Congregation Kol Ami of Frederick

{{Short description|Reform synagogue in Frederick, Maryland, US}} {{Use American English|date=August 2025}} {{use mdy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Congregation Kol Ami | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Kol Ami of Frederick 06.jpg | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = Kol Ami of Frederick, in 2018 | religious_affiliation = [[Reform Judaism]] | tradition = | sect = | district = | prefecture = | province = | region = | deity = | rite = | festival =  | organisational_status = [[Synagogue]] | ownership = | governing_body = | leadership = Rabbi Jennifer Weiner | bhattaraka = | patron = | consecration_year = | functional_status = Active | religious_features_label = | religious_features = | location = 4880 Elmer Derr Road, [[Frederick, Maryland|Frederick]], [[Maryland]] 21703 | locale = | municipality = | cercle = | state = | country = United States | map_type = Maryland | map_size = 250 | map_alt = | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in [[Maryland]] | grid_name = | grid_position = | sector = | territory = | administration = | coordinates = {{coords|39|24|51.5|N|77|24|48.5|W|region:US-MD_type:landmark|format=dms|display=it}} | coordinates_footnotes = | heritage_designation = | architect = | architecture_type = [[Church (building)|Church]] | architecture_style = | founded_by = | creator = | funded_by = | general_contractor = | established = 2003 {{small|(as a congregation)}} | groundbreaking = | year_completed = | 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|kolamifrederick.org}} | module =  | footnotes = }} '''Congregation Kol Ami''' is a [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] [[Jewish]] congregation and [[synagogue]] in [[Frederick, Maryland|Frederick]], [[Maryland]], in the United States.

==History== Founded by a group of eight families on February 21, 2003, the congregation's services are held at [[Unitarian-Universalist]] Congregation of Frederick [[Church (building)|church]] at 4880 Elmer Derr Road.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.fredericknewspost.com/archives/frederick-jews-observe-holy-day-of-atonement/article_b7be37cb-ad94-5ed0-b181-dae2220dbbbd.html |title=Frederick Jews observe holy day of atonement |author=Brown, Geoffrey D. |work=Frederick News Post |date=October 3, 2006 |accessdate=2010-12-29 }}</ref> In 2004, the congregation borrowed a [[Torah]] for use in worship and in 2005, Kol Ami hired a trainee [[rabbi]], Daniel Sikowitz. The same year, Kol Ami began its religious school,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Educational emphasis; Frederick's Kol Ami plans school |work=Washington Jewish Week |via=HighBeam Research |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-833541601.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103074857/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-833541601.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-11-03 |access-date=2016-02-05}}</ref> and joined the [[Union for Reform Judaism]]. Sikowitz was elected as the congregation's first rabbi in 2007.

In October 2007, a group of women at Kol Ami celebrated their [[bat mitzvah|b'not mitzvahs]]. The women, who varied in age, were older than the traditional age for such a celebration, however had never had such an opportunity since the tradition was not popular when they were that age.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Congregation Kol Ami celebrates first women's b'not mitzvahs |url=http://www.gazette.net/stories/100807/frednew151504_32376.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206055042/http://www.gazette.net/stories/100807/frednew151504_32376.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 6, 2016 |website=Gazette |date= |access-date=2016-02-05 }}</ref>

Congregation Kol Ami paid $20,000 for a Torah saved from the [[Holocaust]] from [[Lviv, Ukraine]] in 2008. It was the first Torah scroll owned by the congregation.<ref name=Fortney>{{cite news |author=Fortney, Sarah |url=https://www.fredericknewspost.com/archive/kol-ami-gets-a-torah-to-call-their-own/article_71b102b1-c3c8-5489-b26f-c63e8cd93be1.html |title=Kol Ami gets a Torah to call their own |work=The Frederick News-Post |date=March 10, 2008 |access-date=2016-02-05 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome to Congregation Kol Ami of Frederick |work=Congregation Kol Ami of Frederick |url=http://www.kolamifrederick.org/aboutus/history/ |date= |access-date=2016-02-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312061748/http://www.kolamifrederick.org/aboutus/history/ |archive-date=2010-03-12 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Members of the congregation, some of whom are of [[History of the Jews in Ukraine|Ukrainian]] descent, assisted in writing the Torah.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wjz.com/local/torah.synagogue.frederick.2.693682.html |title=Torah Synagogue Frederick |work=wjz.com |date= |access-date=}}{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The congregation frequently participates in social action programs such as the Frederick food bank.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saying a prayer for the hungry and the homeless |url=http://www.fredericknewspost.com/archive/saying-a-prayer-for-the-hungry-and-the-homeless/article_d5f46693-eb8a-5bf1-8dd6-8159c63cb422.html |website=The Frederick News-Post |access-date=2016-02-05 |author=Cassie, Ron |date=15 November 2008 }}</ref>

