needed activities in times of illness, mourning, or other difficulties | X | X |
Congregational recognition, celebration, and blessings at various events throughout the year in honor of volunteers, students, long-standing or new members, and the like | X | X |
Discounted member rates for adult education classes, building rental fees, events where we charge admission, etc. | X | X |
The pleasures of being part of a multi-generational group of people you probably wouldn’t otherwise know – a place to share the wisdom of the old and the energy of the young, recipes and hand-me-downs, leads on job openings, good babysitters, and houses going on the market, professional and personal advice | X | X |
The added spirituality that comes from praying in a setting that feels like home and family | X | X |
The additional meaning that comes from studying with others from diverse backgrounds who can debate in a safe space | X | X |
Inclusion in and access to our congregational directory – the way to know everybody’s name and contact info | X | X |
Voting privileges – At B’nai Sholom, every adult member has a vote on the annual budget, the officers and members of the board, and our rabbi’s contract. | X | |
Committee involvement – Our committees are the foundation of our participatory, empowered congregation, affording a great way to meet people, to feel a part of the congregation, and to work to improve the congregation, the community or the world. Most committees are open to all members. | X | X |
Eligibility to be on the board of trustees or an officer of the congregation – a great way to exercise your leadership skills! | X | |
Access to Union for Reform Judaism programs and resources | X | X |
*The rabbi can perform funerals, weddings, baby namings, etc. for non-members or associate members, as applicable, subject to her availability, at standard rates established by the Capital District Board of Rabbis and Cantors.
Members support the congregation in a host of ways, through their attendance, their volunteer and leadership activities, their favorable remarks in the wider community, and their financial contributions. At B’nai Sholom, as at most synagogues, we have a dues structure for members. However, anyone who is unable to pay the standard amounts can seek a confidential dues reduction agreement. No one is denied membership for an inability to pay.
A member has the right to the rabbi’s services to officiate at their own wedding or funeral for free. The rabbi also officiates at baby naming and circumcision ceremonies for children of members.
If you are a member but your parent is not, our rabbi would likely make every effort to perform your parent’s funeral, but you would be charged the non-member rate set by the Board of Rabbis and Cantors. (Similarly, your parent could be buried in the B’nai Sholom cemetery, but at the non-member cost for a plot.) If you wanted the services of the rabbi or one of our congregant lay leaders to lead worship in your home during the traditional period of mourning, known as shiva, that would be provided to you as a matter of course as a member.
Congregant Age: | Individual Membership: | Family Membership: |
36 & under | $57 | $114 |
37 | $114 | $228 |
38 | $171 | $342 |
39 | $228 | $456 |
40 & older | $285 | $570 |
The dues rate for family membership is based on the age of the younger adult in the family.
When you first become a member, you will not owe dues or receive a bill until the next quarter after you join. Thereafter, you will receive a paper bill mailed to you quarterly. While dues are billed and payable quarterly, many congregants choose to pay annually, up front.
Right now, we do not have the capability to bill you electronically or to receive your payment online or via direct electronic funds transfer into our bank account. However, many congregants set up automatic electronic check payments to us through their own bank. Otherwise, you should pay by check mailed or delivered to the synagogue office.
We operate on a July 1 to June 30 fiscal year. Dues are based on a member’s age on July 1 of each year and are constant until July 1 of the following year.
As noted above, you will not owe any dues until the next quarter after you join. Thereafter, your membership dues will be billed quarterly at the 25 percent rate until the next June 30, the end of our fiscal year. For example, if you join in February, you won’t owe any dues until the quarter beginning April 1. You will then enjoy the reduced new member rate for that fourth quarter ending June 30. If you choose to join after April 1st, the reduced rate will apply for a full year – four quarters – until July of the following year.
“New” members are defined as those who have not belonged in the previous five years.
Individuals seeking individual memberships must be Jewish. For a family membership, one adult in the household must be Jewish.
Your partner will be considered a member of B’nai Sholom and enjoy most of the privileges of membership. For example, your partner will be entitled to vote, to serve on most committees, and to be buried in our cemetery. There are a few activities that are restricted to Jews, such as serving on the ritual committee, reading from the Torah, and leading the blessings before the Torah reading. We will find meaningful ways for your partner and other non-Jewish family members to participate in ceremonies important to your family, like a bar/bat/bet mitzvah. You and your partner will find many other inter-faith families at B’nai Sholom with whom you can share your religious and family experiences.
Yes, and yes. Consistent with the national Reform Jewish movement’s position, our congregation recognizes as a Jew any person who has one Jewish parent, is raised and educated within the Jewish faith, and publicly identifies as a Jew. In this regard, Reform Judaism differs from the Conservative and Orthodox movements, which recognize as Jews only those who have a Jewish mother or who have formally converted to Judaism.
Yes, of course — there’s no admissions exam! You’ll find B’nai Sholom to be a place where you can feel comfortable with whatever knowledge you possess, and a great place to learn more about Judaism. We use a prayer book where every prayer that’s in Hebrew is also shown in transliteration and in translation. We have a great education program for both kids and adults and wonderful holiday programming for all ages.
If you have questions about your status as a Jew, you should talk to our rabbi. She will be able to guide you in the best way for you to participate at B’nai Sholom.
Of course. B’nai Sholom does not discriminate based on sexual orientation, and you will find other same-sex couples here.
Yes, of course, please do! All our worship services are open to the public, member and non-member, Jew and non-Jew alike. We have services every Friday night, some Saturday mornings, and most holidays. You can find the dates and times posted on the calendar on the website, or you can contact the office. So we can welcome you appropriately, please call ahead to alert us to your desire to attend before you come for the first time.
Our services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are free of charge. However, we do ask folks to register in advance for those, so we can be sure to have enough seats and to know who is with us for security purposes. Check with the office for current information about children’s programming during those holiday services.
Sure. You could join us for one of our many educational, social action, or plain fun activities. We have adult education classes, weekly Torah study on Saturday mornings, a fair trade market, wine and cheese tastings, a chili-making contest, and periodic open-mic coffeehouses, among other things, all open to the public. Or perhaps you’d like to join us when we help at the soup kitchen or our homeless program, provide dessert for the Empty Bowls hunger event, or put together our Books for Babies packages. There is always lots going on! Many of our congregants have come to a few such activities and gotten to know us a bit before deciding to join.
Non-members can sign up to receive our weekly e-mail announcements, so you don’t miss out on upcoming events. Or, you can check our website – most events are listed on the calendar, and key events of interest are usually featured on the home page. We also have a Facebook page.
Fill out our membership application, available from this website or the B’nai Sholom office. Then fill out: scan and email it to office@bnaisholomalbany.org or send it to B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation, 420 Whitehall Road, Albany, NY 12208
If you haven’t already met with Rabbi Weisbrot, she will likely arrange to meet with you to discuss membership in B’nai Sholom. Thereafter, your application will be presented to our Board of Trustees for a formal vote, and you’ll be notified that you are officially a member of the congregation. Our membership team will make every effort after that to make sure you find ways to meet more congregants and to become as fully engaged as you’d like in the B’nai Sholom community.
I’d really like to talk to someone about B’nai Sholom.
Contact the office by phone at 518-482-5283 or by email. The office manager can arrange for you to talk to our rabbi, the chair of our membership committee, our president, or a congregant who shares a particular interest or concern you may have.
420 Whitehall Road, Albany, NY 12208
518-482-5283|Email Us
Tuesday through Friday 9:30 am - 4:00 pm
Closed Mondays