About Sha'ar
Led by Rabbi Adina Lewittes, the community began with a few families who gathered each Shabbat before sundown to study the week's parsha and conclude the day with a Havdalah ritual. As time passed we added music-filled High Holiday, festival and Shabbat services. We developed learning programs including Thursday evening study sessions, Torah leyning classes, bar/bat mitzvah preparation, weekly Talmud study and tikkun olam projects. It is a priority of ours to instill in children a love of Torah and we include them in our services and programs as appropriate. Israel is also a central spiritual and political focus of ours. Our programming wish list includes innovative outreach to Jewish teens as well as educational travel. Rabbi Lewittes was ordained in 1993 by the Jewish Theological Seminary. She is the first Canadian woman to become a Conservative Rabbi. Later at JTS, she also served as the first female assistant dean of the rabbinical school. Dini has held various leadership positions in the wider community and in addition to founding and leading Sha'ar, she teaches a variety of adult education programs. She is also the mother of four beautiful children. Sha'ar strives to bring people closer to Torah - to its teachings, commandments and vision of peace and justice. We welcome all, of any background, to join our friendly, inclusive and participatory community. |
Sha'ar ("gate") is a relatively new Jewish community in Bergen County, New Jersey. Its name recalls the eight gates leading into the Old City of Jerusalem and suggests the figurative gates we might pass through while on our spiritual journey. People experience Jewish life from a variety of perspectives. Sha'ar looks to offer multiple gateways through which seekers can pass to create connections to Judaism and to community. Our name, Sha'ar is formed in the singular to convey the sacredness of each of the gates through which we travel.