Local Jewish center now has Web site

BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - A couple of teenagers recently helped modernize a historical synagogue.

Members of the Perrineville Jewish Center (PJC), located at 855 Perrineville Road in Millstone Township, are thrilled to watch their synagogue advance with the help of 21st-century technology, according to Susan Kapit, the center's vice president of public information.

"Perrineville Jewish Center is now on the Web," Kapit said.

According to Kapit, two teenage members of the congregation, Alana Heifetz and Jared DeMonte, voluntarily created the Web site for the synagogue.

"On their own, they created a work of art that Perrineville Jewish Center is very proud of," Kapit said.

The PJC Social Club and a standing-room-only crowd honored Heifetz and DeMonte at a brunch on Feb. 26.

The Web site contains a history of the synagogue, a description of the ritual services, a calendar of upcoming events, pictures of past events, a membership application and more.

"Perrineville Jewish Center hopes that this terrific and informative Web site will make it easier for local families interested in joining our temple to check us out," Kapit said.

In 1910, 10 local men established what is now considered the Perrineville Jewish Center when they began holding formal religious ceremonies for people moving into the area. The congregation grew, and a synagogue was built in 1925.

Although the synagogue started out as an institution for the area's Orthodox Jews, it slowly transformed to welcome all families.

"We welcome families that have two Jewish parents and families with just one Jewish parent," Kapit said.

Kapit said the PJC has "a warm, friendly congregation."

"Hopefully, when [people] go through the Web site," Kapit said, "they will see that we are a young and growing congregation."

The PJC holds services on Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 9 a.m. The center also offers a Hebrew school program.

The Hebrew school program provides a curricular plan that encompasses a wide range of Jewish experiences including Jewish holidays, history, ethics, life-cycle observances, Bible study, prayer, current events, Israel, and the Hebrew language.

The Jewish center's rabbi personally teaches all bar and bat mitzvah students at the synagogue. Since class sizes are small, each young man or woman also gets his or her own bar or bat mitzvah date instead of having to share it with one or more students, as is typically the case.

Kapit said she hopes area residents will check out www.PJCMillstone.com to view what Heifetz and DeMonte produced and to find out more about what the synagogue offers.