{{short description|Modern Orthodox synagogue in Maryland, United States}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox religious building | building_name = Magen David Sephardic Congregation | image = Magen David Sephardic Congregation 06.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | map_type = USA Maryland | map_size = 250 | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location within [[Maryland]] | location = [[North Bethesda, Maryland|North Bethesda]], [[Maryland]] | country = United States | coordinates = {{coord|39.040676117|-77.113151550|region:US-MD_type:landmark|format=dms|display=it}} | religious_affiliation = [[Modern Orthodox Judaism]] | rite = [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardi]] | consecration_year = | status = [[Synagogue]] | functional_status = Active | governing_body = [[Orthodox Union]] | heritage_designation = | leadership = Rabbi Soussan | website = {{URL|magendavidsephardic.org/}} | architect = | architecture_type = Synagogue | architecture_style = | general_contractor = | established = {{nowrap|1966 {{small|(as a congregation)}}}} | groundbreaking = | year_completed = 1998 | construction_cost = | specifications = no | capacity = | length = | width = | facade_direction = | height_max = | materials = }}
'''Magen David Sephardic Congregation-Beit Eliahu''' (abbreviated as '''MDSCBE''') is a [[Modern Orthodox Judaism|Modern Orthodox]] [[Judaism|Jewish]] congregation and [[synagogue]], located in [[North Bethesda, Maryland|North Bethesda]], [[Maryland]], in the United States. The congregation practices in the [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardi]] [[Nusach (Jewish custom)|rite]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jconnect.org/organization/magen-david-sephardic-congregation/ |title=Magen David Sephardic Congregation |publisher=[[Jewish Federation of Greater Washington]] |accessdate=2024-01-31}}</ref>
==History== The first Sephardi Jews began to immigrate to [[Washington, D.C.]] in the 1910s and 1920s. Most early Sephardi immigrants to Washington, D.C. were from [[Turkish Jews|Turkey]] and [[Greek Jews|Greece]]. By the 1940s, [[Moroccan Jews]] began to immigrate to Washington, D.C.; immigrants from [[Algerian Jews|Algeria]], [[Egyptian Jews|Egypt]], [[Iraqi Jews|Iraq]], [[Iranian Jews|Iran]], [[Libyan Jews|Libya]], [[Lebanese Jews|Lebanon]], [[Syrian Jews|Syria]], [[Tunisian Jews|Tunisia]], and elsewhere soon followed. By 1966, these immigrants and their descendants had formed a board of directors for what would become Magen David Sephardic Congregation and a charter was enacted. Due to a lack of a permanent space, the congregation was hosted by a variety of [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi]] congregations. The early years of the congregation had a heavily [[Morocco|Moroccan]] style, but gradually began to adopt a more broadly [[North Africa|North African]] and [[Middle East|Middle Eastern]] style as other immigrants joined. Magen David welcomed Ashkenazi visitors and members and embraced European influences, but maintained its Sephardi traditions.
During the 1980s, the congregation met at Tifereth Israel, a [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] synagogue in Washington, D.C. Later, services were held at Ohr Kodesh, a Conservative synagogue in [[Chevy Chase, Maryland|Chevy Chase]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/sephardic-minyan-eschews-gender-roles/ |title=Sephardic minyan eschews gender roles |date=20 March 2019 |work=[[Washington Jewish Week]] |accessdate=2023-01-02}}</ref> By 1984, the congregation had purchased a building in [[Rockville, Maryland|Rockville]], and by 1987, had its first [[rabbi]]. Due to surging membership, the congregation needed a larger space. By 1998, prayers were being held in a new synagogue that was built in North Bethesda.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.magendavidsephardic.org/about-us/our-history |title=A Place Sephardim Call Home |work=Magen David Sephardic Congregation |accessdate=2023-01-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jhsgw.org/exhibitions/online/jewishwashington/exhibition/washington-s-sephardic-community |title=Washington's Sephardic Community |publisher=[[Capital Jewish Museum]] |accessdate=2023-01-03}}</ref>
The congregation is affiliated with the [[Orthodox Union]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ou.org/synagogue/oECgxbh8xy/magen-david-sephardic-beit-eliyahu-synagogue/ |title=Magen David Sephardic Congregation |publisher=[[Orthodox Union]] |accessdate=2023-01-02}}</ref>
== See also == {{stack|{{portal|Maryland|Judaism}}}} * [[History of the Jews in Maryland]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{official website|https://www.magendavidsephardic.org/ }}
{{Synagogues in the United States}} {{authority control}}
[[Category:1966 establishments in Maryland]] [[Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:Algerian-American history]] [[Category:Algerian-Jewish diaspora]] [[Category:Egyptian-Jewish diaspora in the United States]] [[Category:Greek-American culture in Maryland]] [[Category:Greek-Jewish culture in the United States]] [[Category:Iranian-Jewish culture in the United States]] [[Category:Iraqi diaspora]] [[Category:Iraqi-Jewish diaspora]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1966]] [[Category:Lebanese-Jewish diaspora in the United States]] [[Category:Libyan diaspora]] [[Category:Libyan-Jewish diaspora]] [[Category:Mizrahi Jewish culture in the United States]] [[Category:Modern Orthodox synagogues in Maryland]] [[Category:Moroccan-American history]] [[Category:Moroccan-Jewish diaspora]] [[Category:North Bethesda, Maryland]] [[Category:Sephardi Jewish culture in Maryland]] [[Category:Sephardi Conservative Judaism]] [[Category:Tunisian diaspora]] [[Category:Tunisian-Jewish diaspora]] [[Category:Turkish-Jewish culture in the United States]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1998]] [[Category:Synagogues in Montgomery County, Maryland]] [[Category:Syrian-Jewish diaspora in the United States]] [[Category:Synagogues in Maryland]]