Back on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 16, 1922 — when Chizuk Amuno Congregation held its inaugural Shabbat service at its new home on the corner of Eutaw Place and Chauncey Avenue — Warren G. Harding was president of the United States, T.S. Eliot’s epic poem “The Wasteland” had just been published, and the Mandate of Palestine was recently approved by the Council of the League of Nations.
At the time, Chizuk Amuno was a 51-year-old congregation previously located at McCulloh and Mosher streets. Its clergy team was the well-respected Rabbi Adolph Coblenz and Cantor Abba J. Weisgal.
This year, Beth Am Synagogue — which took over the building during Chanukah of 1974 after Chizuk Amuno completed its relocation to Pikesville — will celebrate the centennial of its home with a series of events. The first one will be held on Friday, Sept. 9, with an open house from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Located at 2501 Eutaw Place in Reservoir Hill, the synagogue building was designed by Joseph Evans Sperry, renowned architect of the Bromo Seltzer Tower, the Eutaw Place Temple (Oheb Shalom), the Provident Savings Bank and the Brewers Exchange buildings in Baltimore.
With its three-arched entrance and Byzantine-Moorish design, the Beth Am building was modeled after the Great Synagogue of Florence in Italy.
In addition to a short slide show tracing the 100-year history of the synagogue structure, the open house will include family-fun outdoor activities such as balloon creations, glitter art and a Kona ice truck.
“The centennial of 2501 Eutaw Place is a celebration of our heritage, a stunning grand Moorish edifice designed by one of the leading architects of the 19th and 20th centuries,” said Beth Am’s Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg. “Beth Am’s identity has always been one of a contemporary and dynamic urban community rooted in historic Jewish Baltimore. This year celebrates that rootedness. 2024 will mark 50 years of the successful experiment we call Beth Am.”
Co-founded by the late Dr. Louis L. Kaplan, longtime president of Baltimore Hebrew University and the synagogue’s founding rebbe, Beth Am is a Conservative congregation committed to progressive values, intellectual discourse, urban living and egalitarian Judaism. In early 2019, the congregation temporarily moved out of 2501 Eutaw Place to facilitate a major, multi-million-dollar renovation of the building.
An accessible, street-level entrance was added to the facility on its Chauncey Avenue wing, as well as a new elevator. The lower level was rebuilt to accommodate flexible activity and classroom space, and the sanctuary bimah was reconfigured to enhance interaction between worship leaders and participants.
In addition, the floors of the building are now connected by a grand staircase, with a bannister designed by Baltimore-based sculptor and artist David Hess depicting the richness and diversity of the Reservoir Hill community. Beth Am moved back into the building for the High Holiday season in September of 2019.
“This fall, we unveil our brand new adjacent office building and courtyard, where we’ll place our brand new sukkah!” said Rabbi Burg. “One of our members has generously commissioned a stunning new mahogany shulchan [table and lectern] from which [Beth Am education director] Rabbi [Tyler] Dratch and I will lead this year’s High Holy Day services. From there, I look forward to gazing out at many familiar faces, some of whom I haven’t seen in person since before the pandemic.
“The Torah table and lectern evoke Sperry’s majestic sanctuary design, and will further tie Reservoir Hill’s rich Jewish history to Beth Am’s bright future.”
For information about Beth Am’s centennial celebration of its building, visit bethambaltimore.org/about/our-100th-anniversary/.
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