When Baltimore?s Jewish community changed its practices, eight members knew what they had to do.
In 1871, eight protesting members of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation left their modernizing group to build the Chizuk Amuno Synagogue ? the oldest active orthodox synagogue in Maryland.
Their move reflected their opposition to English in prayerbooks, non-Jewish singers, and men and women sitting together.
Based on a Vienna synagogue, the orthodox Chizuk Amuno Congregation built their synagogue in 1876. Moses? tablets above the Star of David and the Hebrew words “The gates of the House of God” announce the building?s religious importance. The symbols overlook the peak of the building?s symmetrical facade, constructed of brick and trimmed with stone and granite.
Chizuk Amuno synthesizes Romanesque and Moorish elements, according to Paul Lusignan, historian at the National Register of Historic Places.
The Chizuk Amuno congregation left downtown for North West Baltimore in 1895, selling the synagogue to the B?nai Israel congregation.
Regal, curved staircases lead visitors to the second floor and the semi-circle-shaped balcony where services are held, said Ilene Dackman-Alon, program director of the Jewish Museum of Maryland.
The intimate and elegant building inspires and lifts up the congregation, said Rabbi Allen Yuter of B?nai Israel. “The synagogue is majestic and sets an aura of sanctity.”
Light from circular and rectangular windows flood the peaceful interior. The focal point inside the sacred structure is a handcrafted, wooden ark, painted white with gold trimming.
“The ark ? where the story of our people is kept ? is just exquisite,” Alon said. “When I look at it I feel very removed from the U.S. I?ve been to Israel a few times, and it reminds me of the East. You feel like you’re in Morocco when looking at its subtle but intricate designs.”
Above the arc, the Ten Commandments in Hebrew are inscribed in gold on marble tablets.
Lights on the brilliant chandelier “electrified the building in 1910 for the first time,” Alon said. “The chandelier is one of the oldest major electrical fixtures still in use in Baltimore today.”
Docents open the synagogue to visitors “so people can understand the history of Baltimore and Maryland?s Jewish people ? what a vibrant community this once was and still is,” Alon said.
“Scripture asks us to understand the years of past generations,” Yuter said. “Our past animates the present. This is a synagogue that keeps the orthodox tradition with an openness and youthful enthusiasm. People look into the book and not over their shoulders.”
More Info
» Chizuk Amuno Synangoue
27 Lloyd St., Baltimore
410-732-5454, jewishdowntown.org/index.php
» The Jewish Museum of Maryland
15 Lloyd St., Baltimore
410-732-5454, jhsm.org
