Who We Are

The Blacksburg Jewish Community Center was originally created over 30 years ago by parents wanting to provide Jewish education and social opportunities for their children. That initial effort grew over time, especially after the purchase of our building and of Torah scrolls, enabling us to become a true synagogue and center for local Jewish life.

Our goal is to meet the religious, educational, social, and cultural needs of Jews in the New River Valley, and that is what we try to do on a totally lay-led (that is, all volunteer) basis. We warmly welcome and indeed we need the participation of all local Jews of every possible Jewish background, and we hope you will join us and make us stronger and better through your support.

BJCC Membership

You can join the BJCC with an individual membership (defined as one Jewish adult) or a family membership (one or more Jewish adults and any dependents).   Our membership and budget year runs from July 1 to June 30.

To inquire about joining, please contact our Treasurer, Irene Jacobs, at (540) 552-7699.   The fee schedule for the current year is:

• Family membership - $700 per year
• Individual membership - $350 per year

Checks should be made out to the BJCC and sent to:
    BJCC Treasurer
    P.O. Box 782
    Blacksburg, VA 24063
and please write “For Membership” on your check's memo line.

Donations

If you would like to provide a plaque or book plate to commemorate a loved one, honor someone special, or celebrate a happy occasion, please contact the BJCC Treasurer, Irene Jacobs, at (540) 552-7699.

We'll be grateful for any donation you might wish to send, in the same way as indicated above, to our Treasurer.  Let us know if we may thank you by name (not by amount) in the Shofar, our monthly newsletter.

Cultural Events

It's obvious that Blacksburg isn't a major Jewish cultural hub.   We try to meet our members' needs for Jewish cultural involvement by putting a significant portion of our budget into Jewish cultural activities.

We co-sponsor special events with Virginia Tech Hillel (the Jewish student organization), bringing in speakers such as Elie Wiesel and having events such as a Jewish film festival.  In addition, every year we try to bring in one or two Jewish musicians for an entertaining evening or even a weekend.

Adult Education

We try to organize several adult-education sessions each year.   Some years we enjoy visits from one of the rabbis at (Reform) Temple Emanuel or (Conservative) Beth Israel Synagogue in Roanoke, 40 miles away.   Details of any such events appear in our monthly newsletter, the Shofar.

From time to time, when there is enough demand, a member has volunteered to teach prayerbook literacy starting with reading Hebrew, or how to chant Torah or Haftarah.   Do you have some special Jewish knowledge that you'd like to share?   If so, please get in touch with the BJCC President to get it scheduled and publicized, and help us learn.

Jewish Burial

There is now a permanently designated Jewish Section in the Memorial Gardens of the New RIver Valley, a cemetery located where North Main Street intersects with Route 460, in Blacksburg. Burial sites are available for purchase by BJCC members and their immediate family (spouse, child, parent, step-child, or step-parent) who need not be Jewish but must accept the stipulation that grave markers and upright monuments in this section may not display images, symbols, or language of any religion other than Judaism.

Other local Jews who are not members of the BJCC but wish to be buried in this section need to be approved by the BJCC, which has the responsibility to maintain the Jewish character of this section in perpetuity through a contractual agreement with the cemetery owner. Such persons, or their families, should contact the current BJCC president to be referred to a member of the Cemetery Committee about such a sale.

Where to find kosher food?

The local Krogers Supermarkets (at Gables and at University City Boulevard) carry kosher deli items and frozen foods, and they usually have some frozen kosher poultry. At Passover they both carry a variety of items that are kosher for Passover.   Talk to the store managers for special requests.

The Kroger at Towers Mall in Roanoke sometimes has a larger selection of kosher items, especially before Passover.