Beth El welcomes May’an Tikvah into its family

• “Ma’yan Tikva and Congregation Beth El to Join Forces” (JewishBoston.com, June 10, 2025)

Announcement from Beth El clergy:

It is with great joy and delight that Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope and Congregation Beth El of the Sudbury River Valley join together their mutually compatible and complementary memberships and programs.

Congregation Beth El opens their doors and their hearts to welcome the members of Ma’yan Tikvah into their community, bringing to them their love of music, art, learning, uplifting prayer, and a commitment to social justice and the preservation of the best of what Judaism offers. Ma’yan Tikvah brings to the union its passionate commitment to the profound connection between Judaism, nature, and social justice and an invitation to all ages of the Beth El community to immerse together in the beauty of the outdoors while engaging with Jewish traditions and values.

Together, the two communities look forward to building meaningful relationships and working towards a more just and sustainable world.
Together, we commit to engaging in a joyful, participatory vision of Judaism.

Together, we commit to singing together to create delight and meaning with one another. We look forward to gatherings, services, programs, and moments of unity where song, stories and Jewish wisdom will help us to build spiritual strength and resilience!

Together, we commit to learning, laughing, and praying together, and celebrating our varied backgrounds, identities, and experiences.

Together, we commit to connecting with Jewish values and traditions as we strive to create a more just future for ourselves, our children, and our world.

Together, we commit to connecting to Judaism, nature, social justice, and each other through outdoor Jewish experiences and education.

Together, we commit to continuing to build a transformative community of people who feel deeply connected to the natural world, Jewish tradition, and each other, and who strive to build a just and sustainable world through their expression of Jewish values.

As we grow as a single community, we hold these Jewish values as the heart of our guiding principles:

• In the Image of G!d (B’tzelem Elohim) — Live with a sense of the sacred nature of the natural world and an understanding that everything and everyone are created equally in the image of the most sacred.

• Love Your Neighbor as Yourself (V’ahavata L’reiecha K’mocha) — Embody an understanding of being created in the image of the Divine through love, empathy for, and joyful connection with others.

• Awe of G!d (Yirat Yah) — Treasure awe of the majesty and diversity of the natural world and a spiritual awareness of all that is greater than ourselves.
• Pursue Justice (Tzedek Tirdof) — Take consistent action to create a more just and sustainable world for the Earth and all its inhabitants.

• Acts of Lovingkindness (G’milut Chasadim) — Spread blessing and goodness through regular, conscious acts of lovingkindness for other people and the natural world.

• Study of Judaism (Talmud Torah) — Engage actively with the texts and traditions of Judaism, by both grappling with challenging teachings and also lifting up sources of inspiration and light.