[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 157 (Monday, October 2, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CONGRATULATING HAR SINAI CONGREGATION ON ITS 175TH ANNIVERSARY

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                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 2, 2017

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, Maryland was founded as a haven for freedom 
of worship, and our state is proud to be home to religious institutions 
and communities that enrich the life of our state and our country. One 
of those is the Har Sinai Congregation in Owings Mills. Founded on May 
15, 1842, it is the oldest continuously operating Reform Jewish 
congregation in the United States. This year marks the 175th 
anniversary of its establishment.
  Drawing on practices adopted by some of the first Reform synagogues 
in Europe, Har Sinai Congregation served a small community of 
immigrants first in Baltimore and later, as the community grew, in the 
suburbs. The synagogue's first leader, Rabbi David Einhorn, arrived in 
1855 and became one of the central voices of American Reform Judaism in 
the nineteenth century. The `Olath Tamid' siddur he published in 1856 
went on to become a template for the Union Prayer Book later adopted 
widely by Reform congregations across the country. Rabbi Einhorn also 
preached against slavery, a courageous act to undertake in a Southern 
state where that horrific institution was still practiced. His 
abolitionism eventually led him to flee to Philadelphia in 1861, 
escaping a violent, pro-Confederacy riot in Baltimore during the Civil 
War.
  Among the clergy who followed in leading Har Sinai Congregation was 
Rabbi David Philipson, an American-born scholar and theologian who led 
the community from 1884 to 1888. A member of the first graduating class 
of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, he would go on to become one 
of the most prominent Reform rabbis of his age, authoring books on 
history, theology, and literature while speaking out against anti-
Semitism and, in his later years, the rise of Nazism. Today, the 
congregation is led by Rabbi Linda Joseph, a native of Australia and 
the first woman to lead the community, having taken up the pulpit there 
last year.
  Now a congregation of more than 400 families, and with more than 200 
students in its religious school, Har Sinai Congregation has become one 
of Maryland's most active and dynamic synagogues. With the mantra of 
`worshipping together; caring together; working together,' its members 
are putting into practice the ancient Jewish precepts that call for 
social justice, charitable works, education, and community engagement. 
On Shabbat and holidays, congregants gather in worship and join in 
liturgical song, led by Cantor Robert Gerber, as they continue the 
traditions of American Reform Judaism that Har Sinai Congregation 
helped establish.
  I join in congratulating the clergy, lay leadership, and congregants 
of Har Sinai Congregation on reaching this milestone in the community's 
history, and I wish all of them a Shana Tovah U'Metuka--a sweet and 
happy new year for 5778.

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