Agudas Achim Congregation (Alexandria, Virginia)
Encyclopedia
Agudas Achim Congregation is a Conservative
synagogue
located at 2908 Valley Drive in Alexandria, Virginia
, a suburb of Washington, DC. The synagogue was founded in 1914, and its cemetery was founded in 1933.
approach led a fringe group who left and established Agudas Achim Congregation. In 1927, the congregation acquired a large Italianate building at 508 Wolfe Street, built around 1850, for the synagogue. In 1946, the synagogue sold the building to a post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars
.
In 1958, the synagogue's president, Murray J. Goldberg, joined other Virginia Jewish leaders in backing free rabbinical expression. They spoke out after Jews in the Southern U.S. were threatened for supporting civil rights for African-Americans and after the bombing of the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple
in Atlanta.
A new synagogue building was dedicated on December 30, 1963, with President Lyndon B. Johnson
as a speaker. The new building was designed by Joseph Miller.
In 1982, Gesher Jewish Day School of Northern Virginia opened as a kindergarten at Agudas Achim Congregation. It was the only Jewish kindergarten in the area offering a complete private-school curriculum, along with instruction in Hebrew and Jewish culture and religion. It relocated to larger quarters in 1994, after outgrowing its space.
In 1985, Agudas Achim Congregation joined Reform Beth El Hebrew Congregation of Alexandria in beginning a joint venture
, with both synagogues providing seed money
for a pre-school named Keshet Child Development Center. The synagogue took an active role, sitting on the school board. In 2001, however, Agudas Achim withdrew because of issues regarding non-Jewish lay leadership at the pre-school. The synagogue's rabbi, explaining that Agudas Achim had no choice but to withdraw from its involvement, said: "Our congregational charter did not permit the representation by non-Jews, and Keshet's experience was that some of the best leaders were the non-Jewish parents."
On September 21, 2004, Representative Tom Davis of Virginia commemorated the 90th anniversary of the synagogue in the United States House of Representatives
.
In 2005, Agudas Achim Congregation opened a start-up Preschool for the Performing Arts. It was for children ages two to four, using dance, theater, music, and art to teach the children about Jewish holiday
s and traditions. But three months later, on December 16, 2005, synagogue president Gary Greenbaum sent a letter to congregants saying that the synagogue and the school's founding director had ended their relationship by mutual consent, as a result of different visions as to how to run the school. The synagogue's president said that he wanted the preschool to be integrated better into the synagogue, with regard to programming and a summer camp program. That same year, the school received a $38,165 grant from the federal government in homeland security
funds approved by Congress to "harden targets" at its facility, which it used to purchase a heavy-duty security door with audio and visual protective features. The synagogue's rabbi, hazzan
, and religious school director regularly participate with the children.
In 2006, Agudas Achim Congregation changed the time that its Friday night services began from 8 PM to 6:30 PM, to increase the number of its congregants attending the services. According to Mirza Lopez, its executive director, early results were encouraging. At the same time, its Saturday morning services were typically attracting 250 congregants.
In 2006–07 Agudas Achim served as the temporary home of the Westminster Presbyterian Church
of Alexandria during the church's renovations. In a sermon in 2007, Senior Pastor Dr. Larry R. Hayward of the church said that the synagogue's rabbi had told him that when the church performed its renovation: "not only would we be welcome at Agudas Achim, but we would probably cause great collective disappointment to their congregation if we did not worship here." He reminisced that in 2006, the rabbi and several members of the synagogue joined church members at the church, to process to the synagogue, and that: "Then, when a hundred or more of their members formed a line outside their door and welcomed us with handshakes and applause, we were overwhelmed. There wasn't a dry eye on the sidewalk".
and his family attended this congregation while he worked in the White House
.
Dues are billed to members, inasmuch as synagogues do not transact money on Shabbat, when members are at the synagogue, and therefore as the synagogue's rabbi noted: "we cannot 'pass the plate'". In 2008, as a financial incentive to attract congregants, the synagogue offered newlyweds dues of $500, and full-time students younger than 30 a dues price of $180.
, who has been the synagogue's rabbi since 1987 and who was named by Newsweek
magazine as one of the 50 most influential rabbis in America, placing 26th on the list. The synagogue's executive director credited Moline's weekly dvar Torah as being a big attraction for congregants attending the synagogue's Saturday morning services. The rabbi was noted by The New York Times for giving a sermon giving glowing praise to Inglorious Basterds, pointing out that it was the first Holocaust movie in which Jews were "portrayed as power brokers rather than victims.”
Rabbi Theodore Steinberg was rabbi of the synagogue in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Rabbi Sheldon Elster became the synagogue's rabbi in 1968.
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism is the primary organization of synagogues practicing Conservative Judaism in North America...
synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
located at 2908 Valley Drive in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
, a suburb of Washington, DC. The synagogue was founded in 1914, and its cemetery was founded in 1933.
History
The synagogue was founded in 1914. Agudas Achim Congregation developed as a breakaway congregation from Alexandria's Beth El Hebrew Congregation, founded in 1859, after new Eastern European immigrants who did not like Beth El's classical ReformReform
Reform means to put or change into an improved form or condition; to amend or improve by change of color or removal of faults or abuses, beneficial change, more specifically, reversion to a pure original state, to repair, restore or to correct....
approach led a fringe group who left and established Agudas Achim Congregation. In 1927, the congregation acquired a large Italianate building at 508 Wolfe Street, built around 1850, for the synagogue. In 1946, the synagogue sold the building to a post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars
Veterans of Foreign Wars
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is a congressionally chartered war veterans organization in the United States. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, VFW currently has 1.5 million members belonging to 7,644 posts, and is the largest American organization of combat...
