About Congregation Agudas Israel

Congregation Agudas Israel prides itself in being a consistent conservative egalitarian congregation in the Mid-Hudson Valley area because we continually employed a full time rabbi, keeping traditions and providing the genuine warmth and family-like atmosphere. Continuing those values while also providing the younger generation other ways of finding meaning and purpose of being Jewish in the Hudson Valley.

Most recently, our current rabbi shepherded us through the terrible pandemic where we lost a lot of congregation members and where we were constrained and limited to do outreach to new unaffiliated residents that recently moved to the area because of  the exodus out of New York City. Compounding this, for a lot of time we weren’t visible enough to the greater community.
Harnessing the marketing and social media to promote the  Rabbi, their programs, their teachings will be essential. More impactful than that is for the Rabbi to be publicfacing, make introductions, and explore collaborative programming to reach new audiences. Integrating a stronger connection to Israel, managing the rise of antisemitism, or reacquainting ourselves with Jewish culture and traditions are ways of attracting a wider audience.
Collaborations within our Jewish campus are important but in the next five years, we need to collaborate with other existing Jewish and non Jewish entities in the nearby region so as to go beyond our comfort zone. At the same time, our core committed congregants need the introduction of a new rabbi to reconnect, be reenergized, and remain strong at the core so we can collaborate locally, regionally, and even to New York City or nationally but now we must rebuild ourselves.