Chicago Sinai Congregation

{{Short description|Reform synagogue in Chicago, Illinois, United States}} {{for|similarly-named synagoges|Temple Sinai (disambiguation){{!}}Temple Sinai}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Chicago Sinai Congregation | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = | religious_affiliation = [[Reform Judaism]] | tradition = | sect = | district = | prefecture = | province = | region = | deity = | rite = | festival =  | organisational_status = [[Synagogue]] | ownership = | governing_body = | leadership = {{ubl|{{nowrap|Rabbi Michael A. Weinberg {{small|(''interim'')}}}}|Rabbi Amanda Greene {{small|(Associate)}}|Rabbi Rebecca Benoff {{small|(Assistant)}}}} | bhattaraka = | patron = | consecration_year = | functional_status = Active | religious_features_label = Notable artwork | religious_features = [[Brian Clarke]] stained-glass windows | location = 15 West Delaware Place, [[Chicago, Illinois]] 60610 | locale = | municipality = | cercle = | state = | country = United States | map_type = United States Chicago Central | map_size = 250 | map_alt = | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in Central [[Chicago, Illinois]] | grid_name = | grid_position = | sector = | territory = | administration = | coordinates = {{coord|41.8989|-87.6287|region:US-IL_type:landmark|format=dms|display=it}} | coordinates_footnotes = | heritage_designation = | architect = [[Dirk Lohan]] | architecture_type = Synagogue | architecture_style = | founded_by = | creator = | funded_by = | general_contractor = | established = 1861 {{small|(as a congregation)}} | groundbreaking = | year_completed = 1996 | construction_cost = | date_demolished =  | facade_direction = | capacity = | length = | width = | width_nave = | interior_area = | height_max = | dome_quantity = | dome_height_outer = | dome_height_inner = | dome_dia_outer = | dome_dia_inner = | minaret_quantity = | minaret_height = | spire_quantity = | spire_height = | site_area = | temple_quantity = | monument_quantity = | shrine_quantity = | inscriptions = | materials = | elevation_m =  | elevation_footnotes = | nrhp = | designated = | added = | refnum = | delisted1_date = | website = {{URL|chicagosinai.org}} | module =  | footnotes = }}

'''Chicago Sinai Congregation'''{{efn|Also referred to as Temple Sinai or Sinai Temple.}} is a [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] [[Jewish]] congregation and [[synagogue]] located at 15 West Delaware Place, in [[Chicago, Illinois]], in the United States. Founded in 1861, the current synagogue building was designed by [[Dirk Lohan]] and completed in 1996, inclusive of stained-glass windows by British artist [[Brian Clarke]].

== History == Founded in 1861, Chicago Sinai Congregation was the first Reform congregation to be established in Chicago.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagosinai.org/chicago-reform-congregation/first-reform-synagogue-chicago |title=First Reform synagogue Chicago |work=Chicago Sinai |access-date= }}{{self-published inline|date=January 2024 }}</ref> During the nineteenth century, the congregation helped pioneer and promote the controversial ritual reform of the Sunday Sabbath (substituting Saturday for Sunday) for Jewish communities in America.<ref name="olitz">{{cite journal |author=Olitzky, K. |author-link=Kerry M. Olitzky |year=1985 |title=Sundays at Chicago Sinai Congregation: Paradigm for a Movement |journal=American Jewish History |volume=74 |number=4 |pages=356–368 }}</ref><ref name="olitz2">{{cite journal |author=Olitzky, K. |author-link=Kerry M. Olitzky |year=1982 |title=The Sunday-Sabbath Movement in American Reform Judaism: Strategy or Evolution? |journal=American Jewish Archives |volume=34 |number=1 |pages=75–88 }}</ref>

In the late nineteenth century, the congregation became the site of speculation concerning the possibility of a woman rabbi in the United States. In 1897, [[Hannah G. Solomon]] of Chicago was touted in the press as America's first woman rabbi following her preaching at the congregation.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 March 1897 |title=The First Woman Rabbi |work=The Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, Vermont}}</ref><ref name="Brandon Mail 187">{{Cite news |date=18 March 1897 |title=The First Woman Rabbi |work=Brandon Mail |location=Manitoba, Canada}}</ref> Solomon later reported that the invitation to speak was offered by Rabbi Emil Hirsch and that Hirsch's practice to allow Jewish women to speak from the pulpit was later adopted by other congregations.<ref>{{cite book |author=Solomon, H. G. |year=1946 |title=Fabric of My Life: The Autobiography of Hannah G. Solomon |location=New York |publisher=Bloch Publishing Company |pages=111–112 |isbn= }}</ref>

== Rabbis == The early rabbis to have served in the congregation include [[Bernhard Felsenthal]] (served from inception in 1861–1864), Isaac Leow Chronik (served from 1866 to 1871),<ref name=olitz/> [[Kaufmann Kohler]] (served from 1871 to 1880),<ref name=olitz2/> [[Emil G. Hirsch]] (served from 1880 to 1923).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author1=Adler, C. |author2=Vizetelly, F. H. |year=1906 |url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7728-hirsch-emil-gustav |title=Hirsch, Emil Gustav |encyclopedia=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] |volume=6 |pages=410–411 |isbn= |doi= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Heilbrunn, B. A. |year=2012 |title=Faith as motive for reform: Emil G. Hirsch and Chicago Jewish Progressives |publisher=[[University of Houston]] |pages= |isbn= }}</ref> Rabbis in the twentieth century include Richard C. Hertz (served from 1947 to 1953),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://collections.americanjewisharchives.org/ms/ms0675/ms0675.html |title=A Finding Aid to the Richard C. Hertz Papers Manuscript Collection No. 675 |work=American Jewish Archives |access-date= }}</ref> and Philip N. Kranz (served from 1971 to 1980).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archivesspace.thebreman.org/repositories/2/resources/304 |title=Rabbi Philip N. Kranz Papers |work=The Berman Museum |publisher= |access-date= }}</ref>

== Gallery== {{Gallery | title = | align = | footer = | style = | state = | height = | width = | captionstyle = | File:Kaufmann Kohler (1879).jpg |Chicago Tribune reports the resignation of Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler from Chicago Sinai Congregation | File:Chicago Sinai Congregation (1912).jpg |Sinai temple building depicted in 1912 }}

==See also== {{stack|{{portal|Chicago|Judaism}}}} * [[North Shore Congregation Israel]] * [[History of the Jews in Chicago]]

== Notes == {{notelist}}

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == * {{official website|https://www.chicagosinai.org}}

[[Category:1861 establishments in Illinois]] [[Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1861]] [[Category:Reform Judaism and women]] [[Category:Reform synagogues in Illinois]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1996]] [[Category:Synagogues in Chicago]]