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Temple Judah Groups
Temple Judah is more than a place of worship. As a community that has many different interests, we have the ability to connect individuals with others with common, shared interests. Among the active Temple groups and organizations are the following. High Holy Day Choir, Hadassah, Eben Israel Cemetery, and the Gasway Memorial Library.
Jewish Music: Our Rich Heritage

Our Jewish musical heritage is rich. In order to keep it alive we need to partner this genre of music with melodies that allow our congregants opportunities for engagement through both listening and singing along. We recognize that each person relates to prayer differently and that different melodies will service people in different ways. So long as we know that the intention of each piece of music is about heightening prayer, we can weave an even richer tapestry of Jewish worship music into our services.
Temple Judah is fortunate to have been gifted an endowment that has allowed us to enjoy nationally and internationally known Jewish music performers such as Rick Recht, Wendy Becker and Rik Howard, Joshua Nelson, Java Jews band, and Cantor Jennifer Bern-Vogel.
*Some of the background in the above piece was inspired by Merri Lovinger Arian who teaches at HUC-JIR School of Sacred Music in New York while serving as the Synagogue 3000 Consultant on Liturgical Arts at HUC. Merri is also the Director of Music for Synagogue 3000.
High Holiday Choir
We have a High Holy Day choir made up of the dedicated member vocalists who add to the spiritual completeness of those important services.
We welcome newcomers to the High Holy Day choir. There are no try-outs. If you feel that your talent can enhance the harmony at Temple Judah, please contact the Temple office.
Temple Judah Book Club
Book Group & Coffee
Wednesday, December 2, 2026, 6:30 pm
Everyone is welcome.
RBG’S Brave & Brilliant Women: 33 Jewish Women to Inspire Everyone
by Nadine Epstein
This collection of biographies of brave and brilliant Jewish female role models–selected in collaboration with Ruth Bader Ginsburg and including an introduction written by the iconic Supreme Court justice herself– provides young people with a roster of inspirational role models, all of whom are Jewish women, who will appeal not only to young people but to people of all ages, and all faiths.
The fascinating lives detailed in this collection–more than thirty exemplary female role models–were chosen by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or RBG, as she was lovingly known to her many admirers. Working with her friend, journalist Nadine Epstein, RBG selected these trailblazers, all of whom are women and Jewish, who chose not to settle for the rules and beliefs of their time. They did not accept what the world told them they should be. Like RBG, they dreamed big, worked hard, and forged their own paths to become who they deserved to be.
Future generations will benefit from each and every one of the courageous actions and triumphs of the women profiled here. RBG’s Brave & Brilliant Women, the passion project of Justice Ginsburg in the last year of her life, will inspire readers to think about who they want to become and to make it happen, just like RBG.
The meeting will be held in-person and over Zoom. If you have not attended in the past two months and would like the Zoom link, please contact the Temple office. Current participants will automatically receive an invite.
Hadassah

The Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Chapter of Hadassah sponsors events, including the monthly book club at Temple Judah. Our book club meets approximately every 6 weeks. Books are chosen by those attending, with the only requirement being that there is some Jewish connection. Everyone is welcome to attend, even if you have not read the book. Hadassah membership is not required. Check our Events Calendar for the next book club event!
You can support Hadassah by becoming a member of the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Chapter (69-120-000), by attending an event, or by donating. Please send donations to the Hadassah Midwestoffice (Great Plains Region, our region), 900 Skokie Blvd, Suite 295, Northbrook IL, 60062. If you have questions or want to donate by phone, please call 847-205-1900. Or make an on-line donation at go.hadassah.org/MidwestDonation. Or click on “Donate” at the National Hadassah website, www.hadassah.org.
When you support Hadassah’s mission, it makes a difference in the lives of those around the world and in your own community.
Gasway
Memorial Library
Our collection includes books on Jewish history, practices, humor, cooking and art. There are many biographies and memoirs of Jewish people, as well as a variety of types of fictional works by Jewish authors. Other topics represented in the library are philosophy and comparative religion.
Our Youth collection includes both fiction and non-fiction picture books and chapter books for our young adult readers. Religious School students use the library some Sunday mornings to hear a story and check out books.
The Library Committee is busy maintaining the library. There is usually at least one of the committee members busy in the library on Sunday mornings during Religious School hours and are available for any questions and/or assistance.
Donations of books that would enhance our current collections are always welcome. Books can be placed on the table in the library with a note of explanation. Another way to help enhance our library is through a donation to the Gasway Library Fund. Please donate by using the form below or on our Donate page.
Thank you to all who decide to donate. The youth collection (particularly the young adult section) needs updating and will be the first collection the committee will look at enhancing.
Eben Israel Cemetery
Eben Israel Cemetery, an independent corporation not affiliated with Temple Judah, was established in 1895, the year several families emigrated from Poland and Russia, so that their loved ones could be buried according to Jewish law.
Donations
If you would like to make a donation to Eben Israel Cemetery please send it to:
CRB&T
c/o Eben Israel Cemetery Trust
500 1st Ave NE
Cedar Rapids, IA. 52401
Contact Eben Israel Cemetery
Eben Israel Cemetery
207 Hawthorne Drive Southwest, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
Please contact Brian D. Cohen
President of the Eben Israel Cemetery Association,
for more information.

