The Mendocino Coast Jewish Community (MCJC) is a rural, egalitarian Jewish community located on the north coast of California, 150 miles north of San Francisco. The largest town in our area has a total population of 6,000, and our members live all over a 500 square mile area of rugged country roads and forests. The community takes in the coastal area from Westport to Gualala and east to Comptche and Anderson Valley.

Many of the people in our Jewish community "moved back to the land" and are self-motivated and community-oriented. Quite a few of our members are just now coming into deeper relationship with their Jewish heritage after years away from Jewish practice. In 1989 these people pooled their resources and hired a full-time rabbi, Margaret Holub, a graduate of Hebrew Union College. There is a tremendous excitement about Judaism, and there is also great diversity of belief, practice, and knowledge. This is true of young people as well as adults.

MCJC is a community which is welcoming to everyone who wants to participate. We celebrate many aspects of Jewish practice. We promote observance of Jewish traditions and culture and try to strengthen Judaism as a way of life. We come together to celebrate life cycle events, do tzedakah by working for justice as well as giving charity, and increase the presence of Jews and Judaism in our larger coastal community. We think of ourselves as being more like a "shtetl" than like a typical American synagogue.

There are six Jewish communities north of Sonoma County and the only one that is affiliated and has its own building is in Eureka. All these communities share our blessings and problems that come with diversity and dispersion. We work together whenever possible. In 1996 MCJC acquired a historic church built in the late 1880's in Caspar, halfway between Mendocino and Fort Bragg, and converted it to a community center. This is the first synagogue in Mendocino County.