A Living Judaism
Shaped by Two Centuries
For two hundred years, B’nai Jeshurun has been defined not by continuity alone, but by renewal. Again and again, BJ has asked how Jewish tradition can remain alive,
demanding, and responsive in changing times—how prayer, learning, and moral action can speak honestly to the lives people are living now. The story traced in this exhibit is not linear or inevitable; it is the result of an intentional and dynamic relationship between modernity and tradition.
Today, BJ is a large, multigenerational spiritual home of approximately 1,900 households, including hundreds of members who live outside New York State and a growing number who participate from abroad. Yet scale has never been BJ’s primary goal. Instead, BJ continues to invest in depth: in relationships, in spiritual intensity, in the power of prayer and music, and in a culture of belonging that allows a diverse community to feel seen, known, and responsible for one another.
This section brings the story into the present, showing how the values explored throughout the exhibit continue to shape BJ today, and how BJ’s influence now extends far beyond its own walls.
A Community of Belonging:
Building Jewish Life Across Ages and Stages
BJ’s approach to community has long emphasized meeting people where they are and walking with them as they grow. Today, that commitment takes shape across a broad continuum of Jewish life.
For families with young children, BJ offers immersive Jewish living rooted in Shabbat, holidays, learning, and community ritual. Kadima@BJ provides a meaningful anchor for children from early elementary through middle school, integrating Jewish learning with relationship-building and communal belonging. As children grow, that investment deepens through a robust teen program that includes retreats, trips, justice work, and the Teen Executive Board, where teens help shape Jewish life themselves—co-leading services, organizing programs, and bringing Jewish values into the wider world. As one teen reflected, “The BJ teen program is a rare gem… a place where we can grow Jewishly, socially, and ethically at the same time.”
That same commitment to depth and relationship continues into adulthood through Aviv, BJ’s vibrant community for those in their 20s and 30s. Aviv creates spaces for meaningful prayer, learning, and friendship through Shabbat dinners, holidays, teaching, and shared experiences at a moment when many are seeking spiritual grounding and connection.
Together, these efforts reflect BJ’s enduring belief that Jewish community is built over time: by investing in people at every stage of life, and by continually extending the circle of belonging.
Global Impact:
Carrying the BJ Model into the Wider Jewish World
In the mid-1990s, as B’nai Jeshurun emerged as a center of vibrant, music-filled Jewish life, Rabbi Roly Matalon helped launch one of BJ’s most lasting contributions: the BJ Rabbinic Fellowship. Founded in 1996 with the support of the Righteous Persons Foundation and in memory of Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer, the fellowship was created to mentor a new generation of rabbis shaped by BJ’s spiritually driven and justice-centered model. Since its inception, 34 rabbinical students from across the liberal Jewish movements have served as fellows, spending formative early years of their rabbinate at BJ. Rather than producing replicas of its leaders, the fellowship encourages each fellow to cultivate an authentic rabbinic voice and sense of calling. Alumni now serve communities and institutions across North America, extending BJ’s influence far beyond its walls.
Just as BJ was reborn with new energy and vision, it will continue to flourish through the leadership of a new generation.
— Rabbi Roly Matalon preparing for his leadership transition in July 2026 after four decades of service
Drawing the Threads Together:
Past, Present, and Future
BJ community members on an Early Childhood Retreat in 2024.
Today, BJ is a thriving, multigenerational community guided by core pillars of spirituality, community, inclusivity, activism, and growth, whose reach extends well beyond New York. Since its founding in 1825, the congregation has repeatedly asked what it means to build a holy community in the world as it is, anchored in passionate prayer, learning, and obligated to justice. B’nai Jeshurun has always aspired to be a living laboratory of American Judaism, where tradition is taken seriously enough to be challenged, renewed, and carried forward.
As BJ enters its third century, it continues to shape and respond to the evolving spiritual, moral, and communal life of the Jewish people. The legacy on view here is not only one of history, but of possibility: an invitation to imagine what Jewish life can be, and to help shape what comes next.
Hazzan Ari Priven, Rabbi Roly Matalon, and Rabbi Felicia Sol lead havdalah at the Back Home Shabbaton (November 2022). More than 500 BJ members and guests filled the Sanctuary and Community House for a weekend of prayer, learning, and renewed community.