B'nai Israel Synagogue (Baltimore)

East European Jewish settlement in Baltimore grew during the 1860s. A 1937 Hebrew Union College thesis says few East European Jews lived in the city before 1860, but that Poles and Lithuanians settled there between 1860 and 1870. Many later concentrated in East Baltimore, where small congregations often formed around members' shared places of origin.[4][5]

B'nai Israel was founded in 1873 by Lithuanian immigrants and was the first Baltimore congregation organized by residents of Russian origin.[1][2] Its founding followed a division within Bikur Cholim, an immigrant congregation established in 1865. A lack of homogeneity within Bikur Cholim led dissenting members to form the Russian Congregation Benai Israel.[4] Both early East European congregations worshiped in synagogue buildings formerly owned by German-Jewish congregations whose members had moved to more prosperous parts of Baltimore.[4]

By 1907, B'nai Israel had 100 members and an annual income of $4,000. The Directory of Jewish Organizations listed the congregation at 27 Lloyd Street, with H. Levinson as rabbi and W. Goldstein as cantor. Services were conducted in Hebrew on Sabbath evenings and mornings and on holidays.[6]

Rabbi Abraham "Aba" Chaim Levinson served B'nai Israel from 1891 to 1912. Trained in Lithuanian yeshivot, he had previously served in Rochester, where he became involved in disputes concerning kosher certification.[2] His Baltimore tenure coincided with the expansion of East European Orthodox Jewish life in the city.[2][5] A 2015 report said that a growing number of Jews moving into Baltimore had helped revive B'nai Israel.[7]

In 1895, B'nai Israel purchased its Lloyd Street building from Chizuk Amuno, which had relocated to a more upscale neighborhood.[2][1] A September 11, 1895, Baltimore Sun item titled "A Congregation Moves" documented B'nai Israel taking possession of the synagogue.[2] The building was at times called the "Lloyd Street Synagogue" in Baltimore press coverage, although it was also known within the community as the Russisheh Schul, or Russian Synagogue.[2]

B'nai Israel Synagogue dates to 1876 and has a period Moorish design, including a white-and-gold sanctuary.[3] A separate, older building on Lloyd Street is a simple Greek Revival structure designed by Robert Carey Long, Jr. and constructed circa 1844–1845. The Library of Congress catalog identifies that older structure as the first synagogue built in Maryland but does not identify it as B'nai Israel.[8] Both buildings are now included in the Jewish Museum of Maryland's East Baltimore campus.[1]

The B'nai Israel Synagogue building forms part of the Jewish Museum of Maryland's East Baltimore campus, which also includes the historic Lloyd Street Synagogue and a modern museum building.[1] The museum interprets Jewish life in America, with particular attention to Maryland and the immigrant experience of East Baltimore's Jewish community. Its campus preserves two distinct historic synagogue structures and the legacy of the Jewish neighborhood that once surrounded them.[1]

Historical terminology can cause confusion between the two synagogue buildings on the museum campus. B'nai Israel's building was at times called the "Lloyd Street Synagogue" in Baltimore press coverage, while the Library of Congress record titled "Lloyd Street Synagogue" documents the separate Greek Revival building dating to circa 1844–1845 and does not associate it with B'nai Israel.[2][8] The museum listing distinguishes the historic B'nai Israel and Lloyd Street Synagogues as separate structures.[1]

A notable episode in the congregation's history was an 1897 dispute over kosher supervision. Rabbis Levinson and Burman warned butcher Levi Edlavitch that his schochet's services were considered unsatisfactory and that Edlavitch would be unable to sell kosher meat to the Orthodox community unless he suspended the schochet.[2] The account's author connects the case to broader competition among rabbinic authorities and congregations over kosher supervision in East Baltimore; that broader interpretation is the author's analysis rather than a settled historical conclusion.[2]