Image of Taylor Swift Pops Up in Front of Northwest Baltimore Orthodox Shul

January 25, 2024 JMORE Staff

(Facebook)

Now that she’s conquered the rest of the universe, is Taylor Swift taking over Charm City, too?

Much in the same vein as the infamous meme of a seated Bernie Sanders and his Inauguration Day mittens from a few years ago, photoshopped images of the 34-year-old pop singer in front of such iconic Baltimore spots as Lexington Market, the Horse You Came In On Saloon, the Domino Sugar sign and M&T Bank Stadium have recently surfaced everywhere on social media.

That, of course, is because the Ravens will play against Kansas City for the AFC Championship game this weekend, and Swift — in case you happen to live under a rock — is dating the Chiefs’ tight end, Travis Kelce. Baltimoreans are hoping to see the superstar cheer on her beefy beau right on their home turf.

Joining the rollicking ‘Swift-in-Bawlmer’ bandwagon is none other than Ner Tamid Greenspring Valley Synagogue.

So nu, you might ask, why would a nice, heimishe Orthodox shul in Northwest Baltimore post a photo of a beaming Taylor Swift standing in front of its classic stone facade at 6214 Pimlico Road?

Rabbi Yisrael Sruil Motzen, spiritual leader of Ner Tamid since 2012 and a graduate of Baltimore’s Ner Israel Rabbinical College, admits he just wanted to have a little fun and join in the Swift/Ravens ruach. (Can you blame him?)

“Guess who’s coming to shul this shabbos?” Rabbi Motzen wrote playfully underneath the image on Facebook.

It turns out that the good rabbi is somewhat of a “Swifty” himself and even referenced the “You Belong With Me” singer in his Rosh Hashanah sermon last September. (For the record, he also referenced Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Lubavitcher rebbe.)

“Hear me out,” Rabbi Motzen said to his faithful flock on yontif. “[Swift is] a good songwriter, but it’s more than that. Her lyrics are highly personal but also universal. Her fans all claim that they find their own stories in her.”

For good measure, he added, “Her concerts bring together a community of people with a shared love and a shared language and even shared rituals, like giving each other friendship bracelets. …

“It’s not just Swifties who are looking for a transcendent experience. We are all weighed down by the bad news we hear daily, by the challenges we face and bear. We all feel assaulted by the hate and discord in the streets. We all have that gnawing feeling from time to time that there is more to life than work and play.”

In one of her tunes (2019’s “You Need to Calm Down”), Reb Swift once wrote, “Obsessing about somebody else is no fun.” But when it comes to “Taylor Swift Fever,” it sounds like it’ll be a while before we all can “Shake It Off.”