Our History

“A community does not rest on the shoulders of one person.” 

In 1996, a group of families came together with a goal of creating Jewish community in Loudoun County. Loudoun Jewish Congregation (LJC) was officially formed in 1997. With a generous donation from Mr. Irwin Uran, LJC was able to create a permanent Jewish home in Loudoun. Groundbreaking began on April 28, 2001. On September 12, 2004 a group of congregants carried the Torahs from Cardinal Park to our new permanent home on Evergreen Mills Road, hung a mezuzah on our front doorpost. In February 2005 a dedication was held and Congregation Sha’are Shalom became Loudoun County’s first congregation with a synagogue. 

We would also like to recognize the donation by Congregation Yad Shalom, a Conservative synagogue formerly located in Centreville, Virginia, for their generous contribution to the building fund to enhance the congregation’s educational offerings and its expanding programs. 

In 2023 CSS recognized our building’s chai anniversary, eighteen years. We celebrated our founding members, many of whom are still members today, the children who have grown through our preschool, the Rosie Uran Jewish Education Center (RUJEC), and the many children who have grown through our religious school and become b’nai mitzvah on our bimah. We look forward to our next eighteen years and beyond.