About Congregation Ahavas Sholom + Tikkun Olam
Congregation Ahavas Sholom is the oldest still operating Synagogue in the City of Newark. We are an Egalitarian Conservative Synagogue with a traditional service that welcomes all Jews, fulfills their spiritual needs, and provides educational and cultural experiences. The synagogue’s mission states that Ahavas Sholom is passionately committed to the pursuit of Tikun Olam (repair of the world) and Tzedakah (social justice). Ahavas Sholom recognizes as part of Tikun Olam that it has an obligation to the environment, physical space and activities of the community.
Tikkun olam is core to the spirit of Ahavas Sholom. Congregation Ahavas Sholom has engaged in many of its own tikkun olam initiatives over the years including partnering with Newark Public Schools and the Trust for Public Land to build playgrounds at 3 Newark elementary schools, hosting the Sussex Avenue Renew School art exhibition for a decade, making masks for St. Michael's Hospital staff during the pandemic, donating practice space to local performance artists and most recently supporting menstrual equity in partnership with United Community Corporation.
In 2020, after the brutal murder of George Floyd, Congregation Ahavas Sholom partnered with then Council President Mildred Crump to organize a multi-year series called Diversity United that brought together Jews and African Americans for "courageous conversations" every month for 1.5 years. In 2023, Ahavas Sholom hosted the first ever Unity Seder and Unity Shabbat in partnership with Rabbi Capers Funnye, the Chief Rabbi of the International Israelite Board of Rabbis and made history with the hiring of Rabbi Eliyahu Ben Lewi, a graduate of the Israelite Rabbinical Academy.
Ahavas Sholom regularly partners on events in our beautiful recently renovated sanctuary including partnering with NJPAC and serving regularly as a venue during the TD James Moody Jazz Festival and civic events with City of Newark like the graduation of the Newark Office of Public Safety's Citizen Clergy program and more.
Beyond Newark, Congregation Ahavas Sholom has a sister synagogue relationship with an Abayudaya community in Uganda.