Joseph Peightel
02/22/2017 - 365 Main Street Project – 324 of 365
Doers of Peace – Oseh Shalom
Note: Information below was compiled from the congregation website and articles from the Baltimore Sun.
Oseh Shalom was founded as the Jewish Congregation of Laurel on May 24, 1966, by 16 families expressing their commitment to a cohesive Jewish presence in Laurel. Services were first held at a local bank on Rt. 1 and later in an interim home in the Montpelier community of South Laurel. The growth of the greater Laurel community enabled the building of a small, versatile synagogue/Religious School in 1973 at 13714 Briarwood Drive. In August 1973, members chose the Hebrew name Oseh Shalom, “Doers of Peace.”
The Congregation affiliated with the Reconstructionist Movement in 1979 and began construction of the modern facility on 1983. Completed in time for the High Holy Days in 1991, today Oseh Shalom draws congregants from Columbia, Ellicott City, Savage, Jessup, Clarksville, Fulton, Olney, Silver Spring, Burtonsville, Kensington, Wheaton, Kemp Mill, Arnold, Annapolis, College Park, Hyattsville and beyond.
Parents who are searching for a Hebrew School or Jewish School for their children find a warm, engaging and inclusive environment at Oseh Shalom Religious School for all children, whether gifted or challenged with special needs. LGBT members are very welcome.
In 1979, the congregation affiliated with the Reconstructionist Movement after studying the Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist movements for a year, according to Valerie Kaplan, a synagogue member since 1974 and past congregation president. Based on the philosophy of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1881-1983), the Reconstructionist movement interprets Judaism as progressively evolving — a blend of traditional culture and modern spirituality that emphasizes communal decision-making based in Jewish values.The movement began ordaining women as rabbis in 1968 and gay and lesbian rabbis in the early 1980s. Today, Oseh Shalom, which has grown to 250 families and is Laurel's only synagogue, also welcomes nontraditional households, including same-sex couples and interfaith families.
The congregation joyfully celebrated a half-century of an evolving Jewish community in 2016 at the synagogue off Van Dusen Road, an award-wining building distinguished by its blue "wings" and glowing dome.
Facing new threats today, 2017 finds Oseh Shalom no stranger to anti-Semitic threats in the past. In June 1969, the Jewish Congregation of Laurel, which had grown to 55 families, purchased a home on Mount Pleasant Drive in Montpelier to refit as a synagogue.
That fall, Prince George's County issued an eviction notice citing a shortage of off-street parking spaces. The congregation was able to negotiate a compromise and remained until 1973, when it built a larger synagogue on Briarwood Drive. On the eve of Rosh Hashana in 1985, the Briarwood Drive synagogue was desecrated with profanity and a swastika was painted on the front of the building. The vandals were never found.
In 1989, the Anti-Defamation League reported that anti-Semitic incidents had increased in the U.S. by nearly 12 percent; many were attributed to so-called neo-Nazi skinheads.
In January 1990, a bomb threat was called in to Oseh Shalom's Hebrew School. Prince George's County police increased patrols in the neighborhood, but the caller was never found.
A story in the Laurel Leader a few months later reported individuals identifying as members of the "Aryan Defense Force" calling in more threats in March. In that article, then Rabbi Gary S. Fink, was quoted as saying he and the congregation were offended and hopeful that the community would rally around them. "When I look at [the synagogue] as being a member of the greater Laurel community, I look at it … as a threat to everyone in the community," Fink said.
Indeed.
www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/laurel/ph-ll-os...
02/22/2017 - 365 Main Street Project – 324 of 365
Doers of Peace – Oseh Shalom
Note: Information below was compiled from the congregation website and articles from the Baltimore Sun.
Oseh Shalom was founded as the Jewish Congregation of Laurel on May 24, 1966, by 16 families expressing their commitment to a cohesive Jewish presence in Laurel. Services were first held at a local bank on Rt. 1 and later in an interim home in the Montpelier community of South Laurel. The growth of the greater Laurel community enabled the building of a small, versatile synagogue/Religious School in 1973 at 13714 Briarwood Drive. In August 1973, members chose the Hebrew name Oseh Shalom, “Doers of Peace.”
The Congregation affiliated with the Reconstructionist Movement in 1979 and began construction of the modern facility on 1983. Completed in time for the High Holy Days in 1991, today Oseh Shalom draws congregants from Columbia, Ellicott City, Savage, Jessup, Clarksville, Fulton, Olney, Silver Spring, Burtonsville, Kensington, Wheaton, Kemp Mill, Arnold, Annapolis, College Park, Hyattsville and beyond.
Parents who are searching for a Hebrew School or Jewish School for their children find a warm, engaging and inclusive environment at Oseh Shalom Religious School for all children, whether gifted or challenged with special needs. LGBT members are very welcome.
In 1979, the congregation affiliated with the Reconstructionist Movement after studying the Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist movements for a year, according to Valerie Kaplan, a synagogue member since 1974 and past congregation president. Based on the philosophy of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1881-1983), the Reconstructionist movement interprets Judaism as progressively evolving — a blend of traditional culture and modern spirituality that emphasizes communal decision-making based in Jewish values.The movement began ordaining women as rabbis in 1968 and gay and lesbian rabbis in the early 1980s. Today, Oseh Shalom, which has grown to 250 families and is Laurel's only synagogue, also welcomes nontraditional households, including same-sex couples and interfaith families.
The congregation joyfully celebrated a half-century of an evolving Jewish community in 2016 at the synagogue off Van Dusen Road, an award-wining building distinguished by its blue "wings" and glowing dome.
Facing new threats today, 2017 finds Oseh Shalom no stranger to anti-Semitic threats in the past. In June 1969, the Jewish Congregation of Laurel, which had grown to 55 families, purchased a home on Mount Pleasant Drive in Montpelier to refit as a synagogue.
That fall, Prince George's County issued an eviction notice citing a shortage of off-street parking spaces. The congregation was able to negotiate a compromise and remained until 1973, when it built a larger synagogue on Briarwood Drive. On the eve of Rosh Hashana in 1985, the Briarwood Drive synagogue was desecrated with profanity and a swastika was painted on the front of the building. The vandals were never found.
In 1989, the Anti-Defamation League reported that anti-Semitic incidents had increased in the U.S. by nearly 12 percent; many were attributed to so-called neo-Nazi skinheads.
In January 1990, a bomb threat was called in to Oseh Shalom's Hebrew School. Prince George's County police increased patrols in the neighborhood, but the caller was never found.
A story in the Laurel Leader a few months later reported individuals identifying as members of the "Aryan Defense Force" calling in more threats in March. In that article, then Rabbi Gary S. Fink, was quoted as saying he and the congregation were offended and hopeful that the community would rally around them. "When I look at [the synagogue] as being a member of the greater Laurel community, I look at it … as a threat to everyone in the community," Fink said.
Indeed.
www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/laurel/ph-ll-os...