Judaism is all about community. With every communal activity, we strive to reflect central Jewish values: justice, freedom, concern for our less fortunate neighbors, compassion toward each other, and care of our natural world. Temple Beth El offers its members a warm and welcoming community with many opportunities for education, prayer, social action, and informal ways to get to know one another. Our programs and activities depend on the level of involvement and leadership of our members.

Interfaith—About half of our members are part of interfaith families, so we bring a special sensitivity to the issues that face interfaith families and we sponsor events to foster friendship and understanding.

Social Justice—In our synagogue, men and women are equal in all respects. Decency and trust prevail as we share in leadership and responsibility. Our synagogue engages in the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam, "repairing the world," through various social action projects and through an interest and activism for Israel. A natural outcome of our commitment to social justice is that at Temple Beth El, we have gone beyond tolerance to full inclusion of our members who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered.

Youth Groups—Our strong youth programs foster a Jewish community, both socially and educationally for our children and teens in a non-Jewish world.

Sisterhood—Our women's group keeps many parts of the synagogue afloat. Sisterhood operates a gift shop that serves as a resource for the entire Santa Cruz County, hosts community programs, and offers scholarships to Temple youth.

Brotherhood—Brotherhood is a service and social organization that meets monthly.

Jewish Links—We have amassed a list of links to various Jewish organizations and services outside Temple Beth El.