Congregation Kol Emes (Richmond, Virginia): Difference between revisions

Congregation Kol Emes
Congregation Kol Emes
Hebrew: קהילת קול אמת ד'ריטשמאנד
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Synagogue
Status	Active
Location
Location	4811 Patterson Avenue, Richmond, Virginia
Country	United States
	Location in Virginia
Geographic coordinates	37°34′18″N 77°30′4″W / 37.57167°N 77.50111°W
Architecture
Date established	1964 (as a congregation)
Completed	1964

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Congregation Kol Emes (Hebrew: קהילת קול אמת ד'ריטשמאנד, lit. 'Voice of truth'), also known as Young Israel of Richmond, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 4811 Patterson Avenue, in Richmond, Virginia, in the United States.

Constituted and founded in 1964, it is one of the oldest active Jewish congregations in Virginia, the fourth oldest active congregation in Richmond, and housing the oldest active mikvah in Richmond. It is a member synagogue of the National Council of Young Israel and the Orthodox Union.^[1]

It is a very small congregation, compared to the larger and more successful congregations in the city, such as Keneseth Beth Israel.

History

Congregation Kol Emes is a continuation of Orthodox synagogues in Richmond dating back to 1789.^[2] It has been at the center of the continuation of Orthodox Jewish life in Richmond:

In 1964... brothers Abraham and Emil Dere spearheaded the founding of the Jewish Academy of Richmond, which, shortly thereafter became Congregation Kol Emes, with the guidance of HaRav Nachman Bulman, who at the time was a Rov in the independent city of Newport News. At the time, once again, Kol Emes housed the only Mikvah in Richmond (until the Chabad Mikvah opened in the 1980s) and the only shul in Richmond with a Mechitzah (until Keneseth Beth Israel moved to its present location in the 1970s). In 1965, the Richmond Hebrew Day School, presently Rudlin Torah Academy, was founded in the Kol Emes building, with personal blessings from Gedolei Yisrael.^[2]

References

^ "Synagogue profile: CONGREGATION KOL EMES / YOUNG ISRAEL OF RICHMOND". Orthodox Union. 2016. Archived from the original on February 18, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ ^a ^b "The history of Congregation Kol Emes". NACHALEI EMUNAH HASIDIC INSTITUTE OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. n.d. Archived from the original on October 28, 2009.

External links

"Congregation Kol Emes". Young Israel Of Richmond. n.d. Archived from the original on December 31, 2008.
"Home page". Congregation Kol Emes. 2018. Archived from the original on August 9, 2018.

[1] "Synagogue profile: CONGREGATION KOL EMES / YOUNG ISRAEL OF RICHMOND". Orthodox Union. 2016. Archived from the original on February 18, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

[History_of_Kol_Emes-2] "The history of Congregation Kol Emes". NACHALEI EMUNAH HASIDIC INSTITUTE OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. n.d. Archived from the original on October 28, 2009.

[1]

[2]

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+'''Congregation Kol Emes''' ({{lang-he|קהילת  קול  אמת  ד'ריטשמאנד||Voice of truth}}), also known as '''Young Israel of Richmond''', is an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] [[Jewish]] [[synagogue]] located at 4811 Patterson Avenue, in [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], [[Virginia]], in the United States.
+Constituted and founded in 1964, it is one of the oldest active Jewish congregations in Virginia, the fourth oldest active congregation in Richmond, and housing the oldest active [[mikvah]] in Richmond. It is a member synagogue of the [[National Council of Young Israel]] and the [[Orthodox Union]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ou.org/network/shuls/kolemes.html |title=Synagogue profile: CONGREGATION KOL EMES / YOUNG ISRAEL OF RICHMOND |work=[[Orthodox Union]] |year=2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218194447/http://www.ou.org/network/shuls/kolemes.html |archive-date=February 18, 2008 |access-date= |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>
-'''Congregation Kol Emes''' ({{lang-he|קהילת  קול  אמת  ד'ריטשמאנד)}} ("Kol Emes" means "voice [of] truth" in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]) also known as '''Young Israel of Richmond''' is an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] [[Jew]]ish [[synagogue]] in [[Richmond, Virginia]], constituted and founded in its present state in [[1964]].
+It is a very small congregation, compared to the larger and more successful congregations in the city, such as Keneseth Beth Israel.
-It is one of the oldest currently active Jewish congregations in [[Virginia]], the fourth oldest active congregation in Richmond, and housing the oldest active [[mikvah]] in Richmond. It is a member synagogue of the [[National Council of Young Israel]] and the [[Orthodox Union]].<ref>[http://www.ou.org/network/shuls/kolemes.html ''Congregation Kol Emes/Young Israel of Richmond is a Proud Member of the Orthodox Union'']</ref>
-It is presently a very small congregation, compared to the larger and more successful congregations in the city, such as Keneseth Beth Israel.
 ==History==
-Congregation Kol Emes is a continuation of Orthodox synagogues in Richmond dating back to [[1789]].<ref name="History of Kol Emes">[http://web.archive.org/web/20091028054406/http://www.geocities.com/kolemes/history.html  History of Kol Emes]</ref> It has been at the center of the continuation of Orthodox Jewish life in Richmond:
+Congregation Kol Emes is a continuation of Orthodox synagogues in Richmond dating back to 1789.<ref name="History of Kol Emes">{{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/kolemes/history.html |title=The history of Congregation Kol Emes |work=NACHALEI EMUNAH HASIDIC INSTITUTE OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA |date=n.d. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028054406/http://www.geocities.com/kolemes/history.html |archive-date=28 October 2009 |access-date= }}</ref> It has been at the center of the continuation of Orthodox Jewish life in Richmond:
-:In 1964...brothers Abraham and Emil Dere spearheaded the founding of the Jewish Academy of Richmond, which, shortly thereafter became Congregation Kol Emes, with the guidance of [[Rabbi|HaRav]] [[Nachman Bulman]], who at the time was a Rov in [[Newport News, Virginia|Newport News, VA]]. At the time, once again, Kol Emes housed the only [[Mikvah]] in Richmond (until the [[Chabad]] Mikvah opened in the 1980's) and the only shul in Richmond with a [[Mechitza]]h (until Keneseth Beth Israel moved to its present location in the 1970's). In 1965, the Richmond Hebrew Day School, presently Rudlin Torah Academy, was founded in the Kol Emes building, with personal blessings from [[Gadol|Gedolei Yisrael]].<ref name="History of Kol Emes"/>
+:In 1964... brothers Abraham and Emil Dere spearheaded the founding of the Jewish Academy of Richmond, which, shortly thereafter became Congregation Kol Emes, with the guidance of [[Rabbi|HaRav]] [[Nachman Bulman]], who at the time was a Rov in the [[Independent city (United States)|independent city]] of [[Newport News, Virginia|Newport News]]