About Us

Our History:

Kol Shira is a partnership minyan in Sharon, Massachusetts formed in 2015. We started by davening together on Shabbat mornings, approximately monthly, in different members' homes. We have been renting space for our davening at Kol Tikvah since September, 2016. Recently we have both initiated and connected with several community-based projects focused on social and economic justice within and beyond Sharon.

What is a Partnership Minyan?

"A partnership minyan is a prayer group that is both committed to maintaining halakhic standards and practices and also committed to including women in ritual leadership roles to the fullest extent possible within the boundaries of Jewish Law. This means that the minyan must include at least 10 men, men and women are separated by a mechitzah, and the traditional liturgy is used. However, women may participate fully in kriyat ha'Torah, including leyning and receiving aliyot, and may lead parts of the prayer service such as psukei d'zimrah and kabbalat Shabbat." https://jofa.org/Resources/ritual/synagogue/partnershipm

Our Mission:

We meet monthly for spirited Shabbat davening, singing and Torah learning, within a context of halachically-informed inclusion of women in ritual leadership roles. In building our community we foster the meaningful inclusion of children through their participation in parts of davening, and further support our families through thoughtfully planned teen-led children’s groups during Shabbat morning davening. We celebrate life cycle events such as baby naming and bris, bar and bat mitzvah and aufruf. We participate in community-based projects focused on social and economic justice.

Who are we?

We are a lay-led minyan, with members who are also active in several different synagogues in the Sharon, MA area. Rabbi David Jaffe serves as our Halachic advisor. Rabbi Jaffe received his ordination from Rabbi Natan Greenberg of Yeshivat Bat Ayin and Rabbi Zalman Nechemia Goldberg in Jerusalem. He is a charter member of the International Rabbinic Fellowship and serves on the board of advisors for Torat Chayyim, an association of progressive Orthodox rabbis.