Samantha Noland strives to bring people together and bridge gaps through film, civic education, Shabbat dinners and Jewish community organizing.
The longtime Silver Spring resident is a Shabbat Clusters coordinator with the Edlavitch DCJCC and an independent Jewish event organizer in her Kemp Mill neighborhood.
Noland recently started working as a program instructor at Close Up Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to help students engage in productive civil discourse in Washington, D.C.
“I really care about people having a civic dialogue and engaging with each other,” Noland said.
She’s held communication and development internships with Jewish Democratic Council of America and the American Jewish Committee while attending Cornell University.
Noland was born in Philadelphia and then moved to Kemp Mill at the age of 4 or 5. Though she lives in a predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, Noland and her family don’t consider themselves “fully Orthodox.” She grew up living a few minutes away from her grandfather, who has roots in Kemp Mill dating back to the 1960s.
Noland attended Rockville’s Hebrew Day Institute and spent summers at Camp Gan Israel and Camp Ahava in Silver Spring. “I was pretty much fluent in Hebrew, or mostly fluent, by the time I was in fifth grade,” she said.
She began middle school at Holton-Arms School in Bethesda. Noland initially attended Har Tzeon-Agudath Achim, a Conservative synagogue in Wheaton, and she currently belongs to Chabad of Silver Spring: “We love the Chabad, and we love the rabbi [and] rebbetzin.”
Chabad of Silver Spring serves as a venue for some of Noland’s community events: Menorah Mingle over Chanukah and Jewish Singles Mingle for Valentine’s Day.
“And then, throughout the High Holidays, I had little hangouts and smaller events at my house, at my sukkah,” Noland said, adding that she aims to create a local “young professionals scene.” “I’m just trying to consistently have things.”
Noland’s WhatsApp group, “Young Folks of Kemp Mill,” has amassed 75 members.
A few weeks before publication, Noland partnered with local researcher Channah Cohen, who conducted a study with the Orthodox Union about the “shidduch crisis” — traditional Jewish matchmaking — for an informative event with about 20 attendees.
“They’re not huge events like the ones that happen in downtown D.C., … but these are smaller, mid-size,” Noland said. “I think they’re really nice spaces for people to get to know each other and to mix and meet new people. If some dating relationships come out of it, that’s great, but if not, it’s also just for friendship and connection, and fostering a sense of community in the Maryland suburbs.”
Noland noted the Kemp Mill Orthodox community’s tight-knit nature and proximity to kosher establishments and synagogues. “It’s a great community to live in for people who are younger and religious, but they just don’t all know each other,” she said.
She hopes her Jewish communal events can help bridge gaps.
“Part of the call to action that I’ve been saying to my friends and neighbors is all Jewish people of all kinds — and all people, really — should be able to be friends, mingle, connect, and that’s something I’m really passionate about,” Noland said. “I think sometimes in the Orthodox world, you just stick with Orthodox people, and in the secular world, you’re just with secular people, … and in the non-Jewish world, you may not have any people who get any of that.”
Noland added that this desire to bridge these gaps also manifests in her independent filmmaking, “like let’s not judge people by the surface; let’s accept all types of people.”
She holds a master’s in film and media arts from American University. One of her short films, “People-Pleaser,” follows a girl who comes out to her family as bisexual during Shabbat dinner.
“I thought the Shabbat dinner was a perfect example of a time where the family and friends and loved ones are all together and a perfect setting to highlight Jewish tradition in contrast with some tensions that arise,” she added.
Shabbat dinners are a fixture in Noland’s life — she has hosted monthly Friday evening meals since 2022. Right after finishing her undergraduate degree, Noland joined EDCJCC’s Shabbat Clusters to connect with fellow young Jewish professionals.
“I feel like it’s a huge part of my community,” she said. “I’ve met some of my best friends in Shabbat Clusters, … and I do family Shabbat dinners when I’m not doing Clusters.”
Noland and her friend have jointly coordinated a few seasons of Shabbat Clusters. The group has grown to 25 attendees, with about 20 regulars.
“A lot of new people have joined, but there’s a core group that has been going together now for years,” Noland said. “I just feel very close to a lot of people, … and just [appreciate] the fact that it’s built this continuity of a core group [that’s] also very welcoming to new people. It’s a very unique blend of new and old.”
She spoke to the importance of having regular gatherings, especially as someone who moved back home post-college to find that many of her friends had moved away.
“In a city that I think can feel transient, like D.C., it’s a really nice anchoring point,” Noland said.
She hopes to expand her community organizing.
“[My] goal would be to continue to build this Jewish community work, … maybe even create a Shabbaton of sorts,” Noland said.
