“Temple Israel is a welcoming and vibrant center of Jewish life for our region, l’dor vador... from generation to generation”
Temple Israel was established in 1971 as the merger of the former congregations of Temple Emanuel and Tiffereth Israel, whose heritage goes back over 120 years. It is the only full-service synagogue in a radius of 150 miles. We are a Jewish social, religious, cultural, and educational center for Duluth, Northeastern Minnesota and Wisconsin’s Lake Superior South Shore.
Our congregation includes people from traditional Jewish backgrounds, interfaith families, and people with little or no previous Jewish learning or experience. Our membership includes families, couples, and singles; children and elders; Jews by birth and Jews by choice (or still choosing). We value and seek to include everyone who shares our commitment to living and learning about compassionate, ethical Judaism regardless of age, marital status, income level, sexual orientation, gender identity, race or disability.
Temple Israel holds Shabbat services each Friday evening at 6 p.m. The service is followed by an oneg/refreshment/social hour. Unless otherwise announced, the first Friday evening of each month is a family service which in some months is followed by a free dairy-veggie Shabbat dinner (Please check the monthly bulletin to find out if there is a dinner that month.). All ages are welcome to all services, though the monthly family service is especially geared towards families with young children.
Shabbat morning services each Saturday begin at 10 a.m. Prior to the service, a Torah Study group meets in person from 9:15 to 10:00 a.m. focusing on the weekly portion that will be read that morning during the Shabbat morning service. These activities are in person, but participation via Zoom is also available. (Please contact the Temple office to obtain the link.).
The Shabbat morning service is followed by a free kiddush lunch to which all are welcome.
Our Religious and Hebrew School includes programs for pre-schoolers through teenagers, culminating in Confirmation after two years of post-Bar/Bat Mitzvah studies. Adult education programs are also offered each year. For further information, please contact the Temple Israel office at office@jewishduluth.org. If you wish to contact Rabbi David Steinberg directly, you can e-mail him at rabbidavid@jewishduluth.org. Our youth education director, Andrea Novel Buck can be reached at anbuck@jewishduluth.org . Any of the above can also be reached by phone at (218) 724-8857.
Temple Israel is affiliated with both the Reform ("Union for Reform Judaism") and Reconstructionist ("Reconstructing Judaism") movements.
