Sixth & I Historic Synagogue

Last updated
Sixth and I Historic Synagogue
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue.jpg
The synagogue, in 2020
Religion
Affiliation Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organizational status Synagogue
LeadershipRabbi Aaron Potek
StatusActive
Location
Location600 I Street NW, Washington, D.C.
CountryUnited States
Location map Washington, D.C. central.png
Red pog.svg
Location within Washington, D.C.
Geographic coordinates 38°54′02″N77°01′13″W / 38.90059°N 77.020238°W / 38.90059; -77.020238
Architecture
Architect(s) Louis Levi
Type Synagogue architecture
Style
Completed1908
Specifications
Dome(s)Three
Dome height (inner)69 feet (21 m)
Dome dia. (inner)25 feet (7.6 m)
Materials Vitrified brick and terra cotta
Website
sixthandi.org

The Sixth & I Historic Synagogue is a non-denominational, non-membership, non-traditional Jewish synagogue [1] located at the corner of Sixth Street and I Street, NW in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest synagogues in the city. In addition to hosting religious services for different Jewish denominations, the synagogue hosts many lectures, concerts, and art exhibitions for the general public.

Contents

History

The building was constructed by the Adas Israel Congregation and dedicated on January 8, 1908, near what was then the main commercial district in town and the center of the Jewish community in Washington. In 1951 the congregation moved to a new building on Connecticut Avenue and sold its building on the corner of 6th and I Streets, NW to the Turner Memorial A.M.E. Church. [2] The church in turn moved to Hyattsville, Maryland, fifty years later.

President George W. Bush visiting Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in 2005 Bush at 6th & I.jpg
President George W. Bush visiting Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in 2005

Three local Jewish developers saved the historic building from being turned into a nightclub and restored it to its original roots as a synagogue. The main impetus for the restoration came from real estate developer Shelton Zuckerman, who contacted then Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin, who in turn contacted Douglas Jemal. Working from wedding photos from 1949, the building was returned to its original design and decor. It was rededicated and opened to the public on April 22, 2004.

Cultural events and live entertainment

Sixth & I’s arts and culture programming includes talks, concerts, and comedy shows. Speakers and authors have included President George W. Bush; Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, John Paul Stevens, Elena Kagan, and Sandra Day O’Connor; Secretaries of State John Kerry, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, and Condoleezza Rice; Nobel Laureates Toni Morrison, V. S. Naipaul, Orhan Pamuk, Kazuo Ishiguro, Elie Wiesel, Al Gore, Sir Paul Nurse, Kofi Annan, Paul Krugman, and Daniel Kahneman; Ta-Nehisi Coates, Salman Rushdie, Judy Blume, Sheryl Sandberg, Mindy Kaling, Joan Rivers, Chimamanda Adichie, Atul Gawande, Nancy Pelosi, Annie Leibovitz, Lewis Black, Temple Grandin, Van Jones, Tina Fey, Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush, Cecile Richards, Ina Garten, and Emily Ratajkowski.[ citation needed ]

Bands and singers have included Adele, Idina Menzel, Valerie June, Brooklyn Rider, Andra Day, Kris Kristofferson, Bryan Adams, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Art Garfunkel, LeAnn Rimes, Grizzly Bear, Idan Raichel Project, Yael Naim, Ani DiFranco, Joanna Newsom, Antony and the Johnsons, M. Ward, Devendra Banhart, Fiona Apple, Laura Marling, Marc Broussard, Kishi Bashi, Gavin DeGraw, Trey Anastasio, Rodriguez, Mick Jenkins, Esperanza Spalding, and Matisyahu.[ citation needed ]

Comedians have included Hasan Minaj, Amy Schumer, Marc Maron, W. Kamau Bell, Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, Whitney Cummings, Rachel Bloom, Todd Barry, Nick Kroll, Joe Mande, Russell Howard, Norm Macdonald, Gilmore Guys, and the Upright Citizens Brigade Touring Company.[ citation needed ]

Jewish life

Sixth & I’s Jewish programming includes education, Shabbat services, holiday celebrations, and social justice work. During the High Holidays, Sixth & I rents space from nearby churches to accommodate over 3,000 people.

Partnerships

Sixth & I partners with a wide variety of local and national organizations, including Politics & Prose Bookstore, Live Nation, The New York Times, Washington Performing Arts, The Atlantic , Story District, The MacArthur Foundation, the 92nd Street Y, National Geographic, Slate , HIAS, the Jewish Emergent Network, OneTable, and many others.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Israel (West Hartford, Connecticut)</span> Historic Reform synagogue in West Hartford, Connecticut, US

Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 701 Farmington Avenue, in West Hartford, Connecticut, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Hebrew Congregation</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in Washington, D.C.

Washington Hebrew Congregation, abbreviated as WHC, is a Reform Jewish synagogue location at 3935 Macomb Street NW, in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established as a congregation in 1852, the congregation manages two places of worship, the temple in Washington, D.C., completed in 1955, and the Julia Bindeman Suburban Center, a community center, located at 11810 Falls Road, Potomac, Maryland, completed in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Elohim</span> Reform Jewish congregation in Brooklyn, New York, US

Congregation Beth Elohim, also known as the Garfield Temple and the Eighth Avenue Temple, is a Reform Jewish congregation and historic synagogue located at 274 Garfield Place and Eighth Avenue, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, New York, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sixteenth Street Historic District</span> United States historic place

The Sixteenth Street Historic District is a 1.25-mile (2.01 km) linear historic district in Washington, D.C., that includes all structures along 16th Street NW between H Street and Florida Avenue. The district's southern boundary is bordered by Lafayette Square, just north of the White House, and Meridian Hill Park on its northern boundary. It includes an eclectic mix of architectural styles on one of the city's most historic and important numbered streets including single and multi-family residential buildings, embassies, hotels, churches, and office buildings.

