Soccer Dad

The last shabbos

When we moved to Baltimore in 1968 we lived in the main (Orthodox) Jewish section in an apartment. In 1969 we moved to a house in the county near Talmudical Academy, the school that we attended. It was anticipated that the girls' school Bais Yaakov would also move out to the county and the community would follow. Bais Yaakov did move out to the county, but a different part. And the community stayed put in northwest Baltimore City.

One of the appeals of moving out to the county was the Adath Yeshurun Congregation located on Old Court Road and its rabbi, Rabbi Simcha Shafran. We quickly became close to the Shafrans and enjoyed living in the county.

In the early 70's the Shul (synagogue) merged with another old time congregation and became known as the Adath Yeshurun-Magen Avrohom congregation.

Originally the Shul was mainly attended by older people who drove to Shul on the Sabbath. Many of them had attended the Shul when it was located on Pimlico Road and continued to attend even after the move. But time went on and the membership changed. By the mid 1980's the membership was dominated a lot more by Sabbath observers living in the neighborhood, though those who drove still came for the High Holidays.

Also Rabbi Shafran's warmth had made quite a few people more observant and they subsequently joined.

But sometime in the late 80's was when membership in the Shul peaked. It held its own for a few years and then slowly people started moving out of the neighborhood. In the past year or two attendance on the Sabbath has dwindled to the point where they no longer davened (prayed) in the main sanctuary but in the smaller Bais Medrash.

The reason that the neighborhood declined is probably because the Park Heights/Greenspring areas were enclosed by an Eruv (a series of strings that enclose a specific area) allowing people to carry on the Sabbath. This made things a lot easier, especially for families with young children. That strengthened the presence of the Orthodox community in northwest Baltimore. An Eruv

One of the features of the Shul was a set of old Gemoras (Talmuds) that dated from 1891. The pages were incredibly brittle so they had to handled with care else you could easily break off a piece.

There was also an old piano that used to be used for social events. I have no idea how old it was but I'm sure that it was in excess of 40 years.

Adath Yeshurun-Mogen Avraham Congregation, though, was more than just a place where we prayed and studied. It was where so many family milestones were celebrated. My brothers and I had our Bar Mitzvahs there. We all celebrated our Aufruf (a pre-marriage celebration). Three of my nephews had their Bris (circumcision) and my oldest daughter was named there.

When my father finished studying a whole Seder (section) of Mishnah (Oral Law) he celebrated the Siyum (completion) there.

So the Shul has been a big part of our lives. And after this Shabbos (Sabbath) it will be closed. It's sad to see a part of lives come to an end.

When I was younger, I spent numerous Shabbos lunches with the Shafrans, and Rabbi Shafran always regaled us with questions about the weekly Parsha (Torah reading). In the past few years he's been composing and distributing Parsha quesitons every week that will continue.

Rabbi Shafran will continue teaching his classes that have been a part of the Shul all these years.

The building may soon be gone, but the legacy remains.

The Baltimore Jewish Times had a short article on the closing.

UPDATE: I'd just like to clarify, that I was one of those who moved out of the community. I moved out in 1990 when I got married. I walked to Rabbi Shafran's shul for one last Shabbos davening (prayer service) 2 weeks ago.

Posted by SoccerDad at January 1, 2008 6:19 PM