YES. JewBelong’s Judaism always stands for inclusion and welcomes everyone wherever they are (or aren’t) on their Jewish journey. Our easy explanations and meaningful rituals are just the beginning. We exist for Jews, and for people who aren’t Jewish but are part of a Jewish community, for anyone who has felt like a Jewish outsider (which TBH is probably most of us), and especially for Disengaged Jews (DJs for short).

That’s literally why our name/tagline is JewBelong: for when you feel you don’t!

We don’t care which of your parents is Jewish, or if neither of them is, whether you’ve ever set foot in a synagogue or if you don’t believe in God. Unlike so many other belief systems, Judaism, especially at JewBelong, can be flexible AF. Everything we say at JewBelong is welcoming and low-barrier. JewBelong is filled with easy-to-follow, fun, relevant, sometimes humorous, and meaningful content. So, find what inspires you and share it with the world.

Not sure you know, but JewBelong is a non-profit (a 5013c to be precise!) and we can do the work because of people like you! Please head over to our donate page to become involved.

No. But it’s complicated. Judaism is, at its core, a communal religion, and it’s very hard to do alone. For some people, synagogue is the heart of their community and a place they look forward to being. Lots of others go out of habit or guilt, especially Holocaust guilt. (Like, our ancestors were murdered because they were Jewish… the least we can do is go to synagogue once a year, right? Well…not exactly.) That said, people’s relationship with their synagogue can be, well… complicated. Many synagogues across the United States are sucking air right now. They’re losing membership and can’t seem to excite people enough to join or come to synagogue more than occasionally. Many of them are trying hard to figure out what will make their congregations thrive, especially beyond Hebrew school. Synagogues are an important center of Jewish community though. And there are lots of different kinds of synagogues out there, maybe even one that you will love. 

There is no best way to use JewBelong. Maybe you’re here because you’re pregnant and want readings for a bris, or maybe Passover is coming, and you’re about to host or go to your first Seder, or maybe you are falling in love with someone who is Jewish and you’re not and you want to see what all the fuss is about. Great. If you’re looking for something in particular, go to our search section. Search a topic and then choose the readings that you like most and use them to add meaning to everything from a Jewish milestone to your pet’s birthday celebration. We have booklets for each of the Jewish holidays and for some milestones, but everything else is more free form. 

Everything on JewBelong is free, but we love when people make donations to help keep JewBelong going! (There’s a handy-dandy “donate” button at the top of the page, on what techy folks call “the nav bar.”) Thank you!