Congregation Har Shalom, now nearly 1,100 families strong, was founded in 1964 as the Seven Locks Jewish Community of Potomac, MD. The few dozen founding families first met in members’ homes and school auditoriums. They used a portable ark and a borrowed Torah, while planning a vibrant egalitarian Jewish life in this growing suburb.
In 1965, the membership voted decisively to affiliate with the United Synagogue of America (now the United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism).
Milestones and “firsts” quickly followed. We received our first Torah in August 1966 — a restored Torah from Trehitsch-Trebic, a Czech village destroyed by the Nazis.
In 1967, we welcomed our first spiritual leader, Rabbi Morris Gordon, who served as part-time rabbi and advisor for four years.
In 1968, we celebrated with Andrea Lavendar, our first Bat Mitzvah, and Steven Jay Chansky, our first Bar Mitzvah.
In 1970, we voted to adopt the name Congregation Har Shalom, and in 1971 we dedicated our first permanent home, containing a multifunction sanctuary/social hall and school building.
Later in 1971, we welcomed our first full-time rabbi, Rabbi Martin Levin, who was succeeded by Rabbi Leonard Cahan in 1974.
Our membership and our needs continued to grow. We added a larger social hall and kitchen in 1981 and expanded the school building in 1987. In 1999, we grabbed the chance to acquire 5+ acres of land from the firehouse next door, to give us room to grow.
Rabbi Cahan retired in 2001, after 27 years of service to the Congregation. Rabbi H. David Rose joined us that year as Senior Rabbi, just in time for the groundbreaking for our beautiful new sanctuary, to be completed in 2002.
Rabbi Risa Weinstein, a recent graduate of the Zeigler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism, joined the Har Shalom family in 2007 as our Assistant Rabbi.
