Congregation Sherith Israel

Congregation Sherith Israel is a vibrant and welcoming Jewish community in San Francisco, committed to building an inclusive, engaging community for all generations that embraces people wherever they are in their journey, allows space to wrestle with today’s many challenges, and provides inspiration, belonging and hope through Jewish culture, wisdom and rituals.

The mission of Congregation Sherith Israel is to create a vibrant Reform Jewish community committed to:

Community: Warm, inclusive, nimble, supportive and intergenerationa; our congregation welcomes and embraces differences and similarities, including interfaith families, LGBTQIA+, and the full diversity of today’s reform Jewish community. Gathering in right-sized groups based on interests and needs helps us build real connections and a sense of

belonging.

Activism: A leader in social justice work for over a century, we are committed to social action programs, reflecting and applying our Jewish values in direct ways to build a more just world. Lay leaders, working with the clergy, design projects and maximize relationships with a wide network of partners to realize this goal.

Learning: We foster learning as a lifelong endeavor, with programs that span generations. We explore the richness of Judaism’s religious traditions and cultural heritage and look to Jewish theology to inform our understanding and processing of the contemporary world.

Meaning: Grounded in rich religious and cultural traditions, we provide opportunities for spiritual reflection and personal growth, adding meaning and purpose to our lives. A full calendar of events, and musical and joyful services in our historic, breathtaking sanctuary, bring people of varying backgrounds and experiences together to celebrate and explore.

Relevance: Adaptive and responsive, we address pressing issues most important to our community, locally and globally. Our clergy provide a compass during challenging times, a safe space allows for a spectrum of opinions and actions, and on-going communal support, pastoral guidance and pertinent, thought-provoking programs and gatherings are available throughout the cycle of life.

In pursuit of these goals, we commit ourselves to ongoing innovation, risk taking and seeking new challenges, as well as a continuous evaluation of our progress and results. We commit ourselves to building and sustaining the resources necessary to realize our mission and to protecting and maintaining our historic sanctuary building.