A couple weeks back, I Google Mapped my shul to find out the mailing address. I then cringed when I saw there was a single 1 star review for the place. (I now see a second, 5 star review, but at the time, I saw just the one.)
The review, as 1 star reviews are apt to do, pretty much through the book at the place. Not only was it unfriendly, but even the board was corrupt (whoa, wait: if you've only been to services once, how would you know the internal workings of the board?).
I figured the right thing to do would be to pipe up and provide my own review. So here it is:
There's no doubt that the shul leans to the left, isn't particularly big, has a diverse membership and makes fairly heavy use of congregational volunteers (for example, we don't have a Cantor or official Torah reader, but instead rely on members of the congregation to step up perform these jobs).
I think this results in a friendly, welcoming shul that strives to get members involved. You aren't going to be an anonymous member here; you'll be part of what makes Etz Hayim successful.
And while we tend to be more liberal on nearly every topic and are fully egalitarian, we absolutely meet all the requirements set out by the Conservative Movement (USCJ).
I don't have kids in the Hebrew School, so while I've heard good things about it, I can't speak directly to it. I can report that children are always welcome and encouraged to attend services.
There, I feel better.
By the way: here's the definition of Tsuris, which is Yiddus for 'aggravation/trouble'.
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