| Rabbi Rinat Safania Shwartz Chair: Michael Gilinski Treasurer: Sharon Beth-Halachmy P.O. 6080457 Topaz 8 Shoham Phone: 011-972-54-630191 Fax: 011-972-54-630191 E-mail: shoham.reform@gmail.com www.shohamreform.org |
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V’ahavta – HaKehila Hashivionit Shoham
(The Reform Community in Shoham)
V’ahavta – HaKehila Hashivionit Shoham (the Reform community of Shoham) was established in 2013 by a group of activists from Shoham and is led by Rabbi Rinat Safania-Shwartz, our founding rabbi, together with the congregation’s board of directors.
The majority of congregants from Shoham, a suburb of Tel Aviv with around 20,000 residents, are native Israelis, mostly from a secular background. In a city with over 20 Orthodox synagogues, our congregation is the only one offering a pluralistic and egalitarian Jewish community life.
Our congregation is very much involved in social and environmental projects in Shoham and the surrounding area. We hold egalitarian and musical Kabbalat Shabbat services and organize vibrant events during the holiday seasons for families. Moreover, we have a Bible study group as part of the 929 Project. We take part in social action projects or g’milut chasadim such as the adoption of Beit Hachayal, “the Lone Soldier House”, and hold interfaith activities, such as community projects for Jewish and Muslim families from Shoham and Ramle.
V’ahavta’s members have young children and teens, and we hold an increasing number of bar and bat mitzvah services per year. In addition to regular bar/bat mitzvah study, we also have a unique “mothers and daughters” study group called “At Va-ani – You and I” for bat mitzvah girls.
Our community’s liberal, egalitarian, and pluralistic voice is an important contribution to the life of residents of Shoham. So much so that in 2019, the municipality became the first in Israel to permit a Reform community to build a synagogue without the intervention of the Israeli Supreme Court. And with the generous support of our members, the Israeli Reform movement, and a significant partnership with Temple Israel of Memphis, Tennessee, we dedicated our new building in July 2021.
Now that we are firmly rooted in Shoham with our own permanent home, your support for our congregation is all the more important to enable Reform Judaism to thrive and grow in the center of Israel.
How to contribute:
1. Click on the link at the top of the page to donate online OR
2. Please send a check made out to:
KBY Congregations Together
PO Box 23170
Brooklyn, NY 11202
(with a note stating it’s for the Reform Community in Shoham)