Congregation Shearith Israel (;

nicknamed A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

''The Glen Avenue Shul'') is a historic

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 ...

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 5835 Park Heights Avenue, in Park Heights, northwest

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, in the United States. Shearith Israel is the oldest Baltimore congregation to remain Orthodox throughout its history.

History

Shearith Israel was the second congregation served by

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

Abraham Joseph Rice in Baltimore who opened Shearith Israel following his departure from Nidchei Yisrael (known today as The

Baltimore Hebrew Congregation The Baltimore Hebrew Congregation is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 7401 Park Heights Avenue, in Pikesville, on the border of Baltimore City and Baltimore County, Maryland, in the United States. History Originally na ...

). Rice resigned his post in 1849 following the board's decision to reconstitute and adapt certain reforms and their subsequent appointment of Henry Hochheimer. Rice founded the first synagogue in 1851 on Howard Street in a rented home; it is unclear whether they had a

Minyan In Judaism, a ''minyan'' ( ''mīnyān'' , Literal translation, lit. (noun) ''count, number''; pl. ''mīnyānīm'' ) is the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain Mitzvah, religious obligations. In more traditional streams of Judaism ...

during the early years. The congregation was to later move to Greene and Redwood Streets (called German Street then, changed during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

) after it merged with Congregation Shevet Achim of

Eutaw Street Eutaw Street is a major street in Baltimore, Maryland, mostly within the downtown area. Outside of downtown, it is mostly known as Eutaw Place. The south end of Eutaw Street is at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. After this point, the street contin ...

in 1879 (the building today is used as Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church South).

McCulloh Street synagogue

At approximately 1905, the congregation built the

McCulloh Street Maryland Route 129 (MD 129) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland, running north-northwesterly from U.S. Route 40 in Maryland, U.S. Route 40 (US 40) and Maryland Route 295, MD 295 in the city of Baltimore into Baltimore County, Maryl ...

synagogue in the American

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

style (with Moorish capitals, eastern-Gothic turrets, and a distinctive ocular window at the entrance). This synagogue was sold, approximately 1935, to become the Zerubabbel

Grand Lodge A Grand Lodge, also called Grand Orient, Obedience, or by another similar title, is a name for the overarching governing body of a fraternal or other similarly organized group in a given area, usually a city, state, or country. In Freemasonry A ...

, which it remains today. The synagogue was dedicated on September 11, 1903. The McCulloh Street Synagogue closed in 1958. Included in the voting membership was Henry Hartogensis, the prominent orthodox

Gabbai A ''gabbai'' (), sometimes spelled ''gabay'', also known as ''shamash'' (, sometimes transcribed ''shamas'') or warden ( UK, similar to churchwarden), is a beadle or sexton, a person who assists in the running of synagogue services in some w ...

and financial officer, who had transferred from Chizuk Amuno

Upper Park Heights synagogue

Beginning in 1923, the board in the McCulloh synagogue appealed for a new building in Upper Park Heights, reflecting on the

suburbanization Suburbanization (American English), also spelled suburbanisation (British English), is a population shift from historic core cities or rural areas into suburbs. Most suburbs are built in a formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence ...

of the Jewish community to

streetcar suburbs A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, whe ...

of Park Heights, Druid Hill, and Garrison. The proposed project was commended for its frugality and conservatism, and was awarded the first mortgage granted to a synagogue by the Eutaw Savings Bank. Possibly due to the funds saved with the frugal architecture, innovations were put into place such as an improved Mechitzah of curved wrought iron (the McCulloh Street synagogue only had an embankment wall) based on the design of the Hirsch-Breuer Congregation K’hal Adath Jeshurun (known as the Friedberger Anlage, or Synagogue of the Israelitische Religionsgesellschaft). A member of the Kehillah, Nathan Adler, fundraised and planned 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, ...

in the building; the size of the structure was approved of by Rabbi

Yisrael Meir Kagan Yisrael Meir ha-Kohen Kagan (February 6, 1838 – September 15, 1933) was an influential Lithuanian Jewish rabbi, Halakhist, posek, and ethicist whose works continue to be widely influential in Orthodox Jewish life. He was known popularly as t ...

, The Chofetz Chaim. The dedication of the synagogue on Glen and Park Heights avenues (hence the name, the ''Glen Avenue Shul'', then the only synagogue on Glen Avenue) took place in 1925, and the speakers were rabbis Isaiah Levy and Phillip Hillel Klein. The constitution of the synagogue required that the only voting members (and those permitted for honors, such as

Aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

and Opening the Ark) were those who were Sabbath observant; despite the new synagogue having 150 members, less than 10 were voting members. This contributed to the breakoff and formation of Beth Jacob Congregation (now defunct) next door.

Rabbinical leaders

The following individuals have served as rabbi of the Congregation Shearith Israel:

Notes

References

External links

* {{Synagogues in the United States 1851 establishments in Maryland 20th-century synagogues in the United States Jewish organizations established in 1851 Orthodox Judaism in Baltimore Orthodox synagogues in Maryland Synagogues completed in 1925 Synagogues in Baltimore