Drive down Main Street in the Lakelands neighborhood and you may come across a brick synagogue building shaped like a large house. The community inside largely shares the same sentiment: Shaare Torah is a family.
The Gaithersburg Conservative shul is celebrating 30 years since its humble beginnings with a host of community events throughout the year, all leading up to a gala in January 2027.
The community kicked off its celebratory year in January by installing Rabbi David Helfand as its new rabbi.
“Our 30th anniversary weekend, culminating in my installation as Rabbi, was filled with hope for the future, pride in our past, and a deep sense of presence, excitement, and vision,” Helfand wrote in a statement to Washington Jewish Week.
That weekend featured programming for all ages, including the creation of an Etz Hayim — “Tree of Life” — mural and a teaching from Founding Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, who began at Shaare Torah as a rabbinical student in 1996.
“It was a weekend that was engaging, intentional, and deeply reflective of what makes Shaare Torah so special,” Helfand wrote. “At its core, Shaare Torah is a place where people feel at home; where individuals are known by name, where their stories matter, and where community is built together.”
Following that, Shaare Torah hosted a mini golf tournament, Mitzvah Day and two Passover Seders, with more to come for the major Jewish holidays. Highlights include a back-to-school community barbecue, Sukkot Shabbat dinners and a congregation-wide Shabbaton.
Jeanne Ellinport, a co-chair of Shaare Torah 30, has been an active member of the shul for 28 years. When she and her husband were “synagogue shopping” nearly three decades ago with a 1-year-old in tow, the young family’s first Shaare Torah service took place in a member’s basement.
“What attracted us to the community was, I’m going to use the word ‘heimish,’” Ellinport said, using the Yiddish word for “homelike.” “It’s a very warm, open, friendly, non-pretentious place. [We] always felt welcome.”
Beginning in fall 1995, the community held Shabbat services twice a month, operating under the name Quince Orchard Conservative Congregation. A group of five families officially founded the congregation in February 1996. They and their children decided on the name “Shaare Torah,” meaning “Gates of Torah.”
Two months later, Shaare Torah had grown to 12 member families. The community moved from members’ houses into Jones Lane Elementary School, where they met for the next nine years.
Shaare Torah obtained its first property off of Darnestown Road in 2000 before receiving a property in the Lakelands in 2006.
Ellinport, who quickly joined the board and got involved with the synagogue, sent her three children to the religious school at Shaare Torah, where all three had their b’nai mitzvot.
A longtime member of the “very volunteer-run” shul, Ellinport said she enjoys the community, which is now upwards of 300 members.
“If you don’t know someone, someone usually introduces themselves,” she said. “Anyone that walks in the door that is a new face, a member will go up and say hello.”
Ellinport described Shaare Torah as a “Conservative community for all.”
Matt Oziel, Shaare Torah’s executive director, added that the shul makes Jewish life approachable: “We have cultivated a community where people genuinely want to be, and where they are encouraged to bring their skills, passions and experiences to create meaningful moments for our community.”
“Most people, when I mention we’re celebrating our 30th, are like, ‘Wow, that’s really young for a synagogue,’” Ellinport said. “But on the other hand, I’m very proud. I’m proud of what we’ve done. I’m proud of how we’ve grown. I’m proud of the things we’ve had to go through.”
Almost any small synagogue struggled during the 2008 recession and later, the pandemic. Shaare Torah has had more than its fair share of ups and downs.
“We had our longstanding [founding] rabbi who was with us for 20-plus years leave, and so for the last five years, we’ve had a couple of rabbi transitions,” Ellinport said of Blumenthal’s 2019 departure.
After that, an interim rabbi resigned at the start of the COVID pandemic, citing health concerns. The congregation found temporary leadership in a retired rabbi who is also a member.
In July 2021, Shaare Torah brought on a husband-and-wife rabbinic duo to fill the role for three years. Rabbi Scott Hoffman served as the interim rabbi from 2024 to 2025, until the hiring of Helfand, who currently serves as the sole rabbi.
“The synagogue has never faltered,” Ellinport said, referring to the five-year transitory phase. “The members have rallied around and you wouldn’t know it if you walked in the door.”
While many of the Shaare Torah 30 events celebrate the past three decades and where the shul stands now, the series is also a glance to the future, according to Ellinport, Helfand and Oziel.
“I feel honored to be part of this community as we look toward the next 30 years and begin writing the next chapter of our shared future,” Helfand said.
