WINDY CITY MEDIA
Congregation Or Chadash to merge with Temple Sholom
by Matt Simonette
June 1, 2016

Congregation Or Chadash, which has primarily served Chicago’s LGBT Jewish community, will hold its final Shabbat service as an independent synagogue Friday, June 24. The synagogue, which opened in 1975, will merge with Temple Sholom, 3480 N. Lake Shore Dr., in July. Sholom officials hope the merger will invigorate its LGBT group, Am Keshet, which has primarily focused on social-action projects and would like to expand its programming. Sholom serves about about 1,000 families. Or Chadash has about 60 members. Its Torah scrolls will be transferred to Sholom and its remaining assets will be used for LGBT-related programming there. “We knew that this moment was going to come,” said Or Chadash Co-President Lilli Kornblum. “If not now, it was going to happen within the next three to five years.” READ MORE