Temple Beth Shalom

About

Temple Beth Shalom is a welcoming handicap-accessible congregation in the Union for Reform Judaism Community.

Story

There has been an organized Ashkenazi Jewish community in Santa Fe since the mid-1800s. In the late 1940s eighteen families purchased the property on Barcelona Road where TBS is still located. John Gaw Meem, the late noted architect, designed a building to accommodate the 40-family congregation. The building was dedicated in the spring of 1953 and is still in use. The synagogue's original name was the Santa Fe Jewish Temple.

In 1970 the name was changed to Temple Beth Shalom. The new sanctuary and social hall, designed by renowned solar architect Ed Mazria, was completed and dedicated in September 1986. The classroom and office wing was completed in May 1987.

TBS now has more than 300 families. The total population of "greater" Santa Fe is around seventy-five thousand, of which three to four thousand are estimated to be Jewish. Our religious school serves 85 students from kindergarten age through High School. Our fully accredited Preschool serves children 2 to 6 years of age. Our beautiful "campus" includes an exquisite meditation garden, two libraries, and ample rental space, and we are, therefore, able to be a resource for the entire community. We are the proud owners of a number of Torah scrolls, including the oldest one in New Mexico, the "Las Vegas" Torah, which came to the New Mexico territory by wagon train, and we also house a Czechoslovakian Holocaust Scroll.

Mission

Congregation Temple Beth Shalom commits to nurture and celebrate our connection with God, to cultivate a love and understanding of the Jewish heritage, and to strengthen community through the wholehearted practice of Tikkun Olam, the repair, healing and transformation of the world.