Loop Synagogue

{{Short description|Synagoge in Chicago, Illinois, United States}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Chicago Loop Synagogue | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Chicago_Loop_Synagogue_(51575324259).jpg | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = | religious_affiliation = [[Orthodox Judaism]] | tradition = | sect = | district = | prefecture = | province = | region = | deity = | rite = | festival =  | organisational_status = [[Synagogue]] | ownership = | governing_body = | leadership = | bhattaraka = | patron = | consecration_year = | functional_status = Active | religious_features_label = Notable artworks | religious_features = {{ubl|[[Abraham Rattner]] stained-glass windows;|[[Nehemia Azaz]] sculpture}} | location = 16 South Clark Street, [[Chicago Loop|Loop]], [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]] 60603 | locale = | municipality = | cercle = | state = | country = United States | map_type = United States Chicago Loop | map_size = 250 | map_alt = | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in the [[Chicago]] [[Chicago Loop|Loop]], [[Illinois]] | grid_name = | grid_position = | sector = | territory = | administration = | coordinates = {{Coordinates|41|52|54|N|87|37|53|W|region:US-IL_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_footnotes = | heritage_designation = | architect = [[Loebl Schlossman & Hackl|Loebl, Schlossman & Bennett]] | architecture_type = Synagogue | architecture_style = [[Modernist architecture|Modernist]] | founded_by = | creator = | funded_by = | general_contractor = | established = 1929 {{small|(as a congregation)}} | groundbreaking = | year_completed = 1958 | 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 = {{convert|5000|sqft|m2}} | temple_quantity = | monument_quantity = | shrine_quantity = | inscriptions = | materials = Glass, metal (brass and bronze} and concrete | elevation_m =  | elevation_footnotes = | nrhp = | designated = | added = | refnum = | delisted1_date = | website = {{url|chiloopsyn.org}} | module =  | footnotes = <ref name=Chiat>{{cite book |last=Chiat |first=Marilyn Joyce |title=The Spiritual Traveler—Chicago and Illinois: A Guide to Sacred Sites and Peaceful Places |publisher=Hidden Spring |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-58768-010-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NGeiB03MlRIC&pg=PA104 |via=[[Google Books]] }}</ref>{{rp|104}}<ref name="Open House Chicago">{{cite web|url=https://openhousechicago.org/sites/site/chicago-loop-synagogue/ |website=[[Open House Chicago]] |date=n.d. |access-date=2018-05-26 |title=Chicago Loop Synagogue}}</ref> }}

The '''Chicago Loop Synagogue''' is an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] [[Jewish]] [[synagogue]], located at 16 South Clark Street, in the [[Chicago Loop|Loop]] precinct of [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], in the United States. Completed in 1958,<ref>{{citation|title=Jewish Routes: Chicago|author=Lavine, Eileen |date=January 13, 2016|work=[[Moment (magazine)|Moment]]|url=https://www.momentmag.com/jewish-routes-chicago/}}</ref> the synagogue is renowned for a [[stained glass]] artwork by [[Abraham Rattner]].<ref name=Chiat/>{{rp|72}}

The synagogue was founded in 1929 by the [[United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism|United Synagogue of America]] to serve the needs of Jewish professionals working in Chicago’s downtown business district, providing [[kosher]] food and a place to pray during the workday. Following the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois|COVID-19 global pandemic]], there were concerns that, due to the exodus of workers from the city center, the synagogue would be unable to sustain its future operating costs.<ref>{{cite news |author=Cooper, Alanna E. |url=https://forward.com/news/467794/future-in-question-for-chicago-loop-synagogue-and-its-monumental-stained/ |title=Future in question for Chicago Loop Synagogue and its monumental stained-glass window |work=[[The Forward]] |date=April 15, 2021 |access-date=January 9, 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Chiarito, Bob |url=https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/05/17/downtown-synagogue-hopes-worshippers-return-soon-to-save-building-and-its-historic-stained-glass-window/ |title=Downtown Synagogue Hopes Worshippers Return Soon To Save Building — And Its Famed Stained Glass Window |work=Block Club Chicago |date=May 17, 2021 |access-date=January 9, 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author= |url=https://www.preservationchicago.org/threatened-shrinking-membership-threatens-chicago-loop-synagogue-faces-uncertain-future/ |title=THREATENED: Shrinking Membership Threatens Chicago Loop Synagogue Faces Uncertain Future |work=Preservation Chicago |date=May 31, 2021 |access-date=January 9, 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Smithson, Aaron |url=https://www.archpaper.com/2021/06/with-commuter-congregation-waning-the-chicago-loop-synagogue-faces-an-uncertain-future/ |title=With commuter congregation waning, the Chicago Loop Synagogue faces an uncertain future |work=The Architect's Newspaper |date=June 8, 2021 |access-date=January 9, 2024 }}</ref>

