Har Sinai and Temple Oheb Shalom made it official yesterday,Sept. 8, when the memberships of the two historic Reform congregations voted overwhelminglyin favor of a merger.
In a letter sent to members of both synagogues after the vote, ajoint task force referenced a statement written previously by Oheb Shalom RabbiEmeritus Donald R. Berlin and Rabbi Floyd L. Herman, Har Sinai’s rabbiemeritus: “Continuing changeis the constant to which Jews have always responded through our history inorder to survive. … And now, it is our turn to build upon our historyto create for tomorrow. What an exciting opportunity you have to create a 21stcentury synagogue for now, a sacred community for the future.”
Theletter went on to state, “In the coming weeks we will work together toenvision our future, search for our settled Rabbi and create a new ReformJewish home on Park Heights Avenue that is warm, vibrant and inclusive. Pleasejoin us on Sunday,September 22nd at 12:00pm to celebrate this monumental occasion and to launch ourvisioning process.”
On Aug. 26, the temples’ boards announced that theyvoted unanimously to recommend the merger. The boards’ approval came in thewake of a recommendation issued last April by the joint task force advocating amerger.
In a “Town Hall Fact Sheet,” the14-member task force recommended a merger that would produce a singlecongregation of approximately 750 households. The combined congregation wouldbe headquartered at Oheb Shalom’s current location at 7310 Park Heights Ave. inPikesville. (The statement did not address the fate of Har Sinai’s property at2905 Walnut Ave. in Owings Mills.)
The merged congregation wouldtemporarily use the name Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom until a new name could be agreedupon — with help from the Union of Reform Judaism — by congregational vote bythe High Holiday season of 2020.
“As we have seen from communities around the country, evolvingcongregational trends are all around us,” read a letter from the boardsfollowing their approval of the merger. “We must change too, as the model thathas sustained us and so many other congregations is rapidly becoming moredifficult to maintain and with change, comes many exciting new opportunities.”
Har Sinai and Oheb Shalomfirst announced merger discussions in September of 2017.
Founded in 1842, Har Sinai isthe oldest continuously Reform congregation in the nation. The temple moved toits current location from Upper Park Heights in 2002.
Oheb Shalom was founded in1853. From 1893-1960, Oheb Shalom was located at the historic Eutaw PlaceTemple in Bolton Hill before moving to its current location. Oheb Shalom’sbuilding was designed by German architect Walter Gropius, founder of therenowned Bauhaus School of art and design.
In 2016, the area’s othermajor Reform synagogue, Baltimore Hebrew Congregation — which is located acrossthe street from Oheb Shalom — absorbed Temple Emanuel, another Reformsynagogue, which was founded in 1955.
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