.
In 1958, the synagogue's president, Murray J. Goldberg, joined other Virginia Jewish leaders in backing free rabbinical expression. They spoke out after Jews in the Southern U.S. were threatened for supporting civil rights for African-Americans and after the bombing of the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple
Bombing of the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple
The Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple, a Reform Jewish temple located on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, and known simply as "The Temple," was bombed in the early morning hours of October 12, 1958. An explosion of approximately fifty sticks of dynamite tore through the side wall of the...
in Atlanta.
A new synagogue building was dedicated on December 30, 1963, with President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
as a speaker. The new building was designed by Joseph Miller.
In 1982, Gesher Jewish Day School of Northern Virginia opened as a kindergarten at Agudas Achim Congregation. It was the only Jewish kindergarten in the area offering a complete private-school curriculum, along with instruction in Hebrew and Jewish culture and religion. It relocated to larger quarters in 1994, after outgrowing its space.
In 1985, Agudas Achim Congregation joined Reform Beth El Hebrew Congregation of Alexandria in beginning a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
, with both synagogues providing seed money
Seed money
Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding, friends and family funding or angel funding , is a securities offering whereby one or more parties that have some connection to a new enterprise invest the funds necessary to start the business so that it has enough funds to sustain itself for a period...
for a pre-school named Keshet Child Development Center. The synagogue took an active role, sitting on the school board. In 2001, however, Agudas Achim withdrew because of issues regarding non-Jewish lay leadership at the pre-school. The synagogue's rabbi, explaining that Agudas Achim had no choice but to withdraw from its involvement, said: "Our congregational charter did not permit the representation by non-Jews, and Keshet's experience was that some of the best leaders were the non-Jewish parents."
On September 21, 2004, Representative Tom Davis of Virginia commemorated the 90th anniversary of the synagogue in the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
.
In 2005, Agudas Achim Congregation opened a start-up Preschool for the Performing Arts. It was for children ages two to four, using dance, theater, music, and art to teach the children about Jewish holiday
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays are days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov or chag or ta'anit...
s and traditions. But three months later, on December 16, 2005, synagogue president Gary Greenbaum sent a letter to congregants saying that the synagogue and the school's founding director had ended their relationship by mutual consent, as a result of different visions as to how to run the school. The synagogue's president said that he wanted the preschool to be integrated better into the synagogue, with regard to programming and a summer camp program. That same year, the school received a $38,165 grant from the federal government in homeland security
Homeland security
Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...
funds approved by Congress to "harden targets" at its facility, which it used to purchase a heavy-duty security door with audio and visual protective features. The synagogue's rabbi, hazzan
Hazzan
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources...
, and religious school director regularly participate with the children.
In 2006, Agudas Achim Congregation changed the time that its Friday night services began from 8 PM to 6:30 PM, to increase the number of its congregants attending the services. According to Mirza Lopez, its executive director, early results were encouraging. At the same time, its Saturday morning services were typically attracting 250 congregants.
In 2006–07 Agudas Achim served as the temporary home of the Westminster Presbyterian Church
Westminster Presbyterian Church (Alexandria, Virginia)
Westminster Presbyterian Church of Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. located at the corner of Cameron Mills Road and Monticello Boulevard in the city's North Ridge section. Westminster Presbyterian Church is a member of the Presbyterian Church , the Mid-Atlantic Synod and the National Capital...
of Alexandria during the church's renovations. In a sermon in 2007, Senior Pastor Dr. Larry R. Hayward of the church said that the synagogue's rabbi had told him that when the church performed its renovation: "not only would we be welcome at Agudas Achim, but we would probably cause great collective disappointment to their congregation if we did not worship here." He reminisced that in 2006, the rabbi and several members of the synagogue joined church members at the church, to process to the synagogue, and that: "Then, when a hundred or more of their members formed a line outside their door and welcomed us with handshakes and applause, we were overwhelmed. There wasn't a dry eye on the sidewalk".
Membership and dues
The synagogue has about 550 member units. Rahm EmanuelRahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel is an American politician and the 55th and current Mayor of Chicago. He was formerly White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama...
and his family attended this congregation while he worked in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
.
Dues are billed to members, inasmuch as synagogues do not transact money on Shabbat, when members are at the synagogue, and therefore as the synagogue's rabbi noted: "we cannot 'pass the plate'". In 2008, as a financial incentive to attract congregants, the synagogue offered newlyweds dues of $500, and full-time students younger than 30 a dues price of $180.
Clergy
The current rabbi is Jack MolineJack Moline
Jack Moline is an American Conservative rabbi who has served as rabbi of Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria, Virginia since 1987 and Director of Public Policy for the Rabbinical Assembly since 2009, and is a past Chair of the Board of the Interfaith Alliance.In 2008, he was named by Newsweek...
, who has been the synagogue's rabbi since 1987 and who was named by Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine as one of the 50 most influential rabbis in America, placing 26th on the list. The synagogue's executive director credited Moline's weekly dvar Torah as being a big attraction for congregants attending the synagogue's Saturday morning services. The rabbi was noted by The New York Times for giving a sermon giving glowing praise to Inglorious Basterds, pointing out that it was the first Holocaust movie in which Jews were "portrayed as power brokers rather than victims.”
Rabbi Theodore Steinberg was rabbi of the synagogue in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Rabbi Sheldon Elster became the synagogue's rabbi in 1968.