We Invite Your Membership

When you join Makom Ohr Shalom, you become part of a warm, friendly, and inclusive community. You have the opportunity to discover and explore the spirituality within our Jewish tradition and your own heart. Membership is the backbone of Makom Ohr Shalom, and there are many benefits to formally joining the community. We hope you will be part of the Makom family!

Reb Zalman Invites Your Membership

This is what the acclaimed spiritual leader and Father of Jewish Renewal says about membership at Makom Ohr Shalom:“If I were to say what makes this shul so special, I would say it’s the joy. But the simchas that people have here are not superficial. They create a transformation. “Se’u She’arim Rasheychem” means “put your heads up a little higher than usual – lift your consciousness.” There is a field of caring and loving here. The people feel like a mishpochah, like a family. And that is especially important now, when our social fibers have become so short. In Bolder, where I live, I go to all the synagogues. In Los Angeles, I have one synagogue, Makom Ohr Shalom. It’s my spiritual home.

“When it comes to the issue of ‘what do I want to invest in, and how do I want to engage myself?’ finding a place like this one, and being able to come Shabbos after Shabbos, to participate with people on whose loyalty you can count – how wonderful that is! Look at the word: membership. Most of us are loose beings; we are not connected. I’d like you all to be re-membered, to become members again in this possibility that brings us together, in the harmony that we experience here, in the help that we need. That’s my commercial. But I want you to understand that I don’t mean it in a commercial way. We are not talking about a commodity. We are talking about ensuring that you live your days fully alive. So, that’s why I want to say: become members of Makom Ohr Shalom!

• Receive free High Holiday tickets!
• Receive our monthly newsletter, The Makomer, mailed to your home.
• Receive e-mail and snail mail announcements of all activities. Makom has programs for people of all ages and interests.
• Join a Havurah suited to different life stages and interests. Several of Makom’s havurot are reserved for members only.
• Enjoy a 20% discount on classes offered by Rabbi Orenstein at the American Jewish University (formerly University of Judaism).
• Benefit from the attention of our clergy for lifecycle events, counseling, and consultation.  
• Light candles at Friday night services and share with us your latest simcha—be it a birthday, graduation, or any other occasion.
• Participate in Mitzvah Mavens, providing comfort and help to members in a health or bereavement crisis. If you ever need these services, they are available to you as a member.
• Get involved in social justice and service. We have regular projects to assist the homeless, feed the hungry, and help at-risk children, both here and in Israel, along with regular Shabbat nursing home visits and a “Save Darfur” initiative.
• Celebrate your Adult Bar or Bat Mitzvah with our acclaimed Adult Bnei Mitzvah classes.
• Audition and sing with the celebrated Makom Ohr Shalom choir.
• Send your children to our inspirational Religious School.
• Offer your own input and talent! We are open to new ideas and activities. If you don't find what you want, you can start what you want. 

Please contact Dana Stone Goldberg (bbdj22@hotmail.com) or Harold Gidish (hgidish@aol.com) to discuss any questions you may have about membership.

To download a PDF of our membership pledge, please click here.

To download a PDF of our membership in-take questionnaire, please click here.