Can you believe that after a Kol Nidre sermon 7 years ago, after a demographic study, after searching for land to purchase, after hiring an architect and construction company, after many congregation meetings, after selling our building, after months of delay in the permitting offices, after finding a second construction/architectural firm, after revising our permit, after more town hall meetings, and after finding a bank and closing on a loan, that we are finally building our new building?
Can you imagine all the committees that had to be formed and all the members of our congregation who volunteered their time for countless hours of deliberations to ensure that we could sell our building on Lockwood Dr., design a new building, and secure a loan all in a way that could be affordable as possible for our members? Can you also imagine all the work that went into ensuring that our congregation would still have the variety of religious, social, and educational programming that not only we have come to expect but is necessary in forming and maintaining a sense of community?
Shaare Tefila Congregation has been in existence for close to 60 years. Thank God a few of the charter members are still with us to remind us of our humble yet strong beginnings. They were a group of people in Northeast Washington, DC who wanted a synagogue to fulfill their Jewish needs and from that created a vibrant, meaningful community. That community - us - wants to ensure that we continue to provide a meaningful Jewish life for Jews today and for the next 60 years.
We are the only synagogue in the Greater Washington area that will have successfully moved twice - from the city to the suburbs and to another suburb. It is amazing what, through sheer force of will and purpose, we have been able to do.
But our work has only begun. We can’t rest on our laurels once the building is built. We need to go out and fill the synagogue with our friends and others. We need to spread the word that a congregation that is warm and welcoming, that supports Jewish life, that encourages growth and enrichment, is now in Olney. With your help our new building will make our charter members proud!
Can you imagine all the committees that had to be formed and all the members of our congregation who volunteered their time for countless hours of deliberations to ensure that we could sell our building on Lockwood Dr., design a new building, and secure a loan all in a way that could be affordable as possible for our members? Can you also imagine all the work that went into ensuring that our congregation would still have the variety of religious, social, and educational programming that not only we have come to expect but is necessary in forming and maintaining a sense of community?
Shaare Tefila Congregation has been in existence for close to 60 years. Thank God a few of the charter members are still with us to remind us of our humble yet strong beginnings. They were a group of people in Northeast Washington, DC who wanted a synagogue to fulfill their Jewish needs and from that created a vibrant, meaningful community. That community - us - wants to ensure that we continue to provide a meaningful Jewish life for Jews today and for the next 60 years.
We are the only synagogue in the Greater Washington area that will have successfully moved twice - from the city to the suburbs and to another suburb. It is amazing what, through sheer force of will and purpose, we have been able to do.
But our work has only begun. We can’t rest on our laurels once the building is built. We need to go out and fill the synagogue with our friends and others. We need to spread the word that a congregation that is warm and welcoming, that supports Jewish life, that encourages growth and enrichment, is now in Olney. With your help our new building will make our charter members proud!
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