Thank you for visiting the Vassar Temple website! As you navigate through the links—beginning with the history of Vassar Temple and concluding perhaps with our current calendar—you will be able get a glimpse of our kehillat hakodesh, our sacred congregation.

Vassar Temple, founded in 1848, has a rich historical legacy on which we continue to build, attempting to keep pace with an ever-changing world and the needs of our congregants while never forgetting those who came before us. During its many years serving the people in Dutchess and neighboring counties, it has steadfastly committed itself to providing ritual, spiritual, educational, social, and social justice programming in a welcoming atmosphere. As a partner of the national collaborative, the Jewish Outreach Institute, we have demonstrated our interest in serving all who wish to become part of our Temple family. Our doors are open, inviting singles, couples, or families; those from interfaith or GLBT backgrounds; and those for whom the experience of Jewish practice might not yet have exposed them to the beauty of our Reform traditions.

We are very 'hands on' and offer a wealth of opportunities for our members to become involved, whether you are 2 or 92! Our youth programs include Tiny Temple, which is an exciting entry for families with young children to become familiar with Vassar Temple. Our Religious School teaches our congregation's children the importance and joy of being Jewish, placing that learning in the context of what it means to accept the responsibility of participating in the care of our world, in tikkun olam.

At the adult level our educational programs and the offerings of our auxiliaries—the Vassar Temple Sisterhood and the Vassar Temple Men's Club—provide our members with a wide array of creative and innovative options. Whether one attends Torah study or a Women's Seder, a basketball game or a night with a famous author, participates in a tallit making class or takes a trip to a Yiddish Museum, the experience will be shared with caring members of your Temple family.

Temple Shabbat services offer attendees a chance to embrace their spirituality, to learn, to socialize, and to make connections with the larger Jewish world. Our gender-sensitive prayerbook, the Mishkan Tefillah, is designed for those with and without a knowledge of Hebrew to participate through prayer. Annually we offer unique Shabbat service experiences. Recent examples include an animal Appreciation Shabbat held in conjunction with the torah portion, Noah, at the conclusion of which we had a chance to meet local animal pet therapy teams; an environmentally themed Shabbat service; a weekend Shabbaton experience focused on Israel and the American Jew; and a comedy and spirituality Shabbat featuring a rabbi/comedian! Our traditional Friday night Shabbat services are frequently complemented by Saturday morning services as well. And as they occur throughout the year, the entire Temple family is invited to celebrate the bnei mitzvah, when our children are called up to the Torah to accept their place in the Jewish community. High Holy Day services, purim spiels, Temple family menorah lightings, and the Shavuot/Confirmation service are but a few of the religious observances that enrich the lives of our congregants.

It is not possible in this brief span of words to paint the entire picture of who we are and what one might find upon crossing our threshold. So we invite you to come and check us out in person. Attend a service or an event. Talk with people. Get the feel of the place. And when you do, we believe you will find that Vassar Temple truly can be the place Where You Belong! 

Sandra Mamis
Immediate Past President of Vassar Temple

Membership Information