|
Our History In the spring of 2013, four unaffiliated Jews in the Henderson/Las Vegas area decided that they did not want to remain unaffiliated any longer and wanted a comfortable, affordable place to worship, in the Reform style of Judaism. Having been members of many traditional synagogues in the past, they knew that re-joining yet another traditional synagogue was not going to meet their needs. The concept of starting a new congregation as a “Synagogue without walls”, which is a growing trend throughout the country, became very appealing and they pursued it. They tested the waters by contacting other Jews who were unaffiliated, or dissatisfied with their traditional synagogues and found that there was a definite interest in this concept.
Initially, the congregation met as a nameless Havurah, or
friendship group, and participants took turns leading the
worship services.
As momentum grew, it became
evident that there was clearly a need for this group to become a
full congregation, which led to the development of
Congregation Shirat Shalom.
The name, Shirat Shalom, means
Song of Peace and reflects the congregation’s
interest in the musical and peaceful quality of the worship
services. On
January 1, 2014, Congregation Shirat Shalom was fortunate to
have Cantor Philip Goldstein join as Spiritual
Leader.
His knowledge of Judaism and his
ability to make it real and relevant to our current lives has
been an inspiration to all of the members of the congregation.
Cantor Goldstein’s long-time popularity in the Las Vegas and
Henderson Jewish community has brought many more people to
worship with him at Congregation Shirat Shalom.
|