Our Shul and our Members

Congregation Rodfei Zedek is an egalitarian conservative synagogue offering a timeless yet contemporary approach to Jewish worship, study and living, and unlimited opportunity for personal growth.

Founded by shopkeepers in 1874, in a Canaryville storefront, Congregation Rodfei Zedek today is located in a unique synagogue-community center complex that fronts on Lake Shore Drive and teems with activity.  From daily prayer services to holiday observances throughout the year, from Jazzercise classes to classes in Jewish thought, from film festivals to concerts, from morning until night.

Our congregational family includes a diverse urban mix of singles, couples, families, and older adults from downtown, South Loop, Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, and the suburbs in addition to Hyde Park and the University of Chicago.

An egalitarian congregation, we welcome both men and women to participate equally in religious ritual by being counted in the minyan, an assembly of ten or more adults who convene for prayer, and by reading from the Torah.

Thanks to an inspired partnership with the Hyde Park JCC, a campus shared with Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School, and collaborative activities with civic and ecumenical groups, Congregation Rodfei Zedek offers to the community a wellspring of religious, educational, and cultural opportunities to satisfy the questing Jewish soul and spirit.

Our Family Institute for Jewish Living and Learning at Congregation Rodfei Zedek and Moadon Kol Chadash, in Lincoln Park teach boys and girls to value their Jewish identity as they prepare to become b'nai mitzvah and fully participating members of the Jewish People.

Activities for children and families feature monthly Shabbat dinners, Minyan Katan (Tot Shabbats), Family Minyan, holiday events and special programs.

Activities geared to adults, spanning Jewish and secular interests, include fiction and non-fiction book groups, scholarly lectures, cultural programs, volunteer opportunities, Sisterhood and Men's Club projects, and much more.  We invite you to visit us at our home, which is closer to your home than you think.