Adat Chaim prides itself on being "the little shul that could". Since our founding in 1985, we've achieved several milestones. We were the pioneering synagogue in the Northwest Corridor of Baltimore County, a designated growth area that is now home to a burgeoning Jewish community. Our new synagogue, opened in 1993, was the first new Conservative shul to be built in the Baltimore area in 25 years. Our Congregational School welcomes students from kindergarten through Bar/Bat Mitzvah, offering a family-oriented curriculum that nurtures skills and Jewish identity in a fun, creative atmosphere. Our B'nei Mitzvah Program, honored by a United Synagogue Gold Award, is a year-long experience for students and their families that provides in-depth preparation for this once-in-a-lifetime event. Post-B'nei Mitzvah programs include Dugma L'Dor for 8th-11th graders and our Sisterhood's College Connection, which helps out-of-town students keep in touch with their home shul. The Sisterhood and Men's Club also offer scholarships to students attending other community post-B'nei Mitzvah programs, as well as USCJ and other community-sponsored trips to Israel. And for kids of all ages, our Youth Programs provide opportunities for fun, learning, and community service.
But Adat Chaim isn't just for kids! Our 150-family membership includes folks of all ages and varied backgrounds. Whether you're a seasoned davener or just returning to synagogue life for the first time since Hebrew School, Adat Chaim welcomes you. In addition to the social, educational, and service programs provided by the Sisterhood and Men's Club, there are year-round Adult Education programs, from classes in basic Hebrew to our Adult B'nei Mitzvah Program. We firmly believe that Jewish learning is a lifelong process!
Congregants are encouraged to participate in services; both men and women serve as lay leaders and as members of our Yad Squad Torah-reading corps. New B'nei Mitzvah are welcomed as fully-participating members of the synagogue community.
Under the leadership of Rabbi P. Michael Meyerstein, Cantor Sharon Wallach, and our Board of Trustees, we look confidently to the future while upholding the traditions of the past. While we want to continue growing--we started with 75 families and now have 150--our goal is to stay small enough so our members continue to enjoy an intimate, heimish atmosphere. And, for the foreseeable future, we will continue to rely on members to help keep our programs and services going. Adat Chaim runs on "people power"volunteers are our lifeblood. Any member can be a machar -- you just have to roll up your sleeves and dig in!
Having celebrated yet another milestone--our Bar Mitzvah Year--we are looking forward to "adulthood" as a full-service synagogue and equal partner in our community. Our Capital Campaign hopes to expand our facilities and provide more services for our members. Watch this space for future developments!
Adat Chaim is uniquely situated; we are pioneers in a newly-established Jewish community, yet part of an overall Jewish tradition that extends over two centuries. Baltimore is home to some of the oldest congregations in the country. The area boasts an active Federation (THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore), numerous day schools and social service agencies, two Jewish Community Centers, and Baltimore Hebrew University and Ner Israel Rabbinical College. Yet the Reisterstown-Owings Mills-Glyndon area, where Adat Chaim is located, is a relatively new location for Jewish settlement. It's only in the past 17 years that a sizeable Jewish presence has taken root in this area, also called the Northwest Corridor. With the expansion of the Jewish community now extending even further west, into Carroll County, Adat Chaim is ideally situated to be a link between the old and the new.
Adat Chaim had taken its place among the established Jewish institutions. Each year, we participate in the Adult Institute and the Pearlstone Kallah, community-wide celebrations of learning. Closer to home, we've joined with other area synagogues in joint Tisha B'Av services, as well as Jewish U, a learning program aimed at young adults that's also sponsored by the Owings Mills JCC. Our synagogue is represented in the Baltimore Jewish Council ; we also participate in the yearly Joint Sisterhood Dinner and the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs' Blue Yarmulka Dinner, as well as other Sisterhood/Men's Club programs. We send musical ambassadors as well, led by Cantor Wallach; our Congregational School students join in the annual Zimria, a community-wide songfest, and our singing group, Shirei Chaim, serenades nursing home residents and holiday shoppers, as well as our own members.
We never lose sight of the fact that we are also members of a larger community. Adat Chaim provides a substantial Jewish presence in an area that, while not completely devoid of Jews in the past, is still adjusting to a growing Jewish population. Cantor Wallach is a member of the Ministerium, which encompasses the local clergy; Adat Chaim was the site of Reisterstown's first Interfaith Thanksgiving Service in 1997, and again in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006. Shirei Chaim has performed at Reisterstown Methodist's annual Peace Concert, and the B'nei Mitzvah students have helped refurbish the local women's shelter as a community service project. Our shul supports "Adopt a Road" as we maintain a length of Red Run Boulevard. Each year, Adat Chaim sets up a booth at the annual Reister's Towne Festival, getting acquainted with the community at large and inviting Jewish residents to join. When the festival was cancelled in 2002, Adat Chaim brought the community together with the "Celebrate Reisterstown" barbeque.
WHERE
WE'RE GOING;
Join us on our journey!
After 22 years of change and growth--sometimes turbulent, always interesting--we at Adat Chaim are working hard to make sure that our synagogue continues to evolve, from a pioneering outpost into an institution that will be here for our children and our grandchildren. We invite you to get to know us by exploring this website--then, come and visit us in person! Discover the shul that's "small enough to know you, big enough to meet your needs.."
Ready? Let the journey begin. . .