Welcome
Temple Beth Hillel, located just off Hilltop Drive at I-80 in Richmond, California is an intimate, warm and wonderful congregation of Jewish families from West Contra Costa County and beyond. Being small (approx.80 families) fosters familiarity among members and a special sense of belonging – a sense often missing at larger congregations.
ounded in 1946, Temple Beth Hillel offers a place to celebrate Shabbat (twice a month or more), the Holidays and Festivals (including a Hanukkah Latke Party, Tu B’Shevat Seder, Purim Carnival, Congregational Passover Seder) and other celebrations.
The Temple has a thriving Religious School (grades pre-K through Bar/Bat Mitzvah year, through high school).
For adults, Rabbi Dean Kertesz leads a Kollel for adults to study a wide range of Jewish topics. Cantor Shayndel Adler unites the congregation in song.
Join us for a Shabbat Service – come to a Family Potluck (1st Shabbat evening of the month) – celebrate the High Holidays – experience Temple Beth Hillel and join us in building our community, the community of Jewish families of West Contra Costa and beyond.
Whether you’re new to the San Francisco Bay area or a long time resident, and you’re looking for a reform synagogue to join in the East Bay, Temple Beth Hillel welcomes you!
What's New
From the President – June 9, 2020
So, what do we do now? We can mourn what we have lost due to Covid-19 and we have lost a lot. So far, we have lost our in person community seder, our in person Shabbat services, our potlucks, our onegs, and our in person religious school and t’filah. We’ve even lost our Jewish Heritage […]
Pinchas, Numbers 25:10 – 30:1 – Parshat Ha Shavua for Shabbat, Saturday, July 11, 2020
Judaism is an ancient and patriarchal religious tradition. For the most part, men’s narratives dominate our religious narrative. For most of our history, men controlled religious leadership. Until recently, our images of God were almost exclusively masculine. All the constructive changes giving women their rightful place in our religious narrative, leadership, and depiction of God […]
Chukat-Balak, Numbers 19:1 – 25:9 – Parshat Ha Shavua for Shabbat, Saturday, July 4, 2020
Can we see what is in front of us? Are we able to see what is really happening? These are two of the questions posed in this week’s Torah portion Chukat-Balak. It is a double portion and in the second one, Balak, we read the story of the Prophet Balaam, who is hired by King […]
From the President – July 2, 2020
What do Jerry Brown, Grover Cleveland, and I have in common? Well, Grover Cleveland served non consecutive terms as the 22nd and 24th President of the US (1885-1889 and 1893-1897), Jerry Brown served 2 sets of 2 terms as Governor of California 28 years apart (1975-1983 and 2011-2019), and I am beginning my second of […]
Korach, Numbers 16:1 – 18:32 – Parshat Ha Shavua for Shabbat, Saturday, June 27, 2020
What makes a leader legitimate? This week’s Torah portion, Koarch, examines this question through the examples of Moses of Korach. In Numbers 12:3 Moses is described as, “a very humble man, more so than any other man on earth.” Commenting on this verse, Ibn Ezra (13th Century Spain) wrote, “Moses never asked for recognition, nor […]
