Temple Beth El to host services on March 1

If you’re Jewish and haven’t been in synagogue for a while, Temple Beth El in Patchogue invites you to come check out a special service on Friday night, March 1.

That night, the more than 100-year-old synagogue, which is affiliated with Judaism’s Conservative movement, will offer a brief, kid-friendly service for young children and their parents.

The “Tot Shabbat” service features songs and stories geared to children up to about age 7. The 15-to-20-minute service will be followed by an all-ages service and a free dairy dinner in the synagogue social hall.

It’s all part of Shabbat Across America, a program that encourages Jews across the United States and Canada to celebrate Friday night services at their local synagogue on March 1.

For Temple Beth El, which has a membership of about 110 families who come from as far away as Mt. Sinai, Islip and Shirley, the hope is that Shabbat Across America will introduce families with young children to a synagogue which, like many, is trying to rebuild its base of families with young children.

Some stepped away during the height of the pandemic and Beth El closed its Hebrew school because of declining enrollment, temple co-presidents Cheryl Gavin and David Stern said. They hope to attract enough families with young children to be able to reopen the Hebrew school.

“We want to try to get the younger families in earlier,” rather than waiting to join until their children near the bar or bat mitzvah age of 13, Stern said.

The effort includes a special outreach to interfaith couples, where one spouse is Jewish and the other is not.

“We do a lot to make people feel they belong here,” said Gavin, a retired middle-school special education teacher.

Temple Beth El, which calls itself “the friendly temple,” not only offers religious services but a full range of social activities including a Sisterhood for women, an Adult Club for seniors, and a Men’s Club, which organizes trips to New York Islanders hockey games, among other activities.

Recently, synagogue members went to see a production of “Fiddler on the Roof” at the Gateway Playhouse, followed by dinner back at the synagogue.

“It’s not all about services; it’s the social part, too,” Gavin said. “We try to be that social piece as well.”