Who We Are
This is HBT today.
HBT is 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 חבורה | Community
A minyan is ten Jews. Tradition doesn't ask about background or how long you've been here, only that we show up, for one another and for something larger than ourselves. We're not guests in someone else's house. We are the house.
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.
Community here means being known. People notice when someone is missing. They show up when things are hard, not only when there's something on the calendar.
Avodah עבֹדָה | Worship
Tradition has a vote, not a veto. Prayer here isn't watched; it's lived: it moves, it breathes, it's carried by music rather than accompanied by it. You don't need to know Hebrew, know the service, or feel fully into it; listening, humming, or simply being present are all ways of participating. We welcome seekers and shmoozers, questioners and believers. Informality is our backdrop; participation is our goal.
Torah תורה | Learning
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 עולם | Social 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 new roof and solar array make that commitment especially 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.