The Congregation B’nai Israel Men’s Club, an affiliate of Federation of Jewish Men’s Club (FJMC), welcomes the participation of all men in the Albuquerque area as soon as they have reached Bar Mitzvah age.  New members are always welcome: come join us!

Men’s Club has embraced the motto, “Involving Jewish Men in Jewish Life.” We work together to make a difference to our synagogue and the greater Albuquerque Jewish community.

Here are a few of the ways we have supported Congregation B’nai Israel:

• We make improvements to the synagogue and its grounds. For example, we painted the walls of our building’s social halls, with paints provided by the Sisterhood.
• We replaced the synagogue doors that open to the outside to improve insulation and provide interior comfort in all seasons.
• In 2017, we demolished the synagogue’s dilapidated Sukkah and replaced it by building a brand new, sturdy Sukkah for all our members to enjoy.
• On Tu B’Shevat we have beautified and enhanced our property by planting shade trees in the synagogue parking lot.
• Often, we sponsor kiddush meals after Sabbath prayers, and provide foodstuffs, such as falafel, for the annual Purim celebration.
• We have organized Sunday morning breakfasts with guest speakers.
• We host several congregation-wide events, including a Veteran’s Day Breakfast when a free meal is provided to our synagogue members who are serving in the armed forces and we encourage discussion about being Jewish while serving the military; a Chanukah party where we prepare wonderful hot latkes; and a Lag B’Omer BBQ.
• In honor of Yom HaShoah, we have sent Yahrzeit candles to our entire congregation so that all our members could light memorials to remember the Holocaust.

Men’s Club encourages community rituals, spirituality, and prayer as a way to help our members draw closer to God:

• Our members serve as ushers and lay-leaders during religious services.
• Members have learned the Shabbat services so that we could run a Men’s Club Shabbat.
• On Sukkot, we have held Tikkun Leil Shavuot sessions of all-night Torah study before the first day of Shavuos.
• In advance of Sukkot, we organized a Sukkah-Kit Set-Up Demonstration for our congregation, and are raising funds by selling and setting up Sukkah kits.
• In February, we participate in the annual FJMC “World-Wide-Wrap,” event when men and women in Conservative/Masorti communities around the world will gather together to lay Tefillin and pray. The mitzvah of wrapping tefillin will be shared, encouraged and taught.

Men’s Club strives to think out-of-the-box to encourage joyful community-building, friend-making, and camaraderie. We welcome creativity and event suggestions for new activities.  Recently we have enjoyed:

• A group outing to a minor league baseball game of the Albuquerque Isotopes, the triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.
• Hosting a group bike ride through the Bosque, Albuquerque’s cottonwood forest.
• He-Brewing: We’ve been brewing our own tasty kosher beer! It’s fun and creative, and we partake in and share our resulting high-quality beverages.