Welcome to Temple Beth Or

Our warm, compassionate, vibrant, spirited, inclusive, and participatory Reform Jewish community is religiously and geographically diverse, serving Washington’s northern Puget Sound. Browse our website, attend a service or event, and join us!

Welcome to Temple Beth Or

Our warm, compassionate, vibrant, spirited, inclusive, and participatory Reform Jewish community is religiously and geographically diverse, serving Washington’s northern Puget Sound. Browse our website, attend a service or event, and join us!

Our Congregational Priorities

K'hilah/Mishpachah (community & family)

Nurturing our interactive, multigenerational extended family

Torah

Lifelong learning, searching for meaning, and seeking comfort and healing

Avodah

Worship and celebration through the observance of meaningful, creative, and traditional rituals

Tikkun Olam

Transforming ourselves and our world through tzedakah (fairness), social justice, and g’milut chasadim acts of loving kindness

Currently at TBO

Upcoming Events

Full calendar at templebethor.org/calendar

Capital campaign logo

Temple Beth Or has launched a Capital Campaign to help fund updates and expansions to our current building. Learn more and make a pledge now at: templebethor.org/building

COVID-19 Guidelines

TBO does not require vaccination, though it is strongly recommended. Masking is optional.

For safety/security reasons, non-members must pre-register to attend in-person events.

Review the complete COVID-19 protocols at templebethor.org/covid

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From the Union For Reform Judaism / Reform Movement

Why Israel Celebrates the Ethiopian Jewish Holiday Sigd

Why Israel Celebrates the Ethiopian Jewish Holiday Sigd jemerman

For many generations, the Beta Israel had longed to reach Jerusalem in a quest to renew their covenant with God and for spiritual redemption. So strong was their desire that they created a holiday as a time to pray for this miracle. They called it Sigd (meaning "worship") and celebrated it on the 50th day after Yom Kippur. This year it is celebrated today, November 4.

For Some of Us the Holidays Are Just…Hard

For Some of Us the Holidays Are Just…Hard jemerman

As we head into the holiday season, I am acutely aware of how much different this year is going to be than previous ones. I will be celebrating without my mom for the first time. My mother died in January 2021, and I'm still dealing with the unexpected waves of grief that wash over me, sometimes out of nowhere. As I head into this first winter holiday season without her, I'm not quite sure I know what to expect, other than everything is going to be very different.

Enjoy A Crockpot Shabbat

Enjoy A Crockpot Shabbat jemerman

As the weather begins to get chillier, many home cooks pull out their trusty slow cookers to create easy yet warm dishes. Slow cooking is nothing new. It hasn't had staying power with Jewish communities just because the resulting food is delicious; it also allowed observant Jews to keep Shabbat by kindling a fire before sundown on Friday and keeping food warm until Saturday afternoon.

The Cost of Free Land

The Cost of Free Land jemerman

When I was a child growing up in the 1980s, the story I learned about Thanksgiving followed the classic script: it highlighted amity between the Pilgrims and their Indigenous neighbors. Due to this connection, the hunger of the European settlers was met with squash and turkey.