FEEL FREE TO SHARE YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES AT SHIR HADASH IN THE COMMENT SECTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE.
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I stayed at your house one Shabbat when I participated in a youth trip. It meant so much to me. Although my entire experience in Israel was absolutely amazing, when anyone asks I always say that weekend with you guys one of my greatest experiences, and probably the most important reason why I decided to become more traditional.
Sura Cartstein
Teen Tour Participant
I can’t adequately express what a privilege it was for a visitor to Israel to attend Shabbat Services at Shir Hadash. Everyone was so welcoming and generous. When I tell folks in Arizona about this trip, the evening of Shabbat services and dinner with your family are at the top of the list. It goes far to erase preconceptions of Israel as a nation under siege to tell of your three beautiful daughters sleeping on the floor while we attorneys general talked and talked. We learned more about each other that evening than on any previous National Association of Attorneys General trip I attended. As a result, our time in Israel started off on a much warmer and more personal level.
Terry Goddard,
Arizona Attorney General
Thanks for your warm hospitality last Shabbat. Our family had a great time being with you for Friday night. You are doing something special and important at Shir Hadash. Services were a spiritual joy.
Joseph Lieberman,
U.S. Senator from Connecticut
Shir Hadash provided me with a vision of what an ideal Jewish community should be.
Michael Novakoff
Then Visiting College Student, Now New York Rabbinical Student
Ian Pear is one of the most talented young rabbis in the world today. He is magnificently blessed with the ability to combine Jewish wisdom with a caring heart and leadership that is beyond description. He brings to Israel exactly what it needs.
Rabbi Avi Weiss
Rabbi Hebrew Institute of Riverdale
When I made aliya four years ago, I was full of dreams and expectations, but the reality of being so far from my family and culture made me feel lonely and out of place, and consider possibly leaving. Then I found Shir Hadash, which immediately made me feel part of a community. This was essential for my aliya to be successful.”
Anna Paula Ackerman
Olah from Brazil
Shir Hadash’s fellowship program developed my character, provided an exemplary model of leadership and inspired me to want to emulate greatness.
Ira Dounn
Then Participant in Fellowship Program
Now New York Rabbinical Student
I have visited Israel several times, but few if any experiences have moved me so much as having attended the Shabbat services at Shir Hadash. It is truly hard to describe the sense of community and of family that pervaded the service. To be welcomed into a synagogue really set the table for our visit to Israel. The message that evening, the good food and good company, the good conversation framed by the Shabbat prayers and the joy of wonderful children – It couldn’t have been better!
All throughout our week’s visit to Israel I heard comments and references back to that wonderful evening when we all got to know each other on a whole different level. It wouldn’t have happened without our evening with Rabbi Pear and the members of Shir Hadash. Thank you for giving meaning to our visit to Israel.
Skip (Hubert H.) Humphrey III
Former Attorney General of Minnesota
The shul has become our home, and the center of our communal lives – and a big reason why we stay in Jerusalem.”
Natalie and Trevor Solomons
Olim from South Africa
I really wanted to thank Shir Hadash for the kind hospitality showed us while in Jerusalem. The energy and enthusiasm of the Shabbat service were inspirational. Shir Hadash has an amazing vision for Israel and I am sincerely grateful to have had the opportunity to share in that vision with you. I have been telling people here in Arkansas about our trip and the people we met. I have truly been blessed and enriched by the experience.
Dustin McDaniel
Arkansas Attorney General
I have learned so much from you, and not just knowledge but how to be a better human being. You have elevated me to profound heights. Thank you for opening doors I never even knew existed.
Leeat Granek,
Then College Student, Now Professor at York University
I was seated in the front of the synagogue and was overwhelmed by the beauty, power and palpable joy. I consider myself a spiritual person, but I have never felt such spirit as I did in Shir Hadash. I wept. The sermon was moving. That service seared the entire Jewish experience into my soul.
Mark Shurtleff,
Utah Attorney General
I love to come to services at Shir Hadash; it is warm, welcoming and intellectually alive.
Rabbi Haskell Lookstein
It was life changing. What energy! I’ve never seen anything like it before, and never had such a good feeling during worship. It was great.
John Bruning
Nebraska Attorney General & U.S. Senate Candidate
Shir Hadash is a home away from home for us and our children.
Jonathan and Semadar Goldstein
Olim from London and Los Angeles (Respectively)
