Beth Shalom

Beth Shalom or Beth Sholom (Hebrew: בית שלום‎ "house of peace") may refer to:

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Beth Shalom Congregation (Columbia, Maryland)

Beth Shalom is a Conservative synagogue in Columbia, Maryland. It is the only Conservative congregation in Howard County, Maryland.

History

When the town of Columbia, Maryland was formed in the 1960s, in accordance with an idea of James Rouse, an Interfaith Center was created where all places of worhsip in the town would initially share a hall.

The attempt to first organize a Jewish community in the Columbia area began in 1967. Temple Solel (now known as Temple Isaiah) became the area's Reform temple, and Beth Shalom became the area's Conservative congregation. Both have since obtained their own buildings. An attempt to form an Orthodox community was unsuccessful.

Beth Shalom was founded in 1969. It has since grown to more than 400 families.

Spiritual leaders

The original spiritual leader was the late Rabbi Noah Golinkin, who was hired in 1978. Rabbi Kenneth Cohen was the second spiritual leader, who assumed the position in 1986.

The third and current spiritual leader of Beth Shalom is Rabbi Susan Grossman, who has held the position since 1997. Grossman was ordained in the Class of 1985, and is considered unusual for being a female rabbi in the Conservative movement from that generation. Grossman is known for authoring works on the Conservative view of ritual purity.

Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation

Beth Shalom, formally Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, is a synagogue in Chicago, Illinois. The congregation leader is Rabbi Capers Funnye. Assistant rabbis are Avraham Ben Israel and Joshua V. Salter.

The congregation, which has about 200 members, is mostly African American. The congregation was started by Rabbi Horace Hasan from Bombay, India, in 1918 as the Ethiopian Hebrew Settlement Workers Association, and was influenced by Wentworth Arthur Matthew's Commandment Keepers.

Along with African-Americans, members include Hispanics and whites who were born Jews, as well as former Christians and Muslims. As is traditional with Judaism, they do not seek converts, and members must study Judaism for a year before undergoing a traditional conversion requiring men to be ritually circumcised and women to undergo ritual immersion in a mikvah.

The congregation is "somewhere between Conservative and Modern Orthodox" with distinctive African-American influences; while men and women sit separately as in Orthodox synagogues, a choir sings spirituals to the beat of a drum. It follows traditional Jewish liturgy and laws, including Sabbath and kosher dietary laws.