Full Text of HR0503 102nd General Assembly
HR0503 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Throughout the fall of 1871, a group of | 3 | | Austro-Hungarian Jews assembled in a second-story loft above a | 4 | | dry goods store in Chicago; on the eve of Simchat Torah, | 5 | | October 8, 1871, these men congregated at the home of Moses | 6 | | Hirsch on Milwaukee Avenue; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, At approximately 9 p.m., as the men discussed the | 8 | | details of the upcoming holiday, a fire ignited in a barn in | 9 | | Chicago's crowded West Division; as their meeting concluded, | 10 | | the 15 men stepped outside to find the city in flames;
| 11 | | undeterred and even inspired by the disaster, the men vowed to | 12 | | meet again that very Shabbat, now under the banner of an | 13 | | officially named congregation Gemeinde Rodef Sholom, meaning | 14 | | "a gathering place for those who pursue peace"; a new | 15 | | congregation, the first to meet in Chicago after the Great | 16 | | Fire, was born; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, In the beginning, the fledgling minyan rented | 18 | | space in an assembly hall at the corner of Peoria and Ohio | 19 | | Streets;
in April of 1872, Gemeinde Rodef Sholom purchased the | 20 | | wood frame of an old Norwegian Lutheran church on the corner of | 21 | | Huron and May Streets; the synagogue then moved the structure | 22 | | to land it had purchased on the corner of Huron and Peoria | 23 | | Streets; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In June of 1873, a powerful windstorm destroyed | 2 | | the synagogue; through the selling of bonds, the members of | 3 | | the congregation quickly raised money, and a new structure was | 4 | | speedily erected not far from the synagogue's original plot on | 5 | | the corner of Huron and May Streets; with a new building, | 6 | | Gemeinde Rodef Sholom became Beth El, meaning "the House of | 7 | | God"; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, In 1902, the synagogue purchased three adjoining | 9 | | lots at Crystal Street and Hoyne Avenue; there, the | 10 | | congregation built a much larger building for worship as well | 11 | | as a separate structure with a gymnasium and rooms for a Sunday | 12 | | school; Temple Beth El became the first synagogue in Chicago | 13 | | to house its religious school and its sanctuary in independent | 14 | | buildings; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, In the 1920s, Temple Beth El built a new | 16 | | structure at Palmer Square and Sawyer Avenue in the Logan | 17 | | Square neighborhood; the Palmer Square facility began as a | 18 | | humble clapboard house in the middle of a large vacant lot but | 19 | | eventually grew to accommodate the richness of activity and | 20 | | spirit; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Temple Beth El, like almost every synagogue in | 22 | | Chicago, felt the effects of the stock market crash; by 1931, |
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| 1 | | the synagogue was in financial ruin; by 1932, it defaulted on | 2 | | its mortgage, and the property was foreclosed; nevertheless, | 3 | | the congregation remained resilient in the face of great | 4 | | difficulty; dues continued to be collected, and social and | 5 | | religious programming continued to be offered on a tentative | 6 | | basis at the Palmer Square facility; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, As Temple Beth El entered the 1950s, a greater | 8 | | proportion of members now resided closer to Rogers Park than | 9 | | to Logan Square; with this information, Rabbi Weissberg | 10 | | successfully advocated for the synagogue to make a move; | 11 | | ground was broken at the intersection of Touhy and Albany | 12 | | Avenues for the Touhy Avenue facility in 1956; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, By 1970, Temple Beth El reached milestone | 14 | | membership numbers, including over 800 families; plans were | 15 | | developed for construction and refurbishment of the Touhy Ave | 16 | | building; on October 9, 1971, a centennial gala took place to | 17 | | mark the synagogue's anniversary followed by a yearlong | 18 | | celebration with landmark events spaced throughout 1971 and | 19 | | 1972; land was purchased in Northbrook on Walters Avenue to | 20 | | house a religious school and small chapel; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, In 1987, Temple Beth El purchased 3610 Dundee | 22 | | Road in Northbrook to develop into a multi-phase expansion | 23 | | project that would be completed over approximately 10 years; |
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| 1 | | on November 13, 1988, a groundbreaking ceremony was held to | 2 | | begin building Beth-El's current home, where it will celebrate | 3 | | its 150th anniversary year; therefore, be it
| 4 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 5 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 6 | | we congratulate Temple Beth El on its 150-year anniversary as | 7 | | a congregation; and be it further
| 8 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 9 | | presented to Temple Beth El as a symbol of our esteem and | 10 | | respect.
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