Baltimore Hebrew Congregation

Not to be confused with Har Sinai – Oheb Shalom Congregation, also located on Park Heights Avenue, Pikesville.

This article is about the Jewish congregation and synagogue. For their Lloyd Street heritage former synagogue, see Lloyd Street Synagogue. For their Madison Avenue heritage former synagogue, see Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Synagogue.

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.

Baltimore Hebrew Congregation
Religion
Affiliation	Reform Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Synagogue
Status	Active
Notable 1951–1969 artworks by	George Aarons (sculptures) Arnold Henry Bergier (judaica) Nissan Engel (stained-glass) William M. Halsey (mural) Amalie Rothschild (interior design)
Location
Location	7401 Park Heights Avenue, Pikesville, Baltimore County, Maryland 21208
Country	United States
Location on the north-western edge of greater Baltimore, Maryland
Geographic coordinates	39°22′19″N 76°42′34″W / 39.37192°N 76.70936°W / 39.37192; -76.70936
Architecture
Architect(s)	1845: Robert Cary Long, Jr. William Reasin 1891: Charles L. Carson 1951: Percival Goodman
Type	Synagogue
Style	1845: Greek Revival 1891: Byzantine Revival 1951: Art Deco Moderne International
Date established	1830 (as a congregation)
Completed	1845 (Lloyd Street) 1891 (Madison Avenue) 1951 (Park Heights Avenue)
Site area	17 acres (6.9 ha)
Website
baltimorehebrew.org

History

Originally named Nidche Yisroel^[1] (transliterated from Hebrew as "Scattered of Israel"^[2]), the synagogue was founded in 1830, and for the first fifteen years of its existence, services were held in a small room above a local grocery. It was originally an Orthodox synagogue, but became Reform officially in 1871. The pressure from the Congregation for modernization was such that its Orthodox first rabbi, Abraham Rice, resigned his position in 1849 over this question.

In 1845, the congregation moved to Lloyd Street under the new name, Baltimore Hebrew Congregation. The new synagogue was dedicated by the Rev. S. M. Isaacs of New York and the Rev. Isaac Leeser of Philadelphia, together with the ministers of the congregation, Abraham Rice and A. Ansell (Anshel).^[1] That building, the Lloyd Street Synagogue, the third-oldest synagogue building in the United States, is now preserved as part of the Jewish Museum of Maryland.

As the city of Baltimore and its Jewish population continued to grow, so too did the number of congregants, and also the size of its endowment. In 1891 the congregation moved to Madison Avenue, where it built the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Synagogue,^[2] added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.^[3][4]

As the Jewish population of Baltimore moved northwest, the congregation relocated to the Park Heights Avenue synagogue building in 1951, in Pikesville, on the border of Baltimore City and Baltimore County.^[2] Set on 17 acres (6.9 ha) and designed by Percival Goodman in a combination of the Art Deco, Moderne, and International styles, the red brick building is notable for both its expansive design and artwork that includes eight George Aarons' sculptural reliefs depicting Jewish ethics,^[5] a William M. Halsey mural, Arnold Henry Bergier–designed judaica for the sanctuary, Amalie Rothschild cubist–designed tapestry and doors, and 16 stained–glass windows by Nissan Engel that depict the history of the Jewish people from Creation to the Holocaust and the founding of the State of Israel.^[6][7]

The Day School at Baltimore Hebrew

Under the direction of Rabbi Murray Saltzman, BHC senior rabbi at the time, BHC added a day school to its educational programming in 1991 for children from 18 months through 8th grade. In early 2008, it was officially renamed The Day School at Baltimore Hebrew. The Day School received accreditation from the State of Maryland and the Association of Independent Maryland Schools (AIMS), was a member of the Center for Jewish Education of The Associated, Progressive Association of Reform Day Schools (PARDeS) and The Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). It closed after the 2012–2013 school year. It was slated to reopen as a new school, The Independent Academy, as a joint venture with The Cardin School, but the Cardin school pulled out and closed and the new school did not materialize.

Notable members

• Louis E. Eliasberg (1896–1976), American financier and numismatist^[8]
• Steve Krulevitz (born 1951), American-Israeli tennis player^[9]

See also

•  Maryland portal
•  Judaism portal

• History of the Jews in Maryland
• Oldest synagogues in the United States

References

1.   Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "BALTIMORE". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
2. "About BHC". Baltimore Hebrew Congregation. 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.^{[self-published source?]}
3. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
4. Andreve, George; James, Pamela (January 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Synagogue" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
5. "Baltimore, MD ~ Baltimore Hebrew Congregation (1953)". Synagogues of the South. College of Charleston. 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
6. Shorr, Jonathon (August 1, 2023). "Breaking from Tradition: the History of Baltimore Hebrew Congregation's Building". J–More. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
7. Schack, William (February 1956). "Modern Art in the Synagogue, II: Artist, Architect, and Building Committee Collaborate". Commentary. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
8. "Louis Eliasberg Dies; Amassed Only Full Set Of U.S. Coins" The Evening Sun, Obituary for Louis E. Eliasberg (Aged 80) newspapers.com Retrieved on 2024-01-05.
9. "Tennis Star Steve Krulevitz to be Inducted into Md. State Athletic Hall of Fame". August 27, 2019.

Bibliography

• The Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography:
  • Archives of the congregations;
  • files of the Occident and of the local newspapers;
  • personal reminiscences of older members of the Jewish community;
  • Publications of the American-Jewish Historical Society,
    • No. 1, pp. 21, 22;
    • No. 2, pp. 65, 66;
    • No, 4, pp. 94-96.
• Elman, Kimberly; Giral, Angela, eds. (2001). Percival Goodman: architect, planner, teacher, painter. New York: Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University.

External links

• Official website