Young Israel Shomrai Emunah (abbreviated as YISE) is an Orthodoxsynagogue located at 1132 Arcola Avenue, in Kemp Mill,[2][3]Montgomery County, Maryland, in the United States. Established as a congregation in 1951, it was the first Orthodox synagogue established in Montgomery County.[4] It is one of the largest Orthodox synagogues in Maryland and is recognized as a key synagogue in the Silver Spring, Maryland area.[5]
Functions and services
The synagogue provides a full range of religious and social services, such a nursery school,[6] banquet hall for weddings,[7] prayer services for Sephardi Jews,[8] assistance with job hunting,[9] notable guest speakers from the Jewish world, such as a Silver Spring native Lazer Brody who joined the Breslov Hasidim.[10][dead link] Young Israel has seven different services each Shabbat morning, from a minyan in the Sephardi tradition to one for early risers. All services are under the same roof.
For environmentalists it has co-hosted programs with the Canfei Nesharim organization that provides: "a Torah based approach to understand and act on the relationship between traditional Jewish sources and modern environmental issues[16]...which explores environmentalism 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."[17]
History
Origins
Congregation Shomrai Emunah was established in 1951 when several Jews formed a worship group in Chillum, Maryland.[18]Rabbi Abraham A. Kellner was the first spiritual adviser.[18][19]
In 1955, Congregation Shomrai Emunah began raising $75,000 of funds to build its own synagogue.[19][21] Land on the Maryland side of Eastern Avenue near Oglethorpe Road was purchased,[21] and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 12, 1957.[19] Approximately one-hundred families were members of Congregation Shomrai Emunah at the time.[19]
The synagogue was dedicated on December 22, 1957.[22] Rabbi Gedaliah Anemer led the ceremony, having become Shomrai Emunah's spiritual leader earlier that year.[23]
Montgomery County
In the early 1960s, there was a trend of residents moving further into suburbs of Washington, D.C.[24] With many of its members no longer living within walking distance to Shomrai Emunah's synagogue, attendance on Shabbat decreased significantly.[24]
Rabbi Anemer bought a house near Kemp Mill, Maryland, and he began holding Shabbat services there every other week.[24] When attendance at Rabbi Anemer's home quickly became too large for the space, Shomrai Emunah built a new synagogue on nearby University Boulevard.[25][24]Orthodox Jewish congregation in Montgomery County.[25][26][27] Shomrai Emunah later started another service at a member's home in the Montgomery Knolls area of Silver Spring.[24]
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 for girls in 1964.[28] A religious school for boys opened the following year.[28] On April 29, 1973, Shomrai Emunah held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new synagogue at Arcola Avenue and Lamberton Drive in Kemp Mill.[29] The synagogue opened the following year.[28]
Rabbi Anemer died on April 15, 2010. He held the position of rabbi for 52 years.[27][30] He was succeeded by Rabbi Dovid Rosenbaum,[28] who was officially installed on November 20, 2010.[31]
