For Rabbi Jeff Sultar of B’nai Jacob in Phoenixville, his congregation can be defined by its self-starting nature. He said that there is one story that typifies this better than any other.
“A congregant realized that the Jewish Relief Agency, which delivers thousands of meals every month out of Northeast Philadelphia, doesn’t have an equivalent in our area,” he said. “They worked with the JRA to create a satellite program, and our members have made it happen. We now pack and deliver 36 meals a month to people in need. Somebody just saw the need, proposed it — they basically made it out of nothing.”
At B’nai Jacob, an old-school conservative feel meshes with what Sultar calls “a big tent.”
What that means is that Sultar wants the shul to be inclusive above all else.
“When you are a small-town congregation, [the attraction is] regional as much as it is ideological,” he said. “People might be here because they [live close by] or because they married into the community.”
With just about 120 households, B’nai Jacob is on the smaller side of area synagogues. As many Jews flock to either end of the worshiping spectrum — Orthodox or Reform — some Conservative communities are shrinking. At B’nai Jacob, these changes have led to some new preferences from the congregants and, in turn, new traditions.
“Something that a lot of Conservative synagogues do now is holding a more traditional Shabbat service on Shabbat morning,” he said. “The morning service tends to be very by the book, and the Friday night service is a chance to be a bit looser, a bit more creative.”
Sultar understands the appeal of different styles of worship. He said that traditional Conservative services might be intimidating to those who aren’t used to them.
“If we have a member who is from a different background, maybe a less traditional one or not a Jewish one, the price of entry to a Shabbat morning service is huge,” he said. “It’s two-plus hours of ‘mumble, mumble, quick prayer.’”
Sultar said that what they hear from congregants is that the Friday night service is a welcome switch-up from more traditional worship.
“The Friday service is roughly an hour long, and it’s mostly singing. It’s a beautiful placement because it’s right at the beginning of Shabbat, so it kind of ushers you into Shabbat. We’ll do some things that are a little bit more creative and open,” he said.
The services at B’nai Jacob are special, largely because of a quality that Sultar says is another defining factor of the community he helps lead.
“I find that the multigenerational connections here are greater than they are in most other communities I have been a part of, and people really make the experience their own [in that sense],” he said. “People of all ages hang out together, and there aren’t that many cliques.”
A group of adult congregants from across the generational spectrum are responsible for one of the most exciting developments at the shul, the Rabbi said. Basically, some members decided that they wanted to learn more with each other, and not just in a Jewish sense.
“They started what they call CBJ University,” Sultar said. “They meet on roughly a monthly basis with programs that people are interested in. Sometimes it’s freestanding; sometimes it’s a part of Shabbat service.”
Sultar said that one class that he thinks was particularly useful was geared towards two generations. The concept was caring for aging family members, and the event was attended by both elderly congregants and younger ones.
For the congregants at B’nai Jacob, the upcoming weeks will actually bring much-needed rest. Sultar said that recent weeks have included four different b’nai mitzvah anniversary celebrations, an adult bat mitzvah, a baby naming, a classroom dedication and one regular bar mitzvah. Everyone has been moving full speed, and Sultar thinks that some downtime might be good for the community.
After all, the goal at B’nai Jacob is longevity. The congregation was formally chartered in 1912, over a century ago. Sultar proudly said that the history of the synagogue is one of “stability.”
“It works really well at CBJ,” he said. “It’s a tight-knit, close community.”