== The Torah with false provenance == {{main|Menachem Youlus}} The Torah that was sold to the congregation by Rabbi [[Menachem Youlus]] from Save a Torah Foundation, an organization that brings forgotten Torahs to welcoming congregations, was purportedly acquired on the basis of the following [[provenance]]:{{cn|date=January 2024}} :''Prior to World War II, Lvov was a major center of Jewish life with over 200,000 Jewish inhabitants. The Jews represented the vast array of Jewish practice, from Reform Jews to the Orthodox. When the Nazis invaded [[Ukraine]], they let the Ukrainians round up all the Jews and lock them in their synagogues. They then set fire to them. A priest saved the several Torahs from destruction. It laid in the basement of a monastery for decades. Then, an arts dealer bought the Torahs from the church. Youlus then ripped it apart and sold the parchment for canvas to artists. Youlus asked the arts dealer for Torah parchment. The man said you have the weekend to assemble all the Torahs and pay for what you have. In the storeroom there were piles of ripped up Torahs and Youlus assembled twenty-two of them.''<ref name=Fortney/>{{fails verification|date=January 2024}} One of these Torahs was purportedly reassembled and was sold as a genuine item to Congregation Kol Ami.<ref name=Fortney/>

An investigation by the ''[[Washington Post]]'' cast doubts on the authenticity of Youlus' claims and other Torah scrolls purportedly discovered to have survived the Holocaust and recovered by Youlus and the Save a Torah Foundation.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Rabbi to the Rescue: Menachem Youlus is called the Indiana Jones of Torah recovery and restoration. But there are doubts about his thrilling tales |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/22/AR2010012203257.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=2010-01-31 |access-date=2016-02-05 |issn=0190-8286 |language=en-US |author=Wexler, Martha |author2=Lunden, Jeff }}</ref> Following a criminal investigation, Youlus was convicted of two counts of [[mail and wire fraud]] in a Manhattan federal court on October 11, 2012. He served a 51-month prison sentence and was ordered to pay restitution to his victims.<ref name=USjustice>{{cite press release |url=https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/nys/pressreleases/October12/MenachemYoulusSentPR.html |title=Founder Of "Save-A-Torah" Charity Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court To 51 Months In Prison For Defrauding The Charity And Its Donors |publisher=[[United States Department of Justice|U.S. Justice Department]] South District of New York |date=October 11, 2012 |access-date=January 4, 2024 }}</ref><ref name="WP20110825">{{cite news |author=Lunden, James |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/rabbi-indicted-in-torah-scam/2011/08/24/gIQAFFhScJ_story.html |title=Rabbi Indicted In Torah Scam |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=August 25, 2011 |access-date=January 4, 2024 }}</ref> Youlus was incarcerated until August 26, 2016,<ref name=FBOP>{{cite web |title=Inmate number search: 65614-054 |url=https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/ |work=Federal Bureau of Prisons |publisher=U.S. Government |date=n.d. |access-date= }}</ref> and served three year [[parole|supervised release]].<ref name=USjustice/>

== See also == {{stack|{{portal|Maryland|Judaism}}}} * [[History of the Jews in Maryland]] * [[Beth Sholom Congregation (Frederick, Maryland)|Beth Sholom Congregation]], a [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] synagogue in Frederick

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Kol Ami of Frederick}} *{{Official website|http://www.kolamifrederick.org/}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kol Ami Congregation (Frederick, Maryland)}} [[Category:2003 establishments in Maryland]] [[Category:21st-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Frederick, Maryland]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 2003]] [[Category:Reform synagogues in Maryland]] [[Category:Synagogues in Frederick County, Maryland]] [[Category:Ukrainian-Jewish culture in Maryland]]