Congregation Beth El (Voorhees, New Jersey)

Congregation Beth El is a Conservative synagogue located in Voorhees, New Jersey. As of 2023, the clergy include Senior Rabbi David Englander, Hazzan Alisa Pomerantz-Boro, and Rabbi Emeritus Aaron Krupnick.[1]

Their mission statement reads:

“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.”[2]

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]