Professional Staff

Rabbi Judy Schindler
Rabbi Micah Streiffer
Cantor Andrew Bernard

Sara H. Schreibman
Executive Director

Susan Jacobs
Educational Director

Roz Cooper
Director
Consolidated High School

Denise Abadi
Director
Charlotte Jewish Preschool

Temple Officers

Union for Reform Judaism

In the Beginning...

Temple Beth El’s first home was in a room above Dowtin’s grocery store at 1412 ½ Morehead Street in Charlotte. Rabbi Philip Frankel served as the first Rabbi. Leo Gottheimer served as the Temple’s first president, and renowned author Harry Golden wrote its first constitution.

By 1946, the congregation had grown to 46 families. Ground was broken for a new building in June 1948, and the first service was held at 1727 Providence Road the following January. As the membership rolls continued to increase, the congregation added an education building and fellowship hall. Beth El traditions that survive to this day began to take hold: the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service and the annual Retreat at Wildacres in the Blue Ridge Mountains every Labor Day.

By the Temple’s 40th birthday in 1983, the congregation had 320 families. In 1987, Temple Beth El merged with Temple Beth Shalom, and a new era began.

"Once in a Lifetime” became the theme for a fundraising campaign to build a new Temple at Shalom Park. Five years later, the dream became reality as the Torah was placed in the magnificent marble ark of the new Temple Beth El in August of 1992.

Temple Beth El Today

Today, Temple Beth El is a flourishing congregation with many programs of education, social action and spirituality with a membership of over 1000 families 

The Religious School serves approximately 400 students in K - 7. After seventh grade, students continuing their Jewish education attend The Consolidated High School of Jewish Studies of Charlotte. For our youngest temple members, the Charlotte Jewish Preschool offers morning and full-day programs for two-year-olds through Pre-Kindergarten. 

Friday evening Shabbat services are attended regularly by hundreds of worshippers, and there are Temple activities going on almost every day of the week.
Temple Beth El is affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism. We are a mainstream reform synagogue serving the greater Charlotte community, and we offer a wide range of programs and services. 

We are a warm and welcoming community and are genuinely happy to have new people visit and join with us in worship. We are happy to arrange tours of our facility and will be glad to answer questions for all interested groups, both Jewish and non-Jewish. 

Our Board meetings are open to all Temple members and we encourage our members to participate and share in the vision we have for the future.

We are dedicated to Judaism as a living, dynamic faith and we attempt to serve and strengthen contemporary Jewish life in all its dimensions. 

The range of programs we offer are broad and deep. We hope to provide our members with a sense of Jewish rooted-ness in our ever growing Jewish community.

For many of our members who are away from parents or children, the Temple is their extended family through the fellowship of Shabbat services and participation in Temple programs. 

We are a growing congregation, over 1000 strong, and we look forward to welcoming you into our congregational family!