World Religions in Greater Boston: Home

Mayyim Hayyim's mission is to reclaim and reinvent one of Judaism's most ancient rituals--immersion in the mikveh--for contemporary spiritual use; to teach about this resource to all who are interested; and to make the mikveh a sacred space that is open and accessible to all Jews and those who are becoming Jews.

An award-winning community-based program, Ma'ayan provides women in the Greater Boston area with a setting for intensive text study. Ma'ayan fosters spiritual and intellectual growth through serious and respectful engagement with the texts of Jewish tradition.

Keshet's mission is to ensure that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Jews are fully welcomed and included in all parts of the Jewish community. In the Greater Boston area, Keshet offers social and cultural events for GLBT Jews ranging from Jewish text study to an annual GLBT Jewish speed-dating gala, Keshet Quick Dates. Nationally, Keshet offers support, training, and resources to create a Jewish community that welcomes and affirms GLBT Jews.

We believe the ideals of Judaism—justice, kindness, and compassion—mean we must reach beyond ourselves to help others in need, safeguard human rights and protect personal freedoms. Our services and programs help us to try and achieve these goals, to teach them to our children, and to share ideas, concerns, sorrows and joys with other members of the Kerem Shalom community.

JCRC promotes a society that reflects the best of American and Jewish values—in Greater Boston, Israel and around the world—by convening and mobilizing the Jewish community. Through advocacy, organizing, service and partnerships, JCRC pursues social justice, ensures a vibrant Jewish community, and builds a network of support for Israel.

Founded in 1968, Havurat Shalom is an egalitarian Jewish community in Somerville, Massachusetts where women and men come to pray and learn; explore, celebrate and grapple with Jewish tradition; work for social justice; and discuss a variety of Jewish concerns.

Harvard Hillel is the catalyst for Jewish life, community and personal exploration at this great university. Our pressing challenge is centered on students' active and self-conscious choice to be Jewish, to explore the relevance of Jewish tradition to their own lives, to be become active participants in a vital and dynamic culture, and to contribute with force and vision both to the Jewish community and the world at large. Inherent in this challenge is the opportunity for Hillel to contribute to a renaissance of Jewish life in America and beyond. Harvard Hillel considers every Jewish student as an actor in and author of the on-going story of the Jewish people from ancient days until the present. Our mission, therefore, is to provide every Jewish Harvard student—without regard to ideological commitment or background—appropriate grounding for making meaningful Jewish choices in a complex and changing world. We are guided in this endeavor by four tenets: The Centrality of Education Choosing to be Jewish depends on Jewish education that challenges the mind and speaks to the heart. At Harvard Hillel, Jewish education takes place in different contexts and is woven into a variety of activities. In each context it strive to be substantive, passionate, engaging, and joyful; Pluralism Harvard Hillel believes that continuity and creativity in Jewish life develop from interaction among diverse Jews, their traditions and beliefs. Pluralism at Harvard Hillel means respecting the spiritual dignity and lifestyle of every Jew; providing support for the expression of distinctive versions of Judaism each in its own terms; and fostering friendship between different kinds of Jews; The Development of Leaders Harvard Hillel will equip young people to pursue social justice, to respond to the needs of others, to exert a constructive influence on their communities, and to serve as effective leaders. Our approach to leadership education integrates the vital contents of Jewish tradition, the existential and developmental concerns of young people, and practical issues of leadership; Dialogue with Israel Harvard Hillel will foster dialogue with Israel to define the Jewish future. Together Israel and the Diaspora write the Jewish story of the next century. Who are we? How do we interpret our history? What is our future? In Cambridge as well as in Jerusalem, dialogue between tradition and modernity, the secular and the religious, stimulates, challenges, and enriches the search for self-understanding and collective identity. Harvard Hillel enables and encourages all students to be actively engaged in this dialogue.

With the vision to open the door of Judaism to all Jewish students and faculty on the Harvard campus, we have established The Chabad House, a place where Jews of all backgrounds and degrees of observance can enjoy exploring their Jewish heritage in a warm, welcoming and non-judgmental environment. With both an active student organization and Jewish chaplain status, Chabad is committed to try and reach every Jew.

Congregation Eitz Chayim (Tree of Life), in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a non-denominational Jewish synagogue and children's Hebrew and religious school. Our warm and welcoming atmosphere appeals to an eclectic blend of individuals and families from conservative, reform, and reconstructionist backgrounds in the greater Boston area -- including Boston, Brookline, Newton, Belmont, Arlington, Somerville, and Watertown

Throughout our history, we have found strength and inspiration in our tradition of compassion and justice. We have worked together to care for people in need, to preserve Jewish learning and to enrich Jewish culture worldwide. We have come together in every generation, in every circumstance to care for others, to give our children an education steeped in Torah, to rescue Jews around the world, to bring dignity and opportunities where none existed before.

The mission of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute is to develop fresh ways of thinking about Jews and gender worldwide by producing and promoting scholarly research and artistic projects. Among our primary goals is to advance the fields of Women’s/Gender Studies and Judaic Studies by introducing both to each other, while supporting the work of individual scholars in these areas. In doing so, we broaden contemporary understandings of Jewish women’s lives, history, roles and experiences.

The Chabad House is a home for Jews of all denominations to learn, thrive, and most importantly, to connect. The goal is to guide our students toward a deep connection to one another and to Judaism. At the Chabad House, we do not shy away from the tough questions. Rather, we encourage our students to challenge ideas, understanding that it is through the tough questions that we truly learn. We are dedicated to teaching our students and to learning from them. We believe in addressing all topics with a combination of sensitivity and honesty.

The Workmens Circle / Arbeter Ring fosters Jewish identity and participation in Jewish life through Jewish, especially Yiddish, culture and education, friendship, and the pursuit of social and economic justice.

Hillel, Boston University’s center for Jewish life, is the largest, most exciting, and most versatile organization on campus due to its integral connections to student social, cultural, educational, political, and religious life. Throughout the academic year there are hundreds of programs that are run in the Florence & Chafetz Hillel House and throughout campus. In addition, there are numerous satellite groups that focus on specific interests of students.

The Wyner Center of the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) at Hebrew College in Newton, MA functions as the New England regional headquarters of AJHS, the nation's oldest historical organization. The Society facility at Hebrew College serves as the archival repository for the documentary record of Jewish life in the greater Boston area, and the home of the reference library of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston.

Safeguard the welfare and security of Jews in the United States, in Israel, and throughout the world. Strengthen the basic principles of pluralism around the world as the best defense against anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry. Enhance the quality of American Jewish life by helping to ensure Jewish continuity and deepen ties between American and Israeli Jews.

Congregation Am Tikva - People of Hope - has been serving The Greater Boston community since 1976, creating an open and welcoming environment where gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Jews and their friends, of all ages and degrees of religious observation can meet to explore their common heritage and enjoy the company of fellow Jews!

The Young Israel is a vibrant shul with a warm, friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Our ideology is inclusiveness. On any given day in the shul, you can see many men, women and children, from a wide variety of backgrounds, with a broad array of religious styles and approaches, all unified by a commitment to authentic Torah life and spirit. Young Israel exemplifies the ideals of Modern Orthodoxy; serious Torah study and practice, with an embrace of diversity; and a participatory openness to the best of contemporary culture and community.