Shira Hadasha is a religious community, established in Jerusalem in 2002. We strive for meaningful and uplifting prayer, and, as part of that, partnership between of men and women in the leading the service. We seek to create an uplifting and spiritual experience of prayer, which nourishes our religious lives as individuals and as a community. This we seek to achieve in part through the singing of the Tefila resonancing the tune of the heart. The singing of the individual added to the singing of the other is not only an aesthetic experience. It is a spiritual uplifting experience, which brings us together and unites us.
Along with prayer, we aim to engage Torah learning, spiritual life and supportive, flourishing community life. The sincere desire to partnership in worshiping God and in religious activity, led the members of the community to ask for possible ways to integrate women into the public space of the synagogue and community life. Our customs were designed in light of two fundamental principles: loyalty to halachic sources and halakhic discourse, and attempt to exhaust the halakhic possibilities for the participation of women in the public religious sphere. This is done, gradually, and with attention and sensitivity to the existing tradition.