Or Shalom is a synagogue affiliated with Aleph, the umbrella organization of Jewish Renewal communities.

Or Shalom is a synagogue affiliated with Aleph, the umbrella organization of Jewish Renewal communities. While every Jewish Renewal Community is unique, they have the common values of a willingness to explore and experiment with our traditions in an effort to draw closer to God and the Jewish soul. Or Shalom is egalitarian: Both men and women have equal access to the leadership of services and community positions. They believe in searching for the unwritten stories of the women in Jewish history and bringing them forward as a means of bringing balance to our world. They seek to bring repair to the world through commitment to Tzedaka and social justice. They deepen their Jewish lives, and the community around, through study of the traditional sources and the creation of new rituals and liturgy.

History. Or Shalom began as a havurah (small group of friends) in 1982 which, led by Rabbi Daniel Siegel and Hanna-Tiferet Siegel, met in members living rooms to daven on Shabbat mornings. Daniel was the first person to receive smicha (rabbinic ordination) by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder of the Jewish Renewal Movement. Daniel now works with Aleph Alliance for Jewish Renewal, the co-ordinating body for this movement.

Or Shalom has grown from a Shabbat morning minyan (prayer group) into a community of well over 200 single people and families. In the late 1980s Rabbi Itzhak Marmorstein became Or Shalom’s spiritual leader and was part of the community for five years. In 1993, after squeezing into rented houses for years, they bought the present building at 10th and Fraser. From 1995 – 2003, Rabbi David Mivasair served as Or Shalom’s spiritual leader. In 2013 the spiritual leader is Rabbi Laura Duhan Kaplan.