Congregation Beth Israel is a Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 411 South Eighth Street, in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Founded in 1907 to provide services for the High Holidays, it was then, and remains today, the only synagogue in the Lebanon area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adas Israel Congregation (Washington, D.C.)</span> Largest Conservative synagogue in Washington, D.C.

Adas Israel is a Conservative synagogue in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is the largest Conservative synagogue in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum</span>

The Capital Jewish Museum, officially the Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum, is a historical society and museum in Washington, D.C., focused on the history of Jewish life in the American capital city and the surrounding Washington metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Emanuel (Denver)</span> Reform Jewish congregation and historic synagogues in Denver, Colorado, US

The Temple Emanuel, also known as Congregation Emanuel, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 51 Grape Street, in Denver, Colorado, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Yeshurun (Houston)</span> Synagogue

Congregation Beth Yeshurun is a Conservative synagogue at 4525 Beechnut Street, Houston, Texas, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Church of Christ, Scientist (Washington, D.C.)</span> Building in D.C., United States

Third Church of Christ, Scientist, established in 1918, is a Christian Science church in downtown Washington, D.C. From 1971 to 2014, the church was located in a controversial building at 16th and I Street NW. Considered a significant work of "Brutalist" church architecture by some critics, the building was considered unsatisfactory by members of the Church's congregation, which shrank over the years. In 2007, the church applied for a demolition permit for the building to permit sale and redevelopment of the site, with plans to relocate to a more suitable structure. A 1991 application for landmark status for the building, filed to forestall a demolition threat then, was subsequently approved. After a lawsuit and hearings, the District of Columbia issued a demolition permit in May 2009, and the building was demolished in 2014. In 2015, Third Church merged with First Church of Christ, Scientist. The congregation continues as First Church and conducts its activities in a portion of the new building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Society of Concord</span> Reform synagogue in Syracuse, New York (state), US

The Temple Society of Concord, commonly referred to as Temple Concord, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 910 Madison Street, in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple De Hirsch Sinai</span> Jewish congregation with synagogues in Seattle and Belleview, Washington, US

Temple De Hirsch Sinai is a Reform Jewish congregation with synagogues at campuses in Seattle and nearby Bellevue, Washington, in the United States. The congregation was formed as a 1971 merger between the earlier Temple De Hirsch and Temple Sinai and is the largest Reform congregation in the Pacific Northwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Israel (West Bloomfield, Michigan)</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, United States

Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 5725 Walnut Lake Road, in West Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edlavitch Jewish Community Center of Washington, D.C.</span>

The Edlavitch Jewish Community Center of Washington, D.C. is a Jewish Community Center located in the historic district of Dupont Circle. It serves the Washington, D.C. area through religious, cultural, educational, social, and sport center programs open to the public, although many programs are strongly linked to Jewish culture, both in the United States and in Israel. It is part of the JCC Association (JCCA), the umbrella organization for the Jewish Community Center movement, which includes more than 350 JCCs, YM-YWHAs, and camp sites in the U.S. and Canada, in addition to 180 local JCCs in the Former Soviet Union, 70 in Latin America, 50 in Europe, and close to 500 smaller centers in Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Israel (Tulsa, Oklahoma)</span>

Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 2004 East 22nd Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the United States. Founded in 1914, the congregation affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism in 1915, and constructed its first building on the corner of 14th and Cheyenne Streets in 1919. Early rabbis included Jacob Menkes, Charles Latz, Samuel Kaplan, Jacob Krohngold, and Benjamin Kelsen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Temple Israel (Creve Coeur, Missouri)</span> Reform synagogue in Creve Coeur, Missouri, United Stares

Congregation Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 1 Rabbi Alvan D. Rubin Drive, in Creve Coeur, St. Louis County, Missouri, in the United States. Constructing three different synagogue buildings during its history, the second synagogue, built in 1907, is a contributing property to the National Register of Historic Places-listing for the Holy Corners Historic District in the center of St. Louis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Sinai Temple (Sioux City, Iowa)</span> Historic Reform synagogues in Sioux City, Iowa, US

Mount Sinai Temple is an historic former Reform synagogue located in Sioux City, Iowa, in the United States. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple B'nai Israel (Oklahoma City)</span>

Temple B'nai Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 4901 North Pennsylvania, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in the United States. The congregation is the oldest active Jewish congregation in Oklahoma.

The city of Cumberland, Maryland is home to a small and declining but historically significant Jewish community. The city is home to a single synagogue, B'er Chayim Temple, one of the oldest synagogues in the United States. Cumberland has had a Jewish presence since the early 1800s. The community was largest prior to the 1960s, but has declined in number over the decades. Historically, the Jewish community in Cumberland maintained several synagogues, a Jewish cemetery, and a Hebrew school. By 2019, Cumberland's Jewish community had its lowest population point since the early 1900s.

References

  1. About Sixth & I
  2. Myers, Phyllis (August 14, 2005). "The Temple That Traveled". The Washington Post . p. B08.