Our Mission

As the spiritual heirs of the two oldest congregations in the state of Illinois, KAM Isaiah Israel is committed to:

• maintaining a synagogue for worship in accordance with the principles of the Jewish faith;
• stimulating felowship in the Jewish community and strengthening the bonds of loyalty with the Jewish people in israel and throughout the world
• cultivating a love and understanding of the traditions, history and ethics of Judaism through an effective program of religious education, both for children and adults
• making operative in our own daily lives and in the wider community and nation the high ideals of the Jewish ethical heritage

Constitution of KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation, Adopted June 1971

KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation has a notable, diverse and rich history. Kehilath Anshe Maarav (KAM) was established in 1847 and claims to be the first synagogue in the midwest. It first met at Wells and Lake in a space over the dry goods store Rosenfeld and Rosenberg. In 1851, it dedicated its first synagogue building, on Clark Street between Adams and Quincy, now the site of the Kluczynski Federal Building. In 1852, conflict over issues of reform and traditional observances, as well as cultural differences between Eastern European and German immigrants, led to creation of a new congregation, Kehilath B'nai Sholom. 

Isaiah Temple was organized in 1895, and Temple Israel was organized in 1896. In 1906, the young Temple Israel merged with Congregation B'nai Sholom, the second oldest Jewish congregation in Illinois. These various congregations were located on the South Side a little north of Hyde Park until 1924, when they all moved to Hyde Park. In that year, KAM dedicated a new home at 50th Street and Drexel Boulevard shortly before Isaiah Temple dedicated the Byzantine-inspired structure that is the congregation's current, much-beloved home at Greenwood Avenue and Hyde Park Boulevard. A month after Isaiah dedicated its new building, it merged with B'nai Sholom Temple Israel; the merged congregation took the name Temple Isaiah Israel. 

A FAMILIAR LANDMARK

The following comments were made by John H. Alschuler on the occasion of Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois’ 8th Annual Tour that started at KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation on Sunday, May 6, 1990:

Architecture, like art, is a product of the times and the people that produced it.  This building was built in three different stages:

1. The main sanctuary was designed by my father, Alfred S. Alschuler, Sr., and completed in 1923.
2. The Sunday School addition north of the sanctuary facing Greenwood was completed in 1948 by Loebl, Schlossman and Bennett.
3. The Chapel and Community Hall were designed and built by my office in 1973, fifty years after the original building.

It was my father’s desire to make this a truly Jewish structure.  The problem was that for 2,000 years Jews were excluded from the craft guilds and building trades.  Synagogues through those years were assimilated into the architecture of the civilization that produced them – Gothic in Frankfurt, Germany; Greek, Roman, Moorish and Renaissance styles in various parts of Europe and all of the above in the United Sates. With the exception of a Star of David or a Hebrew inscription at the entrance, temples were difficult to differentiate from a post office, a library, museum or other monumental buildings.

The Union for Reform Judaism provides vision and leadership to Reform Jews and congregations on spiritual, ethical, social justice and management issues. It provides programmatic support to Reform Jewish congregations and offers opportunities for individual growth and identity that few congregations could provide by themselves, such as camps and Israel programs for youth, study kallot and North American and regional biennials.