Young Israel Shomrai Emunah (abbreviated as YISE) is an

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-pag ...

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

located at 1132 Arcola Avenue, in Kemp Mill, Montgomery County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, in the United States. Established as a congregation in 1951, it was the first Orthodox synagogue established in Montgomery County. It is one of the largest Orthodox synagogues in Maryland and is recognized as a key synagogue in the

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...

area.

Functions and services

The synagogue provides a full range of religious and social services, such a

nursery school A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

, banquet hall for weddings, prayer services for

Sephardi Jews Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...

, assistance with job hunting, notable guest speakers from the Jewish world, such as a Silver Spring native Lazer Brody who joined the Breslov Hasidim. Young Israel has seven different services each

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

morning, from a

minyan In Judaism, a ''minyan'' ( he, מניין \ מִנְיָן ''mīnyān'' , lit. (noun) ''count, number''; pl. ''mīnyānīm'' ) is the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain religious obligations. In more traditional streams of Jud ...

in the

Sephardi Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

tradition to one for early risers. All services are under the same roof.

Affiliations and associations

The synagogue is affiliated with the National Council of Young Israel. The synagogue has sponsored

Jewish education Jewish education ( he, חינוך, ''Chinuch'') is the transmission of the tenets, principles, and religious laws of Judaism. Known as the "people of the book", Jews value education, and the value of education is strongly embedded in Jewish cul ...

al activities with other local Orthodox institutions such as The Greater Washington Community Kollel. It offers a variety of programs such as for senior citizens in conjunction with the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington. It is also affiliated with the

Jewish Community Relations Council A Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) is a locally based Jewish organization that carries out "action agendas on behalf of and in the name of the local Jewish communities." Councils may aim "to represent the consensus of the organized Jewish ...

of Greater Washington. For environmentalists it has co-hosted programs with the Canfei Nesharim organization that provides: "a

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

based approach to understand and act on the relationship between traditional Jewish sources and modern environmental issues...which explores

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seek ...

through the lens of Halacha (Jewish law) and traditional Jewish sources. The new initiative is known as Maayan Olam: the Silver Spring Torah and Environmental Group... endorsed by the Silver Spring Orthodox congregations Young Israel-Shomrai Emunah, Kemp Mill Synagogue."

History

Origins

Congregation Shomrai Emunah was established in 1951 when several Jews formed a worship group in

Chillum, Maryland Chillum is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, bordering Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County. In addition to being its own unincorporated neighborhood, Chillum is also a census ...

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Abraham A. Kellner was the first spiritual adviser. Services were originally held in members' homes. Later on, the congregation held services in a

Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an organization of US war veterans, who, as military service members fought in wars, campaigns, and expeditions on foreign land, waters, or a ...

lodge, and then used rented space at Chillum Castle at Chillum and

Riggs Riggs is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Anna Rankin Riggs (1835-1908), American social reformer * Arthur Riggs (geneticist) (1939-2022), American geneticist * Arthur Stanley Riggs (1879–1952), American author and hi ...

roads that was owned by a Masonic lodge. In 1955, Congregation Shomrai Emunah began raising $75,000 of funds to build its own synagogue. Land on the Maryland side of Eastern Avenue near Oglethorpe Road was purchased, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 12, 1957. Approximately one-hundred families were members of Congregation Shomrai Emunah at the time. The synagogue was dedicated on December 22, 1957. Rabbi

Gedaliah Anemer Rabbi Gedaliah Anemer, also known as Rav Gedaliah Ben Zev HaKohen (March 19, 1932 – April 15, 2010), was an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi and founder of the Yeshiva of Greater Washington, where he served as Rosh Yeshiva for 45 years. He was a close di ...

led the ceremony, having become Shomrai Emunah's spiritual leader earlier that year.

Montgomery County

In the early 1960s, there was a trend of residents moving further into suburbs of Washington, D.C. With many of its members no longer living within walking distance to Shomrai Emunah's synagogue, attendance on

decreased significantly. Rabbi Anemer bought a house near Kemp Mill, Maryland, and he began holding Shabbat services there every other week. When attendance at Rabbi Anemer's home quickly became too large for the space, Shomrai Emunah built a new synagogue on nearby University Boulevard."

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

congregation in Montgomery County. Shomrai Emunah later started another service at a member's home in the Montgomery Knolls area of Silver Spring. By the late 1960s, the synagogue's membership outgrew the synagogue in Kemp Mill, so its membership raised funds to build a second, larger building in Kemp Mill. Rabbi Anemer established a

religious school A religious school is a school that either has a religious component in its operations or its curriculum, or exists primarily for the purpose of teaching aspects of a particular religion. Children A school can either be of two types, though the sa ...

for girls in 1964. A religious school for boys opened the following year. On April 29, 1973, Shomrai Emunah held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new synagogue at Arcola Avenue and Lamberton Drive in Kemp Mill. The synagogue opened the following year. Rabbi Anemer died on April 15, 2010. He held the position of rabbi for 52 years. He was succeeded by Rabbi Dovid Rosenbaum, who was officially installed on November 20, 2010.

Notable congregants

Samuel Kotz Samuel Kotz (30 August 1930 Harbin, China – 16 March 2010 Silver Spring, Maryland) was a professor and research scholar in the Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science at The Geor ...

(1930-2010), mathematician and statistician *

Dov Lipman Dov Alan Lipman ( he, דב אלן ליפמן, born 9 September 1971) is an Israeli former politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Yesh Atid between 2013 and 2015. Biography Lipman was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Silver S ...

(1971-), member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

2013-2015 * Azriel Rosenfeld (1931-2004), computer scientist and mathematician * Saul Jay Singer (1951-), legal ethicist and '' The Jewish Press'' columnist

References

External links

* {{Synagogues in the United States Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Maryland Synagogues in Kemp Mill, Maryland Ashkenazi synagogues Jews and Judaism in Silver Spring, Maryland Kemp Mill, Maryland Modern Orthodox synagogues in Maryland National Council of Young Israel Sephardi Jewish culture in Maryland Sephardi synagogues Synagogues in Montgomery County, Maryland 1951 establishments in Maryland Jewish organizations established in 1951 Synagogues completed in 1960 20th-century synagogues in the United States Synagogues in Maryland