Chicago Sinai Congregation

Last updated

Chicago Sinai Congregation
Religion
Affiliation Reform Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organisational status Synagogue
Leadership
  • Rabbi Michael A. Weinberg (interim)
  • Rabbi Amanda Greene (Associate)
  • Rabbi Rebecca Benoff (Assistant)
StatusActive
Notable artwork Brian Clarke stained-glass windows
Location
Location15 West Delaware Place, Chicago, Illinois 60610
CountryUnited States
Chicago central map.png
Red pog.svg
Location in Central Chicago, Illinois
Geographic coordinates 41°53′56″N87°37′43″W / 41.8989°N 87.6287°W / 41.8989; -87.6287
Architecture
Architect(s) Dirk Lohan
TypeSynagogue
Date established1861 (as a congregation)
Completed1996
Website
chicagosinai.org

Chicago Sinai Congregation [lower-alpha 1] is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 15 West Delaware Place, in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Founded in 1861, the current synagogue building was designed by Dirk Lohan and completed in 1996, inclusive of stained-glass windows by British artist Brian Clarke.

Contents

History

Founded in 1861, Chicago Sinai Congregation was the first Reform congregation to be established in Chicago. [1] 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. [2] [3]

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. [4] [5] 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. [6]

Rabbis

The early rabbis to have served in the congregation include Bernhard Felsenthal (served from inception in 1861-1864), Isaac Leow Chronik (served from 1866-1871), [2] Kaufmann Kohler (served from 1871 to 1880), [3] Emil G. Hirsch (served from 1880-1923). [7] [8] Rabbis in the twentieth century include Richard C. Hertz (served from 1947-1953), [9] and Philip N. Kranz (served from 1971-1980). [10]

See also

Notes

  1. Also referred to as Temple Sinai or Sinai Temple.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reform Judaism</span> Denomination of Judaism

Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous revelation which is closely intertwined with human reason and not limited to the Theophany at Mount Sinai. A highly liberal strand of Judaism, it is characterized by little stress on ritual and personal observance, regarding Jewish law as non-binding and the individual Jew as autonomous, and by a great openness to external influences and progressive values.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emil G. Hirsch</span> American Reform movement rabbi (1851-1923)

Emil Gustav Hirsch was a Luxembourgish-born Jewish American biblical scholar, Reform rabbi, contributing editor to numerous articles of The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), and founding member of the NAACP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Einhorn (rabbi)</span> 19th-century German Reform rabbi

David Einhorn was a German rabbi and leader of Reform Judaism in the United States. In 1855, he became the first rabbi of the Har Sinai Congregation in Baltimore, the oldest Jewish-American congregation affiliated with the Reform movement since its inception. While there, he created an early American prayer book for the congregation that became one of the progenitors of the 1894 Union Prayer Book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaufmann Kohler</span> German-born American Bible scholar, Reform rabbi and theologian (1843-1926)

Kaufmann Kohler was a German-born Jewish American biblical scholar and critic, theologian, Reform rabbi, and contributing editor to numerous articles of The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodef Shalom Congregation</span> Reform synagogue in Easton, Pennsylvania, United States

Rodef Shalom Congregation is an historic Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 4905 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The landmark building was designed by architect Henry Hornbostel and completed in the Beaux-Arts style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Elohim</span> Reform synagogue in Brooklyn, New York

Congregation Beth Elohim, also known as the Garfield Temple and the Eighth Avenue Temple, is a Reform Jewish congregation and historic synagogue located at 274 Garfield Place and Eighth Avenue, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, New York, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Beth El (Detroit)</span> Reform synagogue in Michigan, United States

Temple Beth El is a Reform synagogue located at in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan, in the United States. Beth El was founded in 1850 in the city of Detroit, and is the oldest Jewish congregation in Michigan. Temple Beth El was a founding member of the Union for Reform Judaism in 1873, and hosted the meeting in 1889 during which the Central Conference of American Rabbis was established.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Sinai (Oakland, California)</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in California, United States of America

Temple Sinai is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 2808 Summit Street in Oakland, California, in the United States. Founded in 1875, it is the oldest Jewish congregation in the East San Francisco Bay region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Israel (Scottsdale, Arizona)</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in Scottsdale, Arizona, US

Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 10460 North 56th Street in Scottsdale, Arizona, in the United States. Incorporated in 1920, the congregation affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism in 1935.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Emanuel Sinai (Worcester, Massachusetts)</span> Reform synagogue in Worcester, Massachusetts, US

Temple Emanuel Sinai is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 661 Salisbury Street, Worcester, Massachusetts, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinai Temple (Los Angeles)</span> Conservative Jewish congregation and synagogue

The Sinai Temple is a Conservative synagogue located at 10400 Wilshire Boulevard, Westwood, Los Angeles, California, in the United States. The Sinai Temple congregation is the oldest and largest Conservative congregation in the greater Los Angeles area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple De Hirsch Sinai</span> Jewish congregation with synagogues in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington, US

Temple De Hirsch Sinai is a Reform Jewish congregation with synagogues at campuses in Seattle and nearby Bellevue, Washington, in the United States. The congregation was formed as a 1971 merger between the earlier Temple De Hirsch and Temple Sinai and is the largest Reform congregation in the Pacific Northwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Israel (Memphis, Tennessee)</span> Reform Jewish congregation in Memphis, Tennessee, US

Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 1376 East Massey Road, in Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States. It is the only Reform synagogue in Memphis, the oldest and largest Jewish congregation in Tennessee, and one of the largest Reform congregations in the U.S. It was founded in 1853 by mostly German Jews as Congregation B'nai Israel. Led initially by cantors, in 1858 it hired its first rabbi, Jacob Peres, and leased its first building, which it renovated and eventually purchased.

Har Sinai – Oheb Shalom Congregation is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 7310 Park Heights Avenue, in Pikesville, Baltimore County, Maryland, in the United States. Established in 1842 in Baltimore and known as Har Sinai Congregation, and in 1853 near Camden Yards as Temple Oheb Shalom, the two congregations merged in 2019 and is the oldest Reform congregation in the United States that has used the same prayer rite since its inception.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nannie Aschenheim Reis</span>

Nannie Aschenheim Reis was a newspaper columnist, clubwoman, and congregational leader in the Chicago Jewish community from approximately 1900 to 1940. She was a personal acquaintance of Jane Addams and worked closely with Hannah G. Solomon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Shaare Emeth</span> Reform synagogue in Creve Coeur, Missouri, United Stares

Congregation Shaare Emeth is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 11645 Ladue Road, in Creve Coeur, St. Louis County, Missouri, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel (Philadelphia)</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in Philadelphia, USA

Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel, abbreviated as KI, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 8339 Old York Road, Elkins Park, just outside the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Founded in Philadelphia in 1847, it is the sixth oldest Reform congregation in the United States, and, by 1900, it was one of the largest Reform congregations in the United States. The synagogue was at a number of locations in the city before building a large structure on North Broad Street in 1891, until 1956 when it moved north of the city to suburban Elkins Park.

Hyman Gerson Enelow was a Russian-born American rabbi of the New York Congregation Emanu-El.

Joseph Stolz was an American rabbi who ministered in Chicago for most of his life.

Maximilian Heller was a Czech-born American rabbi.

References

  1. "First Reform synagogue Chicago". Chicago Sinai.[ self-published source? ]
  2. 1 2 Olitzky, K. (1985). "Sundays at Chicago Sinai Congregation: Paradigm for a Movement". American Jewish History. 74 (4): 356–368.
  3. 1 2 Olitzky, K. (1982). "The Sunday-Sabbath Movement in American Reform Judaism: Strategy or Evolution?". American Jewish Archives. 34 (1): 75–88.
  4. "The First Woman Rabbi". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Vermont. March 16, 1897.
  5. "The First Woman Rabbi". Brandon Mail. Manitoba, Canada. March 18, 1897.
  6. Solomon, H. G. (1946). Fabric of My Life: The Autobiography of Hannah G. Solomon. New York: Bloch Publishing Company. pp. 111–112.
  7. Adler, C.; Vizetelly, F. H. (1906). "Hirsch, Emil Gustav". Jewish Encyclopedia . Vol. 6. pp. 410–411.
  8. Heilbrunn, B. A. (2012). Faith as motive for reform: Emil G. Hirsch and Chicago Jewish Progressives. University of Houston.
  9. "A Finding Aid to the Richard C. Hertz Papers Manuscript Collection No. 675". American Jewish Archives.
  10. "Rabbi Philip N. Kranz Papers". The Berman Museum.