Chicago Sinai Congregation is a

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

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 15 West Delaware Place, in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, in the United States. Founded in 1861, the current synagogue building was designed by

Dirk Lohan Dirk Lohan (born 1938, Rathenow, Germany) is a US architect and principal partner at Lohan Architecture. His own works include McDonald's former Corporate Headquarters campus in Oak Brook, the John G. Shedd Oceanarium and the Soldier Field sta ...

and completed in 1996, inclusive of stained-glass windows by British artist

Brian Clarke Sir Brian Clarke (born 2 July 1953) is a British Painting, painter, architectural artist, designer and Printmaking, printmaker, known for his large-scale stained glass and mosaic projects, symbolist paintings, set designs, and collaborations w ...

History

Founded in 1861, Chicago Sinai Congregation was the first Reform congregation to be established in Chicago. During the nineteenth century, the congregation helped pioneer and promote the controversial ritual reform of the Sunday Sabbath (substituting Saturday for Sunday) for Jewish communities in America. In the late nineteenth century, the congregation became the site of speculation concerning the possibility of a woman rabbi in the United States. In 1897, Hannah G. Solomon of Chicago was touted in the press as America's first woman rabbi following her preaching at the congregation. Solomon later reported that the invitation to speak was offered by Rabbi Emil Hirsch and that Hirsch's practice to allow Jewish women to speak from the pulpit was later adopted by other congregations.

Rabbis

The early rabbis to have served in the congregation include

Bernhard Felsenthal Bernhard Felsenthal (January 2, 1822 – January 12, 1908) was a German-born American rabbi. Life Felsenthal was born on January 2, 1822, in Münchweiler, near Kaiserslautern, the Circle of the Rhine, Rhenish Palatinate, Kingdom of Bavaria, Ba ...

(served from inception in 1861-1864), Isaac Leow Chronik (served from 1866-1871),

Kaufmann Kohler Kaufmann Kohler (May 10, 1843 – January 28, 1926) was a German-born Jewish-American biblical scholar and critic, theologian, Reform rabbi, and contributing editor to numerous articles in '' The Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906). Life and work Ka ...

(served from 1871 to 1880),

Emil G. Hirsch Emil Gustav Hirsch (May 22, 1851 – January 7, 1923) was a Luxembourgish-born Jewish American biblical scholar, Reform rabbi, contributing editor to numerous articles of ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906), anfounding member of the NAACP Biog ...

(served from 1880-1923). Rabbis in the twentieth century include Richard C. Hertz (served from 1947-1953), and Philip N. Kranz (served from 1971-1980).

Gallery

Notes

References

External links