B'nai Israel Synagogue - Baltimore MD
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 39° 17.394 W 076° 36.067
18S E 361920 N 4350169
The B'nai Israel Synagogue, erected in 1876, is the longest actively-used synagogue in Baltimore. It was built by Congregation Chizuk Amuno ("Strengthening of the Faith"), whose members had seceded from the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation in 1870.
Waymark Code: WM13RPD
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 02/10/2021
Views: 1
From Wikipedia:
B'nai Israel is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located in the historic Jonestown neighborhood, near downtown and the Inner Harbor of Baltimore. The synagogue is one of the oldest synagogue buildings still standing in the United States.
Architecture
The synagogue is noted for its Moorish Revival architecture. The Aron Kodesh is an architectural fantasy in carved wood, with the cabinet in which the Torah scrolls are stored, surrounded by a pair of tall minarets.
Leadership
Rabbi Etan Mintz is the spiritual leader of B'nai Israel Synagogue.
History
A group of members of Baltimore Hebrew Congregation believed that the congregation had become too liberal and modernistic. In 1873 they formed a new congregation, Chizuk Amuno.
Members of a Russian speaking congregation made of immigrants from the pale of settlement broke off from a Polish speaking congregation. The "Ruschie Shul" would practice wherever they could: people's houses, the upper levels of grocery stores. In the years between 1880 and 1910, hundreds of thousands of Jews came from the Pale of Settlement, and the longstanding German Jews moved to North West Baltimore.
The building itself was built by Chizuk Amuno Congregation in 1876. Chizuk Amuno Congregation sold the building to B'nai Israel for $12,000 in 1895 when it moved to Northwest Baltimore.
In 1973, the congregation began raising funds for the restoration of the synagogue.
B'nai Israel donated land to the City of Baltimore to build a park near the synagogue in 1975. Named Freedom Park, the park honors victims of oppression.
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