Congregation Ohabai Shalome (San Francisco)
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In 1864, some disaffected members of San Francisco’s Congregation Emanu-El broke away and established Congregation Ohabai Shalome, when they objected to the modification of the ritual in the older synagogue. Its founding officers included Joseph Mayer; Baruch Hamburger; Moses Waterman; Sol Wangenheim; Leopold Kahn; Henry Greenberg; S. Wand; J. Baum; and S. Wolf.
Its first building was at the corner of Post and Geary, but then, in 1895, it moved to a new building, designed by the architect Moses J. Lyon, at 1881 Bush Street. With time, this building, noted for its Venetian and Moorish motifs, became popularly known as the Bush Street Synagogue. In November 1934, the congregation sold this building. It then met for a time in other locations in the city, but, in 1940, when its rabbi, Michael Fried, died, the congregation disbanded.
In November 1934, the Zen Center of San Francisco bought the building at 1881 Bush Street. During World War II, the owners and Japanese-American congregants of the Zen Center were interned in concentration camps, as part of the wartime s Japanese American internment. During this time, while its Japanese-American owners continued to make mortgage payments on the building, 1881 Bush Street became the home of the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, a church whose congregants were primarily African-Americans from the American South. After the war, the Zen Center took back ownership of the building. After 1969, the Zen Center left 1881 Bush Street, and it languished for while until it came under the ownership of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.
In the late 1980s, there were unsuccessful attempts to turn the building into a Jewish Cultural Center. Finally, in 1996, the ownership of the building was transferred to the Japanese American Religious Federation and it ultimately was given to the Kokoro Senior Citizen Assisted Living Center, a home for senior citizens, most of whom are from the Japanese-American community.
In 2001, a time capsule, which members of Congregation Ohabai Shalome had placed in the building at 1881 Bush Street, in 1895, was uncovered and opened. The contents of the time capsule were put on display at the Judah L. Magnes Museum, in Berkeley, California, in 2002, and donated to the Museum's Western Jewish History Center.
In addition to the contents of the time capsule, the Western Jewish History Center also has an archival collection that documents the history of this congregation. This material includes a congregation minute book (1864-1870); programs and materials from the opening of its building at 1881 Bush Street; publications written by the congregation's rabbis; and various photographs.
