The Ballpark Synagogue, officially B'nai Israel Synagogue (

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

from

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

as "Sons of Israel"), is an historic former

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located in

South Bend South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, in the United States. The oldest synagogue in South Bend, it is also thought to be "America's only ballpark synagogue." In 2012 the unused synagogue was renovated and reopened as a gift shop for the

South Bend Cubs The South Bend Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in South Bend, Indiana, and play their home games at Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium. The team w ...

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

team, whose ballpark abuts the property. The synagogue was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2013.

History

The modest synagogue was built in 1901 by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. The congregation was

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 ...

for most of its history; in 1982 it became a Reconstructionist temple and was renamed B'nai Yisrael. After some years of declining attendance in a neighborhood that continued to deteriorate despite renewal efforts, including construction of a minor league ballpark adjacent to the synagogue, the last services were held in the building in 1990. It was then donated to the Indiana Landmarks Foundation. In 2005, the Foundation sold the synagogue to Chris Wood for use as a residence; however the city decided to use the building or the land it stood on as part of its urban renewal efforts and bought the building from Wood in 2007 for $130,000. Plans to use the building as a museum, or to move it to a new location, fell through due to lack of funds, and the building stood neglected and deteriorating for several years.

Restoration and refurbishment

In 2012

Andrew T. Berlin Andrew T. Berlin (born June 30, 1960) is an Americans, American businessman, attorney, and philanthropist living in Chicago, Illinois. Berlin was the chairman and chief executive officer of Berlin Packaging, a global supplier of plastic, glass a ...

, new owner of the

baseball team, purchased the synagogue and funded a $1 million renovation. Berlin paid for restoration, including a refurbishment of the building's handsome brass chandelier, and for new wall paintings combining biblical and baseball themes. A mural of Noah's Ark is captioned "Rain Delay", and a copy of Michelangelo's ''

Creation of Adam Creation or The Creation or Creations, may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Creation'' (1922 film), a British silent drama * ''Creation'' (unfinished film), 1931 * ''Creation'' (2009 film), about Charles Darwin Literature * ''Creation ...

'' from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel shows God's hand encased in a baseball glove as he hands a baseball to Adam. The caption reads: "Play Ball." The preserved building stands on the grounds of Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium, where it serves as the Cubs' team gift shop. A short film about the restoration of the synagogue won a 2013

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

Criticism

Robert Nevel, a

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

-based architect who attended the synagogue as a boy, told ''

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'' in 2015 that the reuse of the bimah (the central platform from which the

Torah The Torah ( , "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. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

is read) as the location of the cash register felt like "accidental symbolism" and "sardonic commentary" on the

antisemitic canard Antisemitic tropes, also known as antisemitic canards or antisemitic libels, are " sensational reports, misrepresentations or fabrications" about Jews as an ethnicity or Judaism as a religion. Since the 2nd century, malicious allegations of ...

that Jews worship money. He also said that the design of the access ramp had "mucked up" the building's stone base, a distinguishing feature of early Chicago style architecture.

Architecture

The -story structure was designed in

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

style. Finished in orange-brick limestone, it has a gabled roof topped by a large stone arch trimmed in white. Its three tall front windows are arched at the top and square at the bottom; a white metal panel with a design of pressed arches separates the top and bottom of each window. The name of the synagogue is engraved above the center window at the base of another arch-shaped design, with an oculus window at the center. On either corner of the front facade is a square brick tourelle with a

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...

led base; each tourelle is topped by a pyramid-shaped metal roof with a

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

. The interior design includes a main sanctuary with a balcony for female worshippers, several smaller rooms, and a basement that previously housed a

mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...

References

External links