School Updates
The United Jewish School (UJS) is the religious school for families who belong to Congregation Ahavas Israel and Temple Emanuel. Being a part of congregational life, attending our worship, and participating in our social events create the full and well-rounded Jewish community that we are so proud to be a part of. When you’re part of a congregation, you’re part of a community and a home. When you’re sick, someone will drop by with soup. When you’re celebrating a simcha, we’ll offer you a special blessing for you during our Shabbat service. When you’re experiencing tragedy, we’re there to hold your hand.
For these reasons, we require all families who attend UJS to be members of either Congregation Ahavas Israel or Temple Emanuel. Families may call either congregation to apply for membership M-F from 9-5. Both congregations are happy to work with your family on an appropriate membership plan that your family can be comfortable with.
In special cases, if a family has just moved to town in the summer and hasn’t had time to explore the congregation and need more time to choose which congregation is the best fit for them, we offer families a one-year grace period to get to know both congregations so they can make a choice. However, we hope families will not use this policy to simply avoid affiliation. Please call Cantor David Fair, the Educational Director of the United Jewish School at 616-591-1010 or his Administrative Assistant, Ms. Kreenah Dunsmore at (616) 591-1007 for further details.