Shaar Shalom Congregation

Shaar Shalom Congregation An egalitarian congregation serving Halifax's Conservative Jewish community since 1953.

Our opening reception of Identity: An Exploration of Jewish Culture and Diversity Through Art was on Sunday, and we were...
01/28/2026

Our opening reception of Identity: An Exploration of Jewish Culture and Diversity Through Art was on Sunday, and we were overwhelmed by the support and feedback from so many members of the Jewish and wider community. We are so fortunate to have these incredible artists show their work in our space. Adrian Fish, Margarita Fainshtein, Juilana Lytvar, Hila Peleg, Lynette Peters, Naomi Zamir are our featured artists for this temporary exhibit, on by appointment until March 1.

The exhibit showcases a range of media- painting, photography, sculture, ceramics, and jewelry. Despite a diversity of artist background and journey, the stories and feelings in these pieces share common threads of identity, language, memory, loss, and resiliency.

Its not too late to come see it! We hope to have some additional art programming this month, and look forward to sharing this special exhibit with you. Contact our office to arrange for a tour.

(photo credit Irena Kazatsker)

Don't miss out on the Joint Shaar Shalom & Beth Israel Chanukah Sale! Come get your candles, dreidls, chanukah gelt, me...
11/30/2025

Don't miss out on the Joint Shaar Shalom & Beth Israel Chanukah Sale! Come get your candles, dreidls, chanukah gelt, menorah, clothing, wrapping paper, special gifts and so much more! Sunday, November 30 from 9am to 12:30 pm at the Shaar.

Breaking Challah / Building Bridges – Final Event- Don't miss it!A Seat at the Table – Shabbat Dinner with guest speaker...
11/25/2025

Breaking Challah / Building Bridges – Final Event- Don't miss it!

A Seat at the Table – Shabbat Dinner with guest speaker Craig Upshaw
Friday, November 28 (following Kabbalat Shabbat services). (Services are at 5:30 pm, Dinner at approximately 6:30 pm)

Dinner is $18, family is $36.
Registration is required.
https://form.jotform.com/schuylerhsmith/BCBB_APlaceattheTable

Join us for the final event of Breaking Challah / Building Bridges, a community program that has brought people together over food, story, and connection to build allyship across communities. We’re looking forward to closing the program with one more shared Shabbat dinner and conversation with Craig Upshaw and Sky Smith, our Program Director.

Craig Upshaw is the Founder of HEDI, having served as Halifax Regional Police Diversity Officer and Head of the Hate Crimes Unit at HRPD. Before starting the consulting company, Craig worked closely with the Shaar, Beth AJC and CIJA when any issues arose. His insights into halifax communities is invaluable to our community safety. We are so fortunate he is able to speak with us.

H.E.D.I. Consultants provide Education and Training for Hate, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. They also assist with organizations creating Hate Crime Unit start up and investigations. Key focus is to provide education on the effects of hate, traumatic impact of hate, understanding our diverse communities and becoming an ally!

Reserve your place here – please remember that our events sell out quickly, so don’t delay.

We had a wonderful Hebrew Calligraphy workshop at the synagogue last night with Dr. Noam Sienna, Artist in Residence. A ...
11/19/2025

We had a wonderful Hebrew Calligraphy workshop at the synagogue last night with Dr. Noam Sienna, Artist in Residence. A broad history of the medium, some examples of his work, and a chance to try our hands at doing some lettering ourselves!

Thank you to the Dalhousie Center for Jewish Studies and the Province of Nova Scotia for this program.

Photo credit: Aaron Silver

Join us for the Saul Green Memorial lecture series, a partnership of the Shaar Shalom and the University of King's Colle...
11/18/2025

Join us for the Saul Green Memorial lecture series, a partnership of the Shaar Shalom and the University of King's College. This year's topic is The Soundtrack of our Lives: Music, the Brain and Wellness.

Music is present throughout our lives, from soothing lullabies to songs that evoke powerful memories. For the 2026 Saul Green memorial lecture, Dr. Wendy Stewart explores how music engages the brain, activating emotion, memory, movement, and reward. Drawing on neuroscience and lived experience, she will show how music supports learning, connection, healing, and wellness across the lifespan. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how music not only reflects the human experience but helps shape and sustain it.

Please join us this Thursday night, Nov 20 at 7 pm, Alumni Hall at University of King's College. The lecture is free and all are welcome.

Maya is an amazing organizer and programmer. It is because of her iniative that the Shaar holds a large collection of He...
11/18/2025

Maya is an amazing organizer and programmer. It is because of her iniative that the Shaar holds a large collection of Hebrew books within our library. Thanks for organizing a sweet kids program Sunday for the relaunch of the library program! ❤️ ✡️

The Shaar Shalom is hosting a special calligraphy workshop with an artist in residence on Monday night, Nov 17 at 7 pm.I...
11/14/2025

The Shaar Shalom is hosting a special calligraphy workshop with an artist in residence on Monday night, Nov 17 at 7 pm.

It's free and we'd love for you to come (and spread the word)!

Learn about the development of Hebrew letter forms and try your hand at Hebrew calligraphy with an expert guide. Materials will be provided.

Registration is required, but no experience necessary!

