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Congregation Beth El
Congregation Beth El
Religion
Affiliation	Conservative Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Synagogue
Leadership	Rabbi David Englander; Rabbi Aaron Krupnick (Emeritus);
Status	Active
Location
Location	8000 Main Street, Voorhees, Camden County, New Jersey
Country	United States
	Location in Camden County, New Jersey
Geographic coordinates	39°52′03″N 74°56′44″W / 39.867637°N 74.945447°W
Architecture
Date established	1921 (as a congregation)
Completed	1921 (Parkside, Camden); 1967 (Cherry Hill); 2009 (Voorhees);
Capacity	1,200 worshippers
Website
	bethelsnj.org

Congregation Beth El is a Conservative synagogue located in Voorhees, Camden County, New Jersey, in the United States.

As of 2023^[update], the clergy include Senior Rabbi David Englander, Hazzan Alisa Pomerantz-Boro, and Rabbi Emeritus Aaron Krupnick.^[1]

Overview

The mission statement of the congregation is:^[2]

“Beth El is our spiritual home. We create a warm and welcoming community where people of all generations are enriched by learning and inspired to discover their personal experience of Jewish life.”

History

Congregation Beth El was founded in 1921, in Parkside, Camden, at Park Boulevard and Belleview, opposite Farnham Park.^[3]^[4]^[5] It was Camden's first conservative synagogue.^[5] The congregation had an annual Chanukah Ball beginning in 1922, a religious school beginning two years later, a Hebrew Free Loan Society, a Hebrew ladies charity society, and in the 1930s hosted sorority and fraternity meetings on Tuesday nights.^[4] Its synagogue building was demolished in 2000, and a Boys and Girls Club was built in its location.^[3]

Beth El relocated in 1967 to 2901 West Chapel Avenue in suburban Cherry Hill.^[3]^[5] William Zorach's sculpture "Memorial to 6,000,000 Jews" (1949) was located at it.^[6] Beth El was the oldest conservative synagogue in Cherry Hill.^[7] In 2009, Beth El sold its Chapel Avenue property to a 2,500-member Christian congregation based in Philadelphia.

On April 5, 2009, members of Beth El walked 6½ miles transporting 10 Torahs to the new synagogue in neighboring Voorhees, within the Main Street Complex.^[7] With the sale of the Chapel Avenue property, assessed at $9.9 million, the Voorhees campus consists of a 1,200-seat sanctuary, 500-person social hall, coffee bar and administrative offices. The remainder was raised through congregant donations.^[8]

The Beth El community hosts several groups, including Sisterhood, Men's Club, Young Families, Habonim (Empty Nesters), Youth Department (Youth groups), Kavod (LGBTQ Adults and Allies), Achim Sheli: My Brothers and Sisters (celebrating ethnic and cultural diversity), and Chevra: Creating Connections for Adults.^[2] The synagogue provides religious education for youth and adults.^[9]