Havurat Shalom is a small egalitarian

chavurah A ''chavurah'' or ''chaburah'' (חבורה Hebrew: "fellowship", plural ''chavurot'') is a small group of like-minded Jews who assemble for the purposes of facilitating Shabbat and holiday prayer services, sharing communal experiences such as life ...

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Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. Founded in 1968, it is not affiliated with the major

Jewish denominations Jewish religious movements, sometimes called "religious denomination, denominations", include different groups within Judaism which have developed among Jews from ancient times. Today, the most prominent divisions are between traditionalist Ortho ...

. Havurat Shalom was the first countercultural Jewish community and set the precedent for the national havurah movement. Founded in 1968, it was also significant in the development of the

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movement and

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.Merle Feld, "Egalitarianism and the ''Havurah'' movement", in Susan Grossman, Rivka Haut, eds., ''Daughters of the King: Women and the Synagogue (A Survey of History, Halakhah, and Contemporary Realities)'' (

Jewish Publication Society The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by reform Rabbi Joseph Krauskop ...

, 2005), , pp. 246-250
Excerpts available
at

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. Originally intended to be an "alternative seminary", instead it evolved into a "model havurah". Founders and members of Havurat Shalom have included

Edward Feld Edward Feld, born 1943, is a conservative rabbi and author. He was the senior editor of the conservative Rabbinical Assembly's High Holiday maḥzor '' Maḥzor Lev Shalem'' (2010), which was the first conservative Jewish liturgical publication to ...

, Merle Feld,

Michael Fishbane Michael A. Fishbane (born 1943) is an American scholar of Judaism and rabbinic literature. Formerly at Brandeis University, he is currently Professor Emeritus of Jewish Studies at the Divinity School, University of Chicago. Fishbane (Ph.D., Brande ...

Everett Gendler Everett Gendler (August 8, 1928 – April 1, 2022) was an American rabbi, known for his leadership of and involvement in progressive causes, including the civil rights movement, Jewish nonviolence, and the egalitarian Jewish Havurah movement. From ...

Arthur Green Arthur Green ( he, אברהם יצחק גרין, born March 21, 1941) is an American scholar of Jewish mysticism and Neo-Hasidic theologian. He was a founding dean of the non-denominational rabbinical program at Hebrew College in Boston, where he ...

, Barry Holtz,

Gershon Hundert Gershon David Hundert (born 1946) is a Canadian historian of Early Modern Polish Jewry and Leanor Segal Professor at McGill University. Biography Born to a Jewish family in Toronto, Hundert is one of the three sons of Charles and Norma Hunder ...

James Kugel James L. Kugel (Hebrew: Yaakov Kaduri, יעקב כדורי; born August 22, 1945) is Professor Emeritus in the Bible Department at Bar Ilan University in Israel and the Harry M. Starr Professor Emeritus of Classical and Modern Hebrew Literature at ...

, Alfred A. Marcus,

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi Meshullam Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (28 August 1924 – 3 July 2014), commonly called "Reb Zalman" (full Hebrew name: ), was one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement and an innovator in ecumenical dialogue. Early life Born Meshullam Za ...

Jim Sleeper Jim Sleeper is an American author and journalist. He was a lecturer in political science at Yale University from 1999 to 2020, teaching undergraduate seminars on American national identity and on journalism, liberalism, and democracy. He write ...

, Michael Strassfeld, and

Arthur Waskow Arthur Ocean Waskow (born Arthur I. Waskow; 1933) is an American author, political activist, and rabbi associated with the Jewish Renewal movement. Education and early career Waskow was born in Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland. He receiv ...

. Historian Jonathan Sarna has noted that among these members were "the people who would be leading figures in Jewish life in the second half of the 20th century”.

References

*''Havurat Shalom Siddur'' *Sarna, Jonathan. "'With-It' Judaism: The havurah movement and The Jewish Catalog blended Judaism with the 1960s counterculture" in ''American Judaism: A History'' (Yale University Press, 2004)
Internet reprint
*Richard Siegel, Strassfeld, Michael and Sharon. ''The Jewish Catalog: A Do-It-Yourself Kit'' 1973

External links

*Official website o
Havurat Shalom
{{coord, 42, 23, 59.14, N, 71, 7, 5.20, W, region:US, display=title Jewish organizations established in the 1960s Jewish organizations based in the United States Jews and Judaism in Massachusetts Organizations based in Massachusetts Somerville, Massachusetts Jewish Renewal Non-denominational Judaism