K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Temple

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The KAM Isaiah Israel Temple is the oldest synagogue in Chicago, founded in 1847 as the place of worship for the KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation. The initials stand for Kehilath Anshe Maarav (the "Congregation of the Men of the West").

In 1922 KAM moved from their Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler designed temple in Bronzeville to a private residence in Hyde Park. Their temple became the Pilgrim Baptist Church, gave birth to Gospel music, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, designated a Chicago Landmark in 1981, and destroyed by fire in 2006. In 1971 KAM merged with another Reform congregation, Isaiah Israel (builders of the present temple), to become K.A.M. Isaiah Israel.

[edit] The temple

Located in the Kenwood neighborhood at 1100 E. Hyde Park Boulevard, the temple's architecture is Byzantine-inspired, topped with a large dome, and even features a Moslem-looking minaret. Built for the Isaiah Israel congregation in 1924, it was designed by Alfred S. Alschuler, who took his inspiration from photographs of a second-century synagogue unearthed at Tiberias, in Galilee. The building has geometrical figures on the exterior walls and carvings of foliage, grape clusters, oil vials, and menorahs on the interior. The building was redesignated an official Chicago Landmark on April 16, 1996.[1][2]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Temple. City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division (2003). Retrieved on 2007-05-13.
  2. ^ A Brief History of KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation. KAM Isaiah Israel. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 41°48′9.5″N, 87°35′55″W

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