A century ago, the nation’s capital city was a truly diverse, multicultural, ethnic brew.
Irish folks lived, worked and prayed in neighborhoods along North Capital Street. Many were drawn to jobs at the Government Printing Office. Gonzaga High is still in place, but that’s all that remains.
Chinese actually lived in Chinatown; now they might come to work their restaurants in what locals call “Chinablock,” but most live in the ‘burbs.
African-Americans called Georgetown and Foggy Bottom their home 100 years ago. Greeks and Italians lived downtown around their storefronts on Seventh Street. And every year at this season, Jews would fill the blocks around Sixth and I streets, north of Chinatown, to celebrate their New Year. This year, many Jews are re-creating the downtown traditions.
“Jewish life is back in downtown Washington,” says Esther Foer, director of Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. “This was the heart of the Jewish community. On Rosh Hashanah, they would close the streets, pray in the morning and meet in the streets. Now it’s happening again.”
It’s happening because the temple at 600 I St. NW did not become a nightclub.
The stately structure with the Romanesque tiled dome was dedicated in 1908 as the first home for the Adas Israel congregation. At the time, there were at least two other temples in the neighborhood bordering Massachusetts Avenue. But in the following decades, the city began to grow and change. The Jews and other ethnic groups moved north and west up Connecticut Avenue, 16th Street and other thoroughfares. In 1945, Adas Israel made a new home at Porter Street.
Turner Memorial African Methodist Episcopal bought the synagogue, replaced the Star of David with a cross, and filled the dome with gospel hymns. But by 2002, Turner’s congregation had moved to Prince George’s County, and the church put the temple up for sale. It was about to be bought by a businessman who intended to turn the temple into a nightclub.
Three Jewish businessmen intervened. Abe Pollin, the late sports and real estate magnate, joined with developers Douglas Jemal and Shelton Zuckerman to buy the temple. They renovated it to 1908 specifications; eight years later, it’s the center for a rejuvenated downtown Jewish community.
“There’s stuff going on here about every night,” Foer says. “We are defining Jewish in the broadest terms. We are open to the whole community.”
Last year, Sixth & I hosted a breakfast for Ramadan; next month Indian author V.S. Naipul will speak; Salman Rushdie is scheduled for November.
But this week will be all about the Jewish New Year. Sixth & I’s 1,500 seats filled in a blink for yesterday’s Rosh Hashanah service, so the synagogue asked to use the Chinese Community Church at Fifth and I. It was once Ohev Shalom and will host services again.
And at noon, folks from the two temples will join for a ritual sip of wine in the park along Massachusetts Avenue — just as they did 100 years ago.
Harry Jaffe’s column appears on Tuesday and Friday. He can be contacted at [email protected].
