If you grew up Jewish in Chicago and are of a certain age, say, 50 or older, there’s a good chance the synagogue where you went to Hebrew School has moved to a new location or no longer exists. Either way, buildings were left behind in neighborhoods that no longer have a Jewish population.
In his new book of photographs, There Used to Be a Synagogue Here, Frederick J. Nachman shows us the enormous, awe-inspiring religious buildings as well as ordinary two-flats that once housed Chicago synagogues. While Nachman has uploaded more than 300 photographs of former Chicago synagogues to his flickr acccount, he selected 100 images of the better-known or architecturally interesting former synagogues for his book. In the accompanying text, he offers both a public history and a personal account of his family’s connections to several synagogues pictured in the book. (Disclosure: I received a review copy of There Used to Be a Synagogue Here courtesy of the author.)
Six degrees of separation
The histories of Chicago synagogues read like a family tree. This synagogue merged with that synagogue. They changed their name. They moved to a new location. The resulting web of related synagogues criss-crosses the city and suburbs, stretching from the mid-1800s to the present day. Example (and there are many):
- Beth Jacob Anshe Kroz, built in 1927 at W. 15th Street and S. Drake Avenue.
- Merged with Congregation Ahavas Achim of the Maxwell Street area.
- Renamed Beth Sholom Ahavas Achim, currently located at 5655 N. Jersey Avenue. In my old neighborhood, on the block where one of my classmates lived.
Modern ruins
When I first came across Nachman’s photographs in 2009, I was surprised by the number, size and grandeur of more than a few synagogues on the South and West sides. Even in their current dilapidated condition, these structures are a powerful reminder of the strength of religious communities..
They periodically appear in the media, these old buildings that once housed synagogues, churches or, more often than not, both synagogues and churches at different times. A building’s architecture may attract the attention of preservationists, as happened in the Spring of 2012 before the demolition of the former Anshe Knessess Israel Congregation/ Shepherd’s Temple Baptist Church that was located at 3411 W. Douglas Boulevard. Later that same year, we heard of the possible demise of the 137-year-old St. James Church on the South Side.
The problem is, of course, money. But, even if we could afford to save these old religious buildings, why should we try?
Frederick J. Nachman photograph by Erin Nekervis
In the case of the former First Roumanian Congregation, located at 1352 S. Union Avenue, it’s a matter of historical, not architectural, significance. For Nachman, the historical significance is public and personal: this is the last remaining former synagogue in the Maxwell Street area and it is where his father’s family worshipped. The University of Illinois-Chicago wants to demolish the building. Nachman believes, and others agree, it should be saved as a monument to both civic and religious history.
What do you remember?
Following Nachman’s lead, let’s remember the synagogues of Chicago. Where did you go and where was it located? I’ll go first.
Temple Beth-El, 3050 W. Touhy Avenue.
There Used to Be a Synagogue Here, available online at blurb. Hardcover: $50. Softcover: $42.
For multiple copies, please contact Fred Nachman directly by email at: fnachman (at) marjancommunications (dot) com.
Check out Fred Nachman’s blog, The View from Brule Lake.
More about former Chicago synagogues in my blogpost, Backward Glance.
Temple Beth-El is now located in Northbrook on Dundee Road. We inherited a book from my father-in-law “History of the Jews of Chicago” published ib 1924. It has pictures of the firsrt congregations of Chicago. My husbands great-grandfather lead B’Nai Moshe Synagogue at Paulina near Taylor Street. The pictures of these beautiful and architecturally magnificent buildings – even in black and white are amazing.
My temple was Shaare Tikvah on Kimball avenue and I remember the old building when it was new. I was Bar Mitzvahed there around 1955, and still remember the feeling of being up on the bimah that day, awkward and uncomfortable. The congregation was well off and we were not. My father had passed away suddenly and very young a few years before. To me, the people standing outside on the high holidays were rich hypocrites and I wanted nothing to do with them. Many years later I learned my mother did laundry for the temple so my brother and I could go to religious school a few days a week, but for me in my youth it was torture.
The school was on the second floor and my classroom faced West towards the alley. From where I sat there was a telephone pole just a few feet away from the window. it seemed possible to me that I could jump from the window, grab the pole, shinny down and be free and I spent many hot afternoons planning my escape. I never did it of course. I escaped instead by becoming a teenager and a troublemaker and temple was no longer any part of my life.
Many years later, living in California I came to temple at my wife’s gentle urging and grew to like it and understand its place in my life. And so a few years ago I came back to Chicago to see my ailing aunt Sophie and found myself on a Saturday morning saying to my wife “Do you want to go to services at the temple I went to as a boy?” We drove down to the neighborhood and went inside, finding a much reduced congregation holding services not in the grand old sanctuary but in a chapel I didn’t remember.
Nonetheless we were welcomed and we prayed with them and while I was there I found out the buildings days were numbered as Shaare Tikvah. And this saddened me and I was surprised by that. How could it be the end of this place I had disliked so much could make me unhappy?
Congregation Shaare Tikvah, then located at 5800 N. Kimball Ave.
We lived in Albany Park until 1957, when we joined Shaare Tikvah. Before that, we belonged to Mt. Sinai Congregation. My father was president for a few years and my mother sang in the choir. It was a very traditional synagogue, and we went to services every Friday night. My first kiss was in the social hall, while our mothers sang, at an embarrassingly young age. I think it was on Kedzie, near Montrose. The rabbi was Adam Neuberger and we all lived in the same apartment building on Troy and Cullom. The janitor lived in the garden apartment, and they used to have all of us over ( including the almost orthodox rabbi and his family) to help decorate the Christmas tree, and the janitor helped build the sukkah in the courtyard.
Hi, Harriet. In Nachman’s book he includes photographs of two of Temple Beth-El’s earlier locations–Humboldt Park and Logan Square. It’s one of the congregations that has moved around a lot. Thanks for adding the name of your husband’s family shul.
Andy, thanks for this remarkable collection. You’ve recaptured the intensity of your thoughts and feelings at the time. I wonder if you would have felt more comfortable at Lev Someach on Bryn Mawr? Less fancy?
Thanks for contributing Merle.
Merle, thanks for this wonderful memory of how closeknit the neighborhood shul was. I looked up Mt. Sinai and it is located at 4710 N. Kedzie.
Hi Francis,
I remember you from a long, long time ago. We were in some classes together at Peterson School. I attended Hebrew school at Shaare Tikvah for a while. My family moved to the suburbs in 1966. I have many fond memories of the community. My husband has a hard time believing that where I grew up practically everyone one was Jewish,
I lived at 5710 North St Louis in a six flat with an oak tree in front.
Thank you for your blog. My brother told me about it. I remember going with my Orthodox grandparents to a shul with a balcony for the women and I believe it was on Kimball near Lawrence. Do you know what Shul that was?
My girlfriend from those days – Marilyn Sachet – I believe her grandfather was the Rabbi there. Just curious.
Thanks!
Eileen Millstein Stern
Hi, Eileen. Not sure, there were a lot of shuls. There is a book that lists all the former synagogues. If I can find the name I’ll let you know.
I THINK THAT WAS THE DRAKE SHUL ON DRAKE AND WILSON OTHER THAN THE ALBANY PARK SHUL ON WILSON AND LAWNDALE I THINK THAT WAS THE ONLY OTHER ORTHYDOX SHUL IN THE AREA THE RABBI WAS RABBI SEGAL