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Anshei Sfard is an
Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
congregation and
synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
located at 2904 Bardstown Road, in
Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...
,
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
, in the United States. Affiliated with the
Orthodox Union The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs f ...
, the synagogue offers
Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...
and
Yom Tov Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. ...
services. Prayer services are conducted in Nusach Ashkenaz.


History

The congregation was founded by a group of History of the Jews in Russia, Russian Jewish immigrants in June 1893. In 1897 and 1898 it occupied a private home owned by Jacob Brownstein on Eighth Street, and for the next few years met in a three-story building at 716 W. Walnut Street (now called Muhammad Ali Boulevard). In 1903 it purchased the former B'rith Sholom synagogue at 511 South First Street. This building no longer exists, but it was located at a spot that would be across First Street from what is today
The Brown School The J. Graham Brown School, usually called The Brown School, is a small magnet school located in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It has approximately 750 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and attracts students from ...
. The synagogue was forced to move due to the construction of the
I-65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south interstate highway in the central United States. As with most primary interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the Great Lakes and the Gulf ...
interstate highway. The synagogue purchased a lot adjacent to the Jewish Community Center and held its groundbreaking ceremony in April 1957. In 1971 Anshei Sfard absorbed another Orthodox congregation, Agudath Achim, bringing its membership up to 300 families. When another Orthodox congregation,
Keneseth Israel Keneseth Israel is a Conservative Judaism, Conservative synagogue located at 2531 Taylorsville Road, Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. The congregation's original synagogue building was constructed in Louisville i ...
, became
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
in 1994, Anshei Sfard remained as the only Orthodox congregation in Louisville. Beginning in May 2019, the synagogue rented space from Shalom Towers, situated behind the synagogue's previous location which was sold to the Jewish Community of Louisville. Congregation Anshei Sfard continues to have daily services in its new location under the leadership of Rabbi Simcha Snaid. In 2022, the synagogue announced that it was moving to a new leased location at 2904 Bardstown Road.


Rabbinic leadership

In 1903 the Orthodox synagogues in Louisville, under the umbrella of a Vaad HaEr (community council), hired a chief rabbi to act as spiritual leader for all of the city's synagogues, in addition to supervising
kashrut (also or , ) is a set of Food and drink prohibitions, dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to halakha, Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed ko ...
, a
mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (,  ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...
, and a
Talmud Torah Talmud Torah (, lit. 'Study of the Torah') schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of religious school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary education in Hebrew language, H ...
. In the 1910s Anshei Sfard hired its own rabbi, Rabbi Z. Klavansky. From 1930 to 1945 the congregation was led by Rabbi Charles Chavel, who went on to produce acclaimed critical editions of classical Jewish commentators on the Bible and Talmud. He was succeeded by Rabbi Solomon Roodman, who served from 1946 to 1989. Rabbi Avrohom Litvin took the helm in 1989. Rabbi Litvin resigned in 2013. The next designated spiritual leader, was Rabbi Dr. Joshua Golding, a professor of philosophy at
Bellarmine University Bellarmine University ( ; BU) is a private university, private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky, UNited States. It opened on October 3, 1950, as Bellarmine College, established by Archbishop John A. Floersh of the Archdiocese of Louis ...
, specializing in philosophy of religion and Jewish philosophy. Rabbi Simcha Snaid has served as the senior rabbi since 2016.


See also

*
Religion in Louisville, Kentucky Religion in Louisville, Kentucky includes religious institutions of various faiths including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. Christianity Roman Catholic Church There are 135,421 Roman Catholic Louisvillians who ar ...


References


External links

* {{Synagogues in the United States 1893 establishments in Kentucky 21st-century synagogues in the United States Ashkenazi synagogues in the United States Jewish organizations established in 1893 Orthodox synagogues in the United States Russian-Jewish culture in the United States Synagogues completed in 1903 Synagogues completed in the 1950s Synagogues completed in 2019 Synagogues completed in 2022 Synagogues in Louisville, Kentucky