Beth Am is a Conservative synagogue in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. The congregation is located in Baltimore's

Reservoir Hill Reservoir Hill, also known as Whitelock, is a neighborhood in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is located south of Druid Hill Park, north of Bolton Hill, east of Penn-North, and west of Jones Falls. It is bounded by Druid Par ...

community, and is considered to be one of the city's historic synagogues. It is one of two non-

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

synagogues in Baltimore's

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

. Beth Am is an urban, egalitarian congregation affiliated with the

United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) is the major congregational organization of Conservative Judaism in North America, and the largest Conservative Jewish communal body in the world. USCJ closely works with the Rabbinical Assembly ...

, and it is known for balancing traditional prayer and learning with innovative and intellectual critique.

History

The building currently known as "Beth Am" was first founded as Chizuk Amuno Congregation, which has since moved to a new suburban location in Pikesville, Maryland. Chizuk Amuno first occupied the building in 1922 and moved to Pikesville in 1958. Following the move of Chizuk Amuno, services continued in the building, led by Cantor Abba Weisgall. Then, in 1974, the current Beth Am congregation was founded as Dr. Louis L. Kaplan's shul. Kaplan's wife Etta suggested the name, which translates to "House of the People".

Leadership

Kaplan served informally as the congregation's spiritual leader until 1981, when the congregation hired its first full-time rabbi. The congregation had no full-time rabbi in the years 2000–2002, when they were served part-time by Rabbi Sheila Russian, who in 1979 had become the first female rabbi in Baltimore. The current rabbi is Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg, who joined the congregation in 2010. The Rabbi Emeritus is Jon Konheim, who has been with the congregation since 2002.

Principles

Beth Am strives to be, in Isaiah's words, “a house of prayer for all peoples”. Beth Am is known for its warmth, its open embrace of children, and its pluralism.

References

Notes

Sources

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External links

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Conservative synagogues in Maryland Reservoir Hill, Baltimore Synagogues in Baltimore {{US-synagogue-stub