Congregation B'nai Abraham

Jewish congregation in downtown Butler, PA. Our membership is multigenerational and includes many interfaith families. In our services, we seek to blend the innovative with the traditional to reflect the plurality of our worshippers. We are a community of learners (Torah study, Hebrew and other classes, special programming) and "do-ers"(social acti... on projects). Our onegs are to "die for!" Our religious school comprises instruction for grades K through Confirmation and beyond. We are led by our energetic Spiritual Leader, Cantor Michal Gray-Schaffer. Pittsburgh. Clarion. Grove City. Slippery Rock. Saxonburg. Cranberry Township. Butler. Besides being communities in western Pennsylvania, these areas and others have another significant commonality: all are residences to members of our Bnai Abraham Congregation. A community of communities, as it were: a conglomeration of Butler residents who have been members for generations and outsiders, those of us who have moved into the area and, yearning for a community with whom we can share our Jewishness, have found a religious home in Butler. The distance creates a challenge, to overcome the travel obstacleand we all know about winter drivingyet, amazingly, and against the odds, our Bnai Abraham has remained, though small, alive and even, on occasion, thriving. How many synagogues, in fact, can boast seven Bnai Mitzvahs in a single year? Further, how many synagogues can boast of a cantor/spiritual leader so vibrant and creative, particularly in her efforts to involve the synagogueespecially our younger members in community activities and service? In an age when synagogues, along with other houses of worship, are diminishing, we have the moxie to grow even further. We hope you will visit us often, both virtually andespeciallygracing us with your presence, at our services, events, Sunday school, and volunteer opportunities. Our uniqueness, I believe, lies in our very diversity: that we can be a home for Jews both inside and outside Butler, and that we can welcome the ...Read More