"Synagogue-of-the-Month"Our Featured Member synagogue for January 2008 is Temple Shaare Tefilah, a Conservative congregation in Norwood. We are pleased to recognize the synagogue in honor of its 100th anniversary. Temple Shaare Tefilah has been in existence, as a congregation, for 100 years and is integrally connected to the greater Norwood community. Temple Shaare Tefilah is an egalitarian, Conservative synagogue that is affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and with the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts.We are an informal, warm congregation which believes very strongly in community: members are supportive of each other through shiva minyanim, food support and caring for each other’s welfare. We are also actively involved in the greater community as well through participation in the JF&CS;’s Family Table contribution roster, by providing space for the Norwood Food Pantry to store contributions, through participation by Rabbi Gouze in the Norwood Clergy Association, and through members volunteering at neighboring hospitals and various charities. Temple Shaare Tefilah provides religious, cultural, educational and social programming in order to meet the various Jewish needs and interests of its members. Our relatively small size not only allows our rabbi to know each member individually, it also allows for a greater sense of community and belonging on the part of the members. We have Shabbat morning services every Saturday and the services are led by the rabbi, the cantor and lay leaders. As one guest phrased it at a recent Bat Mitzvah, "I enjoyed your services because they were so relaxed and welcoming." The cantor chants in such a way that he invites others to join in, thus creating a participatory service within a spiritual atmosphere. The rabbi's D’var Torah is a dialogue with the congregation based on the themes found in the particular Torah portion encouraging congregants to share their insights and understandings as part of the discussion. We include the matriarchs in the Amidah and try to be as gender sensitive as possible, while maintaining the integrity of the Conservative prayer tradition. We encourage you to call and visit. You will find that Temple Shaare Tefilah is a place that you will quickly stop calling ‘synagogue’ and instead, will simply call ‘home.’ For information call the temple office at 781-762-8670 or visit us at www.uscj.org.
556 Nichols Street
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