Congregation Beth Israel

About The Organization

Congregation Beth Israel is an active and vibrant Reform Jewish congregation, serving more than 1,500 households throughout the Greater Houston area. Established in 1854, Congregation Beth Israel is the oldest Jewish congregation in Texas and maintains an active affiliation with the Union for Reform Judaism, the national Reform movement.

With an outstanding clergy team, led by Senior Rabbi David Lyon, Congregation Beth Israel offers inspiring weekly Shabbat services, Torah study, and a multitude of enriching educational, cultural, and social programming for all ages.

The Miriam Browning Jewish Learning Center (MBJLC), our religious school, and The Shlenker School, our fully accredited elementary school, play integral yet independent roles in the Jewish learning of more than 800 children. Congregation Beth Israel is a leader in the Reform Jewish Day School movement, opening The Shlenker School in 1984, one of the first in North America and the first in Texas. The Shlenker School provides a fully accredited, academically excellent education with integrated secular and Judaic studies for students from ages 15 months through fifth grade.

Congregation Beth Israel welcomes all who seek a connection to Jewish life, whatever their needs or backgrounds, and we advocate for equality and inclusion. Our Jewish values speak to the idea that each of us, created in God’s image, b’tzelem Elohim, has a unique talent with which we can contribute to the high moral purpose of tikkun olam, the repair of our world. We will not exclude anyone from our community based on race, age, sex, religion, disability, marital or veteran status, nationality, sexual orientation, or gender. Discrimination against others based on any of those factors, or other legally-protected classifications, is prohibited.

Congregation Beth Israel – Where Jewish life is relevant, modern, and joyful