== Architecture and design == The building was designed by architects [[Loebl Schlossman & Hackl|Loebl, Schlossman & Bennett]], who also designed the [[Richard J. Daley Center]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb |first=Irving |last=Cutler |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=1996 |isbn=0252021851 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=85k85NhemBgC&pg=PA175 |via=[[Google Books]] |page=175 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.architecture.org/architecture-chicago/buildings-of-chicago/building/richard-j-daley-center/ |title=Daley Center |work=[[Chicago Architecture Foundation]] |date= |access-date= }}</ref> Completed in 1958, the synagogue building replaced a synagogue on the same block that had been lost to fire.<ref name="Open House Chicago"/>

A sculpture ''Hands of Peace'' by [[Nehemia Azaz]] is situated over the entrance doors.<ref name=Chiat/>{{rp|105}} The work depicts "priestly hands raised in benediction" (the [[Priestly Blessing]]).<ref>{{citation |publisher=[[WTTW]] |work=Chicago Loop: A New Walking Tour |title=Hands of Peace by Henri Azaz |url=https://interactive.wttw.com/loop/art/hands-peace-henri-azaz |date= |access-date= }}</ref>

===''Let There Be Light''=== Abraham Rattner's {{convert|30|x|40|ft|abbr=on}} ''Let There Be Light'' {{efn|Also listed as ''And God Said, Let There Be Light''<ref name=Baigell/>{{rp|112}} and ''The Journey of a Mystic''<ref name="de Breffny"/>}} occupies the entire eastern wall of the second-floor sanctuary. It stands in juxtaposition to the "reserved minimalism" of the rest of the interior.<ref name="Open House Chicago"/> The art depicts images from [[Genesis 1:3]] and Jewish religious symbols including a [[Menorah (Hanukkah)|menorah]], a [[shofar]] and an [[etrog]]. Additional influences include [[Kabbalah|kabbalistic]] symbolism of "the force and the spirit of the ineffable and unknowable power".<ref name=Baigell>{{cite book |title=Jewish Art in America: An Introduction |first=Matthew |last=Baigell |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2007 |isbn=978-0742546417 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rw1nkKfW_3sC&pg=PA114 |via=[[Google Books]] }}</ref>{{rp|114-115}}

It was described as "[p]erhaps the most beautiful synagogue interior in the United States".<ref name="de Breffny">{{cite book |first=Brian |last=de Breffny |title=The Synagogue |publisher=Macmillan |edition=First American |year=1978 |oclc=1031770403 |pages=199–200}}</ref> Another critic said the glass "bathes the sanctuary in a shower of color, artistically consecrating the space as a place apart from the grey concrete scene on the other side of the glass".<ref>{{cite web |publisher=WTTW |work=Chicago Loop: A New Walking Tour |title=Let There be Light by Abraham Rattner |url=https://interactive.wttw.com/loop/art/let-there-be-light-abraham-rattner |date= |access-date=2018-05-26}}</ref> [[File:The Loop Synagogue stained glass.jpg|center|thumb|300x300px|A view of ''Let There Be Light'' from the interior of the synagogue.]]

== See also == {{stack|{{portal|Chicago|Judaism|Architecture}}}} * [[Chicago Loop]] * [[History of the Jews in Chicago]] * [[Landmarks of Chicago]] * [[Visual arts of Chicago]]

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{cite book|title=Chicago in and Around the Loop: Walking Tours of Architecture and History|first=Gerard R. |last=Wolfe|edition=Second|pages=414–415|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=2004|isbn=0071422366|oclc=951323502}} * {{cite web |author=Frystak, Alyssa |url=https://images.shulcloud.com/3576/uploads/ChicagoLoopSynagogue_ShortFormHistory.pdf |title=Chicago Loop Synagogue |work=Historical American Building Survey: HABS No. IL-343 |publisher= |date=207 |via=ShulCloud }}

==External links== *{{Official website|chiloopsyn.org}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20180527201339/https://www.pbs.org/video/geoffrey-baer-tours-chicagos-loop-buildings-chicago-loop-synagogue/ Buildings: Chicago Loop Synagogue] [[PBS]] (video clip)

[[Category:1929 establishments in Illinois]] [[Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:Central Chicago|Synagogue]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1929]] [[Category:Modernist architecture in Illinois]] [[Category:Modernist synagogues]] [[Category:Orthodox Judaism in Chicago]] [[Category:Orthodox synagogues in Illinois]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1958]] [[Category:Synagogues in Chicago]]