A BRIEF HISTORY OF KAM ISAIAH ISRAEL CONGREGATION

KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation is now in its 160th year. We have a notable, diverse and rich history. Kehilath Anshe Maarav (KAM) was established in 1847 and claims to be the first synagogue in the midwest. It first met at Wells and Lake in a space over the dry goods store Rosenfeld and Rosenberg. In 1851, it dedicated its first synagogue building, on Clark Street between Adams and Quincy, now the site of the Kluczynski Federal Building. In 1852, conflict over issues of reform and traditional observances, as well as cultural differences between Eastern European and German immigrants, led to creation of a new congregation, Kehilath B'nai Sholom.

Isaiah Temple was organized in 1895, and Temple Israel was organized in 1896. In 1906, the young Temple Israel merged with Congregation B'nai Sholom, the second oldest Jewish congregation in Illinois. These various congregations were located on the South Side a little north of Hyde Park until 1924, when they all moved to Hyde Park. In that year, KAM dedicated a new home at 50th Street and Drexel Boulevard shortly before Isaiah Temple dedicated the Byzantine-inspired structure that is the congregation's current, much-beloved home at Greenwood Avenue and Hyde Park Boulevard. A month after Isaiah dedicated its new building, it merged with B'nai Sholom Temple Israel; the merged congregation took the name Temple Isaiah Israel.

Alfred Alschuler designed the Greenwood Avenue building. After viewing photographs of fragments of a second-century synagogue unearthed at Tiberias by Professor Nahum Slouschz, Alschuler adapted its motifs resembling those used in architecture of the Byzantine period and incorporated them in his ornamental designs for the geometrical figures around the walls and the carvings of foliage, grape clusters, oil vials, and menorahs. The building was designated an official Chicago landmark in 1977. The official recommendation for Landmark status emphasized the congregation's contribution to the cultural, economic, social and historical heritage of the City of Chicago.

In 1971, KAM and Isaiah Israel voted to merge and to take the Greenwood Avenue building as the congregation's home. In order to accommodate the needs of the new congregation, John Alschuler (son of Alfred) and Ron Dirsmith designed an addition to the building which contains a chapel, social hall, kitchen, offices, and youth lounge. A garden was created in the space between the addition and the original building as an island of beauty and repose visible from all parts of the structure.

Although KAM started as an Orthodox congregation, its members began to reform their practice almost from the beginning. The congregation joined the new Union of American Hebrew Congregations, now named the Union for Reform Judaism, in 1874. B'nai Sholom joined the UAHC the following year. Both Isaiah Temple and Temple Israel began life as Reform congregations.

These congregations have enjoyed strong rabbinic leadership. Four of our rabbis were elected president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the rabbinic arm of the Reform movement: Joseph Stolz of Isaiah Temple, and Solomon B. Freehof, Jacob J. Weinstein , and Simeon J. Maslin of KAM. A disciple of Rabbi Stephen Wise, Rabbi Morton M. Berman of Isaiah Israel was involved in Zionist affairs during the 1920s and 1930s and made aliyah upon his retirement. Rabbi Weinstein's commitment to social justice inspired KAM to become one of the leading social action congregations in the country. Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf continued that commitment and also challenged Reform Jews to recover tradition. Rabbi Hayim Goren Perelmuter and Rabbi Weinstein resisted the lure of the suburbs and refused to see Isaiah Israel and KAM abandon the Hyde Park neighborhood during an era of social change. Rabbi Perelmuter also was a charter member of the faculty of the Catholic Theological Union.

KAM Isaiah Israel also has a strong musical heritage. Max Janowski , a sensitive and prolific composer of liturgical music, directed music at KAM and then KAM Isaiah Israel from 1938 until his death in 1991.

Proud of our heritage but looking to the future, KAM Isaiah Israel continues to meld tradition and innovation within the Reform movement.