continued from page 13

“WE RECOGNIZE THE DYNAMICS 
ARE CHANGING IN THE JEWISH 
WORLD … WE WANT TO MEET 

PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE.”

— RABBI MICHAEL MOSKOWITZ

14 | APRIL 21 • 2022 

“We’ve gained members in the pan-
demic and grown as a community,” 
Moskowitz explains. “We recognize the 
dynamics are changing in the Jewish 
world and the Jewish community, and 
we want to meet people where they are 
— our space helps with that as well.”

CHANGING WITH 
CONGREGANTS’ NEEDS
The facility will soon have room for 
its preschool to move to Shir Shalom 
from rented space at Adat Shalom, and 
additional educational space for adults. 
The expansion will also include a 
new sacred space, where people could 
gather for a meditation service, small 
luncheon or a bris, and two additional 
patios that could be used for onegs or 

classes, one of which will connect via 
a glass wall to Shir Shalom’s renovated 
social hall. 
From the 30 families who met in a 
converted office building on Maple 
Road back in 1988 to the more than 
900 families affiliated with Shir 
Shalom today, the community and its 
needs have continued to evolve, says 
Moskowitz. Ideas of how people need 
and want to be together have shifted, 
as well as what they appreciate and 
where they want to be, he says. The 
building improvements will give them 
options for being outside and allow for 
room to spread out, while spending 
time in a refreshed, enhanced space, 
he adds. 
Brian Fishman, Shir Shalom’s exec-
Ian and Ashley 
Sefferman

A rendering of the social hall

ON THE COVER

