Building More Than a Synagogue: How Rabbi Rinat Safania-Shwartz Is Reshaping Progressive Judaism in Israel

In the central Israeli city of Shoham - a town of 24,000 people with 21 Orthodox synagogues and, until now, not a single permanent home for a non-Orthodox congregation - Rabbi Rinat Safania-Shwartz '17 is trying to change how her community gets to worship, gather, and belong. As founding rabbi of Ve'Ahavta - The Reform Congregation of Shoham, she's doing it by building relationships and avoiding a legal battle.

That matters more than it might sound. Reform and Conservative communities almost never get land and municipal permission to build without a legal fight, typically years of litigation backed by the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) and the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC). And although that litigation was not needed in this case, IMPJ and IRAC were both consistent and helpful presences for the congregation in the early years.

"This is something that has almost never happened in Israel for the Reform movement," Rabbi Safania-Shwartz said. "Each of the communities now in Israel have to fight for permission to have a non-Orthodox synagogue. And we succeeded without going to court - which is amazing, especially because we are only ten years old."

From Wandering to a Cornerstone

For seven years, the congregation moved from place to place around Shoham with no home of its own. Eventually the municipality offered a temporary space - just 90 square meters, barely large enough for the congregation to gather, and too small for the High Holidays, when the community has to rent another venue entirely. But the offer came with a promise: five years to secure land and build something permanent.

The five years expires next fall. The congregation's goal is to move into its new, permanent synagogue in time for the High Holidays in 2027.

The project will cost $1.6 million. The community has raised twenty percent of that that on its own before they turned to outside sources, which Rabbi Safania-Shwartz notes is virtually unheard of for a Reform community in Israel. She has set herself a rule: she won't break ground until 80% of the funds are secured. That leaves a gap of roughly $300,000 still to close, with construction already behind the original timeline.

"It's very exciting on one hand and very nerve-wracking on the other," she said, "because the clock is ticking, and the land won't be there forever."

A Community Built from Within

What sets Ve'Ahavta apart isn't just the building - it's who built the community. Many progressive Jewish communities in Israel were founded by immigrants who brought Reform tradition with them. Shoham's was founded largely by Israelis with no prior connection to Reform Judaism, secular and traditional families who found something in it that spoke to them, which may explain why the congregation is genuinely embedded in Shoham's civic life rather than tolerated as an outside import.

Rabbi Bennett Miller, Rabbi Emeritus at Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Jersey - who has known Rabbi Sefania-Shwartz since she was a Golden Hanassi Fellow in his congregation years ago -and one of Ve'Ahavta's most ardent American supporters, sees that as central to what makes the project remarkable. "Rinat's congregation is the result of organic growth and reaching out beyond its walls to be inclusive to the larger community."

That community was tested early. When word first got out that the municipality had granted them land, opponents papered the town with pamphlets invoking the language of hatred, comparing the Reform movement to atrocities against Jews.

What followed was telling. Orthodox neighbors - including some who would never set foot in a Reform service - began calling Rabbi Safania-Shwartz directly. "We are not these people," they told her. "We don't know who they are. We're not against you. We won't come to your shul, but we want you to be here." Even Rabbi David Stav, head of the modern Orthodox organization Tzohar, refused to sign the campaign against them.

A Response to October 7th

Since October 7, 2023, the congregation's role in Shoham has deepened. The congregation became a hub for volunteer response - helping evacuated families, cooking meals for soldiers, organizing childcare, and traveling to help farmers keep their fields running while the country was consumed by war. When residents of Kfar Aza, which was devastated by Hamas on October 7, began returning to caravans near their kibbutz, congregation members went to help clean and prepare the spaces.

Rabbi Safania-Shwartz personally took on leadership of the effort to support hostage families, and for months the congregation held a daily half-hour vigil in the center of Shoham calling for the hostages' release. Shoham lost eight soldiers in the war - a heavy toll for a small town- and Ve'Ahavta became the town's de facto center for memorial gatherings and remembrance events, including distributing the red poppy (kalanit) that has become a national symbol of memory in Israel.

None of this was about winning converts to Reform Judaism, she's careful to note. Most of the Orthodox and secular residents who showed up to volunteer will never join the congregation. But the visibility has changed how the town sees them - from a controversial newcomer to an institution Shoham can rely on.

The congregation's community-building extends beyond Shoham's borders, too. Because the town sits close to the mixed Arab-Jewish cities of Ramla and Lod, the congregation runs ongoing joint programming bringing Jewish and Arab families together, work that continued, after a difficult pause, even in the aftermath of October 7th. Young people from the congregation have also traveled to volunteer with the Abayudaya, a Jewish community in Uganda, and continued to volunteer in Israel after the trip.

Why Shoham Could Be "The First Domino"

Rabbi Safania-Shwartz sees her congregation's success as more than a local win. Israel currently has roughly 55 progressive congregations, but very few own their own buildings. Because Shoham sits in the geographic and social center of the country, and because her congregation got its land without a court fight, she believes it could set a precedent other communities can point to in their own campaigns for recognition.

"I want to see it like the first domino that will go down," she said. "After we build, maybe they will give permission to other communities that are fighting to be recognized."

The Road Ahead

Rabbi Safania-Shwartz trained through Hebrew Union College's Israel Rabbinical Program, and she credits the broader progressive Jewish network - Hebrew Union College, IMPJ, and IRAC, along with Ve'Ahvata's sister congregation in Memphis, Temple Israel, and, of course John Golden, the force behind the Golden Hanassi fellows and a big supporter of Ve'Ahvata- with making her congregation's success possible. Rabbi Miller, who has known her for years, points to what makes her effective. "Rinat has a spirit that is infectious and exciting. When you are with her, it's pure joy. She is empowering the people in her community, and I am honored to be any help I can."

For now, the work is unglamorous: closing a funding gap, keeping architectural approvals current, and racing a deadline that has already survived a pandemic and a war. But for this congregation, reaching the finish line would mean something well beyond one building in one town.