The Shira Hadasha congregation was founded in 1977, when a young man named Danny Leshem, a resident of Arad, discovered the Masorti synagogue in Ashkelon. Danny immediately recruited a number of friends and established a similar framework in Arad. The synagogue began to hold meetings and prayers in the members’ homes and in the community center and quickly grew.

The name “Shira Hadasha” comes from the Bible, where Shirat Hayam describes the song that Moses and the Children of Israel sang during the Exodus. The name implies that Judaism has aspired in all generations to combine tradition and renewal, similar to the spirit of the community and the Masorti Movement.

The congregation conducts Bar / Bat Mitzvah ceremonies, Shabbos, Chatan and also two weekly Torah portion classes in Hebrew and English, various holiday events and volunteer activities in the city.