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Temple Menorah
2800 W. Sherwin Chicago, IL 60645
Seeing that I was taking pictures of Temple Menorah on a Shabbat day, somebody (probably a Jew), who is seen in black in the picture above, stopped by me and started staring at me. He was suspicious and obviously wondering about why I was taking the pictures of the synagogue. "I am preparing a final project about the religious diversity at Rogers Park," I said. After asking a few more questions he was satisfied and, "This is a free country. Of course you can take any photo you want," he said.
The Temple Menorah building certainly reflects the diversity of Rogers Park. It is one of the few places where Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Jews share one building. There is almost no other Jewish congregation in which three approaches towards the Judaism live together. According to the website of the synagogue, "Rabbi Rebecca Lillian was ordained reconstructionist, and it becomes clear that our congregation is part of a really unique cooperative effort."
Temple Menorah is also the primary meeting place for the nationally acclaimed Rogers Park Inter-Religious Neighbors, a project of the Council of the Parliament of the World Religions located in Chicagoland. They sponsor interfaith events such as the recent Pathways to Peace festival. Rabbi Rebecca Lillian is very active in this group.
An American flag
by the education building.
The members of Temple Menorah are the very examples of this plurality in Rogers Park as well. Most of the members are the families coming with their children. They say that it gives them a sort of vitality and a sense of modernity. The synagogue also has a large number volunteers giving it stability and tradition. Similar to other congregations, it welcomes interfaith couples as well.
"As diverse as our membership is, one thing all members share in common is a feeling of comfort ," they say in their website. When I visited Temple Menorah, they provided me with a bunch of literature in which their history and programs are explained in detail.
When I visited this synagogue, I was given a few brochures about the history of it. In one of these brochures they say, "Many of us treasure being part of a Reform Temple in a genuine, old-world style Jewish neighborhood where it is 'in' to be Jewish. It is also a wonderful educational experience for the children!"