Sim Shalom   

Progressive Jewish Congregation - Budapest, Hungary

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Our New Synagogue

Welcome to the Website of Sim Shalom Congregation,  the first and only Progressive/Reform Jewish congregation in Hungary.  We trace our history back to the late 1980s when a group of young Jewish professionals and intellectuals decided to start exploring their Jewish roots.  As one of the consequences of the Holocaust, followed by 40 years of Communist rule, they had almost all been raised as assimilated Jews, often not knowing of their Jewish ancestors.

In twenty years that tentative community has grown into an active congregation.  Its  members and supporters number 200-300.  It has a full-time Rabbi, founding member Katalin Kelemen.  It has a historic Torah scroll and a beautiful Torah Ark, designed and decorated by artists in the congregation. 
But it has no home to call it's own!!

Images: Floorplan layout schematics   Current-exterior   Current-interior
Printable PDF brochures: US/letter   UK/A4

For twenty years Sim Shalom has truly been a group of Wandering Jews, wandering in the Budapest wilderness of free and rented meeting rooms and apartments.  The congregation has occupied four different premises in the last ten years, each time outgrowing the space, or leaving because of other great inconvenience, so that we've had to move on.

At last we have a chance to have a real synagogue as our permanent home.  We've signed a contract for the indefinite use of the beautiful, architecturally significant building shown above which is owned by the Hungarian Government.  All we have to do is find the money to repair and renovate it into a proper synagogue.  Sim Shalom will be the first congregation to build a new synagogue in Hungary since World War II. 
Will you join us in this enterprise to bring Judaism alive again in Hungary?

For more details, click here.

To donate, please see our contact/donate page.