Congregation Kol Emes (Richmond, Virginia)

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Congregation Kol Emes (Hebrew: קהילת קול אמת ד'ריטשמאנד)‎ ("Kol Emes" means "voice [of] truth" in Hebrew) also known as Young Israel of Richmond is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Richmond, Virginia, constituted and founded in its present state in 1964. It is one of the oldest currently active Jewish congregations in Virginia, the fourth oldest active congregation in Richmond, and housing the oldest active mikvah in Richmond. It is a member synagogue of the National Council of Young Israel and the Orthodox Union.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

Congregation Kol Emes is a continuation of Orthodox synagogues in Richmond dating back to 1789.[2] It has been at the center of the continuation of Orthodox Jewish life in Richmond:

In 1964...brothers Abraham and Emil Dere spearheaded the founding of the Jewish Academy of Richmond, which, shortly thereafter became Congregation Kol Emes, with the guidance of HaRav Nachman Bulman, who at the time was a Rov in Newport News, VA. At the time, once again, Kol Emes housed the only Mikvah in Richmond (until the Chabad Mikvah opened in the 1980's) and the only shul in Richmond with a Mechitzah (until Keneseth Beth Israel moved to its present location in the 1970's). In 1965, the Richmond Hebrew Day School, presently Rudlin Torah Academy, was founded in the Kol Emes building, with personal blessings from Gedolei Yisrael.[3]

The synagogue was at the center of all major religious developments in Jewish and Orthodox life in Richmond, such as in the spheres of Jewish education and efforts to increase Jewish religious ritual life, having had the attention of rabbis who served the synagogue or even from further afield who saw its centrality and importance.

[edit] Current events

The present rabbi has the distinction of having become Hasidic yet serving a non-Hasidic Modern Orthodox synagogue as reported in The Jewish Press (October 24, 2007):

Rabbi Yitzchak Zev (Joseph) Kolakowski became the rav of Kol Emes in January 2007. He received semichah at Yeshiva Or Kedoshim Biala in Brooklyn. He obtained a B.A. in psychology from Lander College for Men in Queens, N.Y. and a postgraduate certificate in Advanced Rabbinics and Synagogue Management from Touro College in conjunction with National Council of Young Israel and the Young Israel Council of Rabbis. Rabbi Kolakowski's English translation of sefer Seder HaYom by the late Biala Rebbe was published in 2006 in Israel. Rabbi Kolakowski and his rebbetzin, Chavah, hope to guide Congregation Kol Emes to become a bastion of Torah and tefillah within the rich and historic tapestry of Richmond's Jewish community.[4][5]

The synagogue has drawn notable attention to itself in the Jewish media because of its new rabbi's Hasidic lifestyle and innovations and his hosting a number of events with the help and participation of Hasidim and Rebbes from the larger Jewish centers:

On Sunday night of Chol HaMoed Sukkos, September 30, [2007] a group of more than 30 Satmar men, women, and children, came to Congregation Kol Emes (Young Israel of Richmond) in Richmond, Virginia to conduct a joyous Simchas Beis HaShoeivah for the entire Jewish community of Richmond. On Sunday, October 21, Rabbi Moshe Taub, Kalover Rebbe from Williamsburg, visited Kol Emes at the invitation of Rabbi Kolakowski. The Rebbe arrived at three in the afternoon and at 5:30 delivered a heartwarming drashah ("sermon") to the entire community. He then received petitioners at Kol Emes from 8-11 p.m. The Kalover Rebbe is celebrated for his successful outreach efforts.[6]

Rabbi Kolakowski has also drawn the attention of the local secular media who have become curious about Judaism through the congregation's activities, such as a report in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (December 08, 2007):

A weekly Jewish ritual called Havdalah marks the end of the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest. After Times-Dispatch photographer Bruce Parker took a photo of a Havdalah ceremony at Congregation Kol Emes in Richmond last Saturday night, we decided to follow up with Rabbi Joseph Kolakowski to ask a few questions about the practice and about his congregation.[7]

The interview with the Times-Dispatch went on to question the rabbi's own background revealing his eclectic origins and how he came to be a Hasidic rabbi serving an Orthodox Young Israel synagogue in Virginia:

I am 23 years old...My upbringing was far from Orthodox or Hasidic. My mother was raised in a Modern Orthodox home in Queens, N.Y., but she chose to leave Orthodox practice. My father is of the Roman Catholic faith. As an infant, I had my bris in an Orthodox synagogue and was also baptized in a Catholic church...My grandparents encouraged me to have a bar mitzvah in their Orthodox synagogue, and I liked it so much I continued to adopt more Orthodox practices...My senior year in high school and my freshman year in college I spent in a full-time yeshiva in Jerusalem, where I felt drawn to Hasidic practice and philosophy, which stresses love, joy and spirituality...My wife's name is Melissa (her Hebrew name is Chavah, which translates into English as "Eve"), and she has a very interesting story. She is a convert to the Jewish faith, born into a Mormon family in Idaho Falls, Idaho. She fulfilled her lifelong dream to be a successful opera singer... since Mr. Dere's passing in 2001 -- saw the congregation waning...Many thought the synagogue would close down, as they went for two years without a rabbi, and were barely eking out a Sabbath service about once a month.. The struggling congregation, under the new lay leadership of Mr. Thomas Buehler, decided that it was time to seek a new rabbi to try a last-ditch effort to rejuvenate the congregation...On Hanukkah of 2006, my wife and I spent our first official Sabbath as rabbi and rebbetzin (Yiddish for Rabbi's wife) of Congregation Kol Emes. We fully moved to Richmond in January of this year. Since we have moved here, our synagogue has grown. Historically the synagogue was strictly Orthodox, but I have been pushing a vision of more outreach...We now have services every week, and they are attended by men and women, Jews and non-Jews, of all different backgrounds.[8]

The scenario described by Rabbi Kolakowski is reflective of the changes that are taking place in Jewish communal life, not just in Richmond but in most smaller Jewish communities and within their synagogues as they adapt and respond to the changing religious and sociological conditions in Jewish and general society.

Recently, the Congregation has begun a Public Access Cable TV show in Richmond. [9]

[edit] See also

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ Congregation Kol Emes/Young Israel of Richmond is a Proud Member of the Orthodox Union
  2. ^ History of Kol Emes
  3. ^ History of Kol Emes
  4. ^ My Machberes: "The Chassidim Of... Richmond, Virginia" by Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum. (The Jewish Press, October 24, 2007)
  5. ^ My Machberes: "Richmond’s Chassidic History" by Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum. (The Jewish Press, October 31, 2007)
  6. ^ My Machberes: "The Chassidim Of... Richmond, Virginia" by Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum. (The Jewish Press, October 24, 2007)
  7. ^ Richmond rabbi explains ritual by Tina Eshleman (Richmond Times-Dispatch, December 08, 2007
  8. ^ Richmond rabbi explains ritual by Tina Eshleman (Richmond Times-Dispatch, December 08, 2007
  9. ^ Call-in TV show to feature local rabbi

[edit] External links