Young Israel Shomrai Emunah | |
---|---|
Religion | |
Affiliation | Orthodox Judaism |
Rite | Nusach Ashkenaz, Nusach Sefard, and Sephardi |
Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Synagogue |
Status | Active |
Location | |
Location | 1132 Arcola Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20902 |
Country | United States |
Location within
Maryland | |
Geographic coordinates | 39°02′27″N 77°01′45″W / 39.040972°N 77.029167°W |
Architecture | |
Type | Synagogue |
Date established | 1951 (as a congregation) |
Completed | 1960 |
Interior area | 19,158 square feet (1,779.8 m2) |
Website | |
www | |
[1] |
Young Israel Shomrai Emunah (abbreviated as YISE) is an Orthodox synagogue located at 1132 Arcola Avenue, in Kemp Mill, [2] [3] Montgomery County, Maryland, in the United States. Established as a congregation in 1951, it was the first Orthodox synagogue established in Montgomery County. [4] It is one of the largest Orthodox synagogues in Maryland and is recognized as a key synagogue in the Silver Spring, Maryland area. [5]
The synagogue provides a full range of religious and social services, such a nursery school, [6] banquet hall for weddings, [7] prayer services for Sephardi Jews, [8] assistance with job hunting, [9] notable guest speakers from the Jewish world, such as a Silver Spring native Lazer Brody who joined the Breslov Hasidim. [10][ dead link] Young Israel has seven different services each Shabbat morning, from a minyan in the Sephardi tradition to one for early risers. All services are under the same roof.
The synagogue is affiliated with the National Council of Young Israel. [11] [12] The synagogue has sponsored Jewish educational activities with other local Orthodox institutions such as The Greater Washington Community Kollel. [13] It offers a variety of programs such as for senior citizens in conjunction with the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington. [14] It is also affiliated with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. [15]
For environmentalists it has co-hosted programs with the Canfei Nesharim organization that provides: "a Torah based approach to understand and act on the relationship between traditional Jewish sources and modern environmental issues [16]...which explores environmentalism through the lens of Halacha (Jewish law) and traditional Jewish sources. The new initiative is known as Maayan Olam: the Silver Spring Torah and Environmental Group... endorsed by the Silver Spring Orthodox congregations Young Israel-Shomrai Emunah, Kemp Mill Synagogue." [17]
Congregation Shomrai Emunah was established in 1951 when several Jews formed a worship group in Chillum, Maryland. [18] Rabbi Abraham A. Kellner was the first spiritual adviser. [18] [19]
Services were originally held in members' homes. [18] Later on, the congregation held services in a Veterans of Foreign Wars lodge, [20] and then used rented space at Chillum Castle at Chillum and Riggs roads that was owned by a Masonic lodge. [18]
In 1955, Congregation Shomrai Emunah began raising $75,000 of funds to build its own synagogue. [19] [21] Land on the Maryland side of Eastern Avenue near Oglethorpe Road was purchased, [21] and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 12, 1957. [19] Approximately one-hundred families were members of Congregation Shomrai Emunah at the time. [19]
The synagogue was dedicated on December 22, 1957. [22] Rabbi Gedaliah Anemer led the ceremony, having become Shomrai Emunah's spiritual leader earlier that year. [23]
In the early 1960s, there was a trend of residents moving further into suburbs of Washington, D.C. [24] With many of its members no longer living within walking distance to Shomrai Emunah's synagogue, attendance on Shabbat decreased significantly. [24]
Rabbi Anemer bought a house near Kemp Mill, Maryland, and he began holding Shabbat services there every other week. [24] When attendance at Rabbi Anemer's home quickly became too large for the space, Shomrai Emunah built a new synagogue on nearby University Boulevard. [25] [24] Orthodox Jewish congregation in Montgomery County. [25] [26] [27] Shomrai Emunah later started another service at a member's home in the Montgomery Knolls area of Silver Spring. [24]
By the late 1960s, the synagogue's membership outgrew the synagogue in Kemp Mill, so its membership raised funds to build a second, larger building in Kemp Mill. Rabbi Anemer established a religious school for girls in 1964. [28] A religious school for boys opened the following year. [28] On April 29, 1973, Shomrai Emunah held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new synagogue at Arcola Avenue and Lamberton Drive in Kemp Mill. [29] The synagogue opened the following year. [28]
Rabbi Anemer died on April 15, 2010. He held the position of rabbi for 52 years. [27] [30] He was succeeded by Rabbi Dovid Rosenbaum, [28] who was officially installed on November 20, 2010. [31]