Please RSVP at [email protected]

We'd love to see you at our next community Bagel and Talks brunch at the Shaar Shalom. This event brings Baptist and Jew...
11/04/2025

We'd love to see you at our next community Bagel and Talks brunch at the Shaar Shalom. This event brings Baptist and Jewish neighbours together to share stories, name what we hold in common, and learn from our differences. We’ll have a simple kosher brunch (Bagel and Lox, naturally) then a moderated panel with time for questions. It’s warm, welcoming, and meant to be an organic conversation starter for our communities.

Registration is required.

Please register here: https://form.jotform.com/253006128943252

Free to attend. Optional donation at checkout if you wish.
Date: Sunday, November 9
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Register for details.

Speakers:
Rev. Dr. Lennett J. Anderson: Senior Pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church: The MEETing Place, a multigenerational congregation in Upper Hammonds Plains. Past Moderator of the African United Baptist Association and Assistant Professor in Leadership and Racial Justice at Acadia Divinity College.

Deacon Melinda Daye: Deacon at New Horizons Baptist Church, a historic African United Baptist Association congregation in Halifax. She supports ministry and community outreach and brings deep experience in building bridges across communities.

Joanna Mirsky-Wexler: President of Shaar Shalom Synagogue in Halifax. She helps guide the congregation’s lay leadership and community life and supports open, welcoming dialogue across communities.

Professor Solomon Nagler: Professor of Film at NSCAD University. He brings experience in community-engaged arts and public dialogue and will moderate with an emphasis on listening and shared learning.

This morning we arrived at the synagogue to find antisemitic graffiti spray-painted on the Oxford side of the building. ...
09/15/2025

This morning we arrived at the synagogue to find antisemitic graffiti spray-painted on the Oxford side of the building. There was a sw****ka on the main sign of the Shaar Shalom Congregation, as well as the words “Jews did 9/11” on the brickwork next to the main doors on Oxford Street.

We contacted the Hate Crimes Unit and police responded immediately. The graffiti, which was documented by photo and video, has already been professionally removed.

This was not an isolated incident. All three synagogues in Halifax were vandalized last night, and three additional locations have been reported to police in the Spring Garden Road area as well. Video security footage has been taken at all three synagogue sites, and images have been captured of two men, with faces shown. The police are working to identify them. These incidents have been escalated to the Halifax Hate Crimes Unit so they can be prosecuted as Incitement to Hate under Hate Speech in the criminal code as a more serious offense. Halifax Police have been making regular stops at the synagogues, doing their paperwork in our vicinity. The AJC and CIJA have been contacted, and we are all coordinating responses with each other and the police.

This is the first time our synagogue has been vandalized in this way. While we have been subjected to bomb threats that were sent by email to every synagogue in the country, this is a significant escalation for us as Jews in the city.

We know we cannot be silent and must call out these hateful acts.
We know this is scary news, but we will not be intimidated and kept from prayer.

We will get through this together.

Am Israel Chai.

We are pleased to announce that the restoration of the sanctuary has been completed, and we are delighted to welcome you...
09/11/2025

We are pleased to announce that the restoration of the sanctuary has been completed, and we are delighted to welcome you back to the shul for this Shabbat and for the High Holidays!

The flooring and ceiling are new, and the acoustics are lovely. The choir was testing the sound at rehearsal last night, and it feels like the beginning of the Holiday season. We are busy resetting the Bima and furniture, reactivating StreamSpot, and bringing all the Torahs back to the Ark.

There are still more repairs and renovations to be finalized over the coming weeks and months but we are so pleased with the results in the sanctuary that we wanted to share the news with you. For those of you who have already contributed to the R3 Renew, Rebuild, Restore Fund, thank you. For others, there is still the opportunity to donate to help us finish the project this year.

For visitors who wish to purchase High Holiday tickets, contact our office.

Calling all singers!I am excited to once again be leading the choir for the Kol Nidre service and would like to invite y...
08/31/2025

Calling all singers!

I am excited to once again be leading the choir for the Kol Nidre service and would like to invite you to join us! We are looking for members in all voice ranges. Choir is a casual, low stress, fun to participate in, high reward mitzvah and if you can carry a tune you would be a schlemiel to miss out!

Join us for our community Kol Nidre choir. We rehearse a total of 7 times between now and Kol Nidre, Oct 1. Mostly Tuesday and Sunday evenings over the next month. We rehearse in the small chapel.

Looking forward to seeing you!

Please join us on Sunday, June 8, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Haliax Central Public Library for a very special event. Ay...
06/05/2025

Please join us on Sunday, June 8, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Haliax Central Public Library for a very special event. Ayelet Tsabari, award-winning Israeli-Canadian with Yemeni roots, will be in Halifax to discuss her awardwinning debut novel Songs for the Brokenhearted.

The novel follows a young Yemeni Israeli woman who learns of her mother’s secret romance in a dramatic journey through lost family stories, revealing the unbreakable bond between mother and daughter. The book was awarded a National Jewish Book Award for Fiction, the Association of Jewish Libraries Fiction Award and a Globe and Mail Best Book of 2024. A discussion will be moderated by Lynn Bessoudo. Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing by the author.
NOTE: the location has changed to the Halifax Public Library, BMO Community Room, 2nd Floor. The event is free and open to the public.

Address

1981 Oxford Street
Halifax, NS
B3H4A4

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 3pm
Tuesday 10am - 3pm
Wednesday 10am - 3pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm

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