Who We Are
This is HBT today.
At HBT, people come to sing, learn, help, and lead, not only to attend. We are a haimish Reconstructionist community, informal and close-knit, rooted in Jewish tradition and responsive to the world we live in. Four core principles shape how we live together: Havurah, Avodah, Torah, and Tikkun Olam.
Instead of describing ourselves in the usual language of "warm, welcoming, inclusive, vibrant," we would rather show you what those words actually mean here.
Havurah חבורהCommunity
Hillel taught, Al tifrosh min hatzibur: do not separate yourself from the community. We're not guests in someone else's house. We are the house. Community here means being known. People notice when someone is missing, and they show up when things are hard, not only when there's something on the calendar.
That means bringing food, offering a ride, or visiting when someone needs support. It also means making room for children and families within communal and sacred life. HBT includes Jews of Color, multiracial families, and families in which not everyone is Jewish. They are part of the life and leadership of our community.
There's no single way to belong here. Some people jump right in, others take time, and it's natural to grow into your place as you go.
Avodah עבֹדָהWorship
Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, taught that tradition has “a vote, not a veto.” We inherit Jewish tradition as a source of wisdom and practice, and we decide together how to live it today.
At HBT, prayer is not something you watch from the outside. It is something we make together. Music here does more than accompany the words; it deepens our intention and connects us to one another. Much of the service includes song and nigunim, wordless melodies that invite each person into prayer in their own way, so the community can breathe and sing as one. On holidays and special occasions, the HBT band joins us. You don’t need to know Hebrew or the service, or to feel fully at home in it. Listening, humming, reading silently, or simply being present are all ways of participating. Seekers and shmoozers, questioners and believers all have a place here. Informality is our backdrop; participation is our goal.
Torah תורהLearning
Learning here happens together, not simply delivered from the front of the room. In the spirit of chavruta, the Jewish tradition of learning through conversation and questioning, we ask questions out loud, explore texts together, and make meaning collectively. We inherit Jewish tradition and continue to interpret it, asking what it asks of us in the world we live in. Our Chaverim School carries that same spirit forward, with students, teachers, and teen madrichimot learning and leading alongside one another.
Tikkun Olam תיקון עולםSocial Justice
Justice, justice shall you pursue. At HBT, that call has taken many forms over many years: organizing for social and economic justice through GBIO, exploring questions of justice through our annual Human Rights Shabbat, addressing food insecurity through our long partnership with Family Table, and working for racial justice, immigrant support, and the dignity and safety of trans and queer people. When the work touches the hardest questions, including Israel and Palestine, we build a Sukkat Shalom, a shelter of peace, and raise a Kol Tzedek, a voice for justice. The goal isn't consensus, but staying in relationship and listening across difference.
Still Becoming HBT
Our values aren't only statements about what we believe. They can be seen in how we worship, learn, care for one another, make decisions, welcome people into Jewish life, and take responsibility for the world around us.
HBT has repeatedly changed in order to remain itself. As a Kahal Chayim, a living community, we continue to interpret what we have inherited and shape what comes next. That means taking responsibility for sustaining the community itself: caring for and adapting our building, supporting the programs and people who fill it, maintaining a sound financial foundation, and investing in the generations that will follow us.
Our values have long reached beyond our walls. Now you can see them on our roof, too, where our new solar array makes that commitment visible. But sustainability is larger than any one project. It can be seen in how we use and reshape our spaces, support our programs, steward our resources, and prepare HBT for the future.
And none of this began with us. HBT has been shaped and reshaped by generations of people who chose to build Jewish community together.
Come Be Part of It
The best way to know HBT is to be here. Each week we gather for A Moment for Ma'ariv on Tuesday evenings from 7:30 to 8:00 PM, a morning minyan on Thursdays at 7:00 AM, and Shabbat services on Saturdays at 10:00 AM. Many gatherings are in the sanctuary and on Zoom; the links are on our calendar.
Families with children learn and grow together in our Chaverim School. Throughout the year there are holiday celebrations, music, learning, and community events open to everyone.
Have a question first? Email the office at office@templehbt.org.