By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer

AUBURN – A local synagogue has severed ties with its national organization in hopes of attracting more of the area’s Jewish people.

The aim is to make sure all feel welcome.

“We have never turned anyone away,” said Rabbi Hillel Katzir of Temple Shalom Synagogue-Center in Auburn.

Yet, some area Jews haven’t been convinced.

The problem is that Temple Shalom has always belonged to the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. The organization has a reputation for being unfriendly toward families with more than one faith.

So, Temple Shalom broke away.

Its 18-member board of directors voted unanimously to break the link last week. On Tuesday, letters from the board began arriving in the mailboxes of member families, which number around 115.

“We hope that any Jews who, in the past, may have hesitated to join because of our conservative affiliation will now reconsider and will judge us for who we are, rather than by a label,” read the letter, signed by Katzir and synagogue President Lewis Zidle.

There has been little feedback, said Shelley Rau, the board’s vice president and president-elect.

The change will make no difference in the way the synagogue works, Katzir said. The affiliation is voluntary. Local synagogues, 760 nationwide, pay annual dues to the New York-based organization.

To Temple Shalom, it costs thousands of dollars each year. Several other Maine synagogues – in Bath, Waterville and Rockland – have either been created as independent synagogues or have severed ties with one of the four major affiliations: conservative, orthodox, reform and reconstructionist.

Such alliances are tough for rural synagogues like Temple Shalom, Katzir said. They can alienate portions of the already small Jewish population.

Meanwhile, the Auburn congregation is working hard at reaching out to area Jews, both as a religious and cultural center.

“Everyone has always been welcome,” said Rau, who also chairs the synagogue’s membership and outreach committee.

“There is a perception out there that conservative synagogues are not welcoming to mixed families, households that include both a Jewish and non-Jewish spouse,” Rau said.

“As a member of such a family, I know that perception is incorrect at Temple Shalom, and removing the conservative label will hopefully give people a more accurate picture of who we are as a Jewish community,” she said.

Katzir believes the synagogue needed the change.

Interfaith families comprise a growing percentage of the Jewish population, particularly in places outside larger cities.

“This is what the American community of Judaism looks like in the 21st century,” said Katzir.