 Prior to resigning its affiliation with the Orthodox Union (OU) at the end of 2015, it was the only OU affiliated synagogue in the country without a "mechitza", thus allowing men and women to sit together.It was the only surviving example of a seating style that had previously been present in a substantial number of Orthodox Union affiliated synagogues, and resigned from the OU after learning the organization planned to expel them over the mixed seating issue.Today, BMH-BJ describes itself as an "independent orthodox congregation".