Kehilat Shalom in Gaithersburg is a synagogue that’s benefited greatly from the work of dedicated members and volunteers over the past several decades — from 22 years of passionate and acclaimed cantorial work to a member securing necessary security upgrades.
The synagogue has been enhanced through the work done by its cantor, Hazzan Kimberly Komrad, and a devoted volunteer, Robert Goldberg, who have contributed to their respective areas of music and security.
Komrad, an Owings Mills resident, has taken the time to travel down and daven at Kehliat Shalom’s services, a connection that stretches back to her being discovered singing at a Baltimore-area synagogue by a former Kehilat Shalom president. She started with a part-time role.
In the more than two decades since that interaction, Komrad has worked alongside the rabbis and provided an added degree of spirituality to the services that is cherished by
community members.
“We have a small congregation, and we’re just so lucky to have someone who comes to us on a part-time basis. When she’s there, it just lifts up the room. We have a beautiful sanctuary and just the acoustics with her voice in there, it’s just so lovely,” said Charlotte Strauss, the sisterhood president at Kehilat Shalom. “And beyond that, she has so much charm. She comes around the room to talk to everybody after services, and it’s just so amazing. She just adds so much flavor to the melodies and everything else.”
The synagogue celebrated Komrad’s 21-year anniversary in 2023, recognizing her dedication with a Shabbat luncheon after services, Multiple people spoke about the impactful relationships they had with her.
“Both rabbis spoke, and it was deeply touching, about their experience working with me, along with various congregants. They made me a beautiful memory book that people wrote things in and poems were written. It was just lovely and very meaningful. I do feel very valued there,” Komrad said.
Komrad said that there are few Conservative synagogues today that still have a desire for traditional hazzanout. She feels the appreciation the synagogue has for the traditional style she loves.
“I feel that it is my mission, essentially, to preserve the traditional music of our synagogues from way back and being accepted in the Conservative movement as a woman to be able to be a hazzan is a tremendous gift and opportunity,” Komrad said.
She hopes to continue working with her traditional musical style and maintain that connection to the community she’s grown to love so much — and it’s something the community has a mutual feeling about.
The synagogue also has been involved in improving its security without burdening the congregants with fees.
Goldberg has been the main man behind the process, a volunteer placed in charge of acquiring security funding by the synagogue’s board.
Goldberg accomplished that by partnering with the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, which established a security division in the spring and has helped synagogues write grant applications and make needed security improvements for free.
“You can get grants from FEMA, through Montgomery County and from the state of Maryland. Funds can be used for all kinds of security-related concerns. It can be used for equipment, it can be used for security guards, it can be used for [these things as] long as it is security-related,” Goldberg said.
Goldberg stressed the importance of having a plan and procedures in place to ensure that the security improvements work. He added that you can never be 100% safe, so it serves people well to be prepared.
Goldberg said that his involvement with the synagogue security work began in 2016. Gradually adding upgrades has made people feel safer. He added that doing this work is one way he contributes to the synagogue community.
“It’s a contribution to the synagogue and the community, too. People give money or they give services or something [else]. And this is the way that organizations survive, particularly charitable organizations,” Goldberg said.