Washington Hebrew Congregation

Washington Hebrew Congregation was formed on April 25, 1852, in Washington, D.C., by twenty-one members.

Solomon Pribram was elected the first president. By 1854, there were forty-two members. On December 13, 1855, at the thirty-fourth session of the United States Congress, a special act was passed, which provided that

all the rights, privileges, and immunities heretofore granted by the law to the Christian churches in the city of Washington be and the same hereby are extended to the Hebrew Congregation of said city.

The congregation grew steadily in membership and in influence; in 1863 it moved to the site of a former Methodist church, which had been used by the government as a hospital during the Civil War.

From 1897 to 1954, the congregation met at 816 Eighth Street NW, in a building designed by Washington architects Louis F. Stutz and Frank W. Pease.[1] The cornerstone of this building was laid on September 16, 1897, by President William McKinley. This building was sold to New Hope Baptist Church (later Greater New Hope Baptist Church) in March 1954.[2]

In 1952, President Harry S. Truman laid the cornerstone of the congregation's current home on Macomb Street NW, which was dedicated on May 6, 1955, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

By 1905, the First Washington Hebrew Congregation was the only Reform congregation in the District of Columbia, with a membership of 350, and a religious school attended by 200 children.

One prominent leader was Uriah P. Levy, the first Jewish Commodore of the United States Navy.

Adas Israel Congregation, with Isaac Stampel as Hazzan, was founded in 1869 by 69 members of the Washington Hebrew Congregation who objected to the Reform tendencies of the old congregation.

In the summer of 1966, a group of young Jewish activists urged the synagogue's rabbi, Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld, to denounce a white Jewish landlord named Allie Freed for engaging in racist housing practices against African-Americans. After Rabbi Gerstenfeld refused to denounce Freed, Jewish members of ACCESS (Action Coordinating Committee to End Segregation in the Suburbs) leafleted the congregation during Yom Kippur in 1966 and 1967. They were condemned by Jason R. Silverman of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith for protesting on Yom Kippur. In light of this, Jewish activists founded Jews for Urban Justice in order to campaign against anti-black racism within white Jewish communities.[3]

Washington Hebrew Congregation is currently a member of the Union for Reform Judaism. It is one of the largest Reform congregations in the United States,[4] with 2,781 members reported on the Union for Reform Judaism database as of 2012.[5]

In August 2018 the synagogue reported to community parents that it had learned of, and taken actions in response to, allegations that an employee at its Macomb Street Edlavitch-Tyser Early Childhood Center may have engaged in inappropriate conduct involving one or more children.[6][7] According to a January 2020 report, the alleged victims were 14 or 15 children, ages two to four.[8] The teacher who was accused of abuse (who is named in some news reports, not others) had been hired by the preschool in March 2016, and was placed on administrative leave in August 2016 and fired in October 2018.[8][9]

The D.C. Metropolitan Police and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia concluded a 16-month criminal investigation of the alleged abuser in January 2020, closing the case without filing any charges. A police statement explained that "after exhausting all investigative avenues, the universal determination of the investigative team was that there was insufficient probable cause to establish that an offense occurred or to make an arrest."[8][10][11]

In contrast, the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education stated, in a June 2019 cease-and desist letter to the congregation as reported by CNN, that it found that "more than one child was a victim of sexual abuse by the alleged maltreator."[12] The office determined that the preschool failed to ensure the safety of children under its care, failed to properly supervise children, and failed to comply with reporting requirements.[10][12]

The D.C. Attorney General's Office was also reportedly investigating the allegations.[9][13][10]

In April 2019, some parents of alleged victims filed a civil lawsuit against the congregation and Deborah “DJ” Schneider Jensen, head of school for early childhood education, alleging that they were negligent amid “systemic, regular sexual abuse.”[14][13][15][10] Jensen was placed on administrative leave in April 2019, and subsequently left the center.[10] According to a February 2020 report, that case was scheduled to go to trial in early 2021.[11] Another group of parents filed a separate civil lawsuit in May 2019.[8]

In October 2019 the synagogue was vandalized with graffiti including, according to the police report, “numerous anti-Semitic statements, profane language, and child-like drawings of male and female genitalia.”[16][17] This incident was one among several anti-Semitic hate crimes targeting that synagogue, as well as others in the region.[16][18]

• Official website
• Washington Hebrew Congregation history
• Washington Hebrew Congregation history (old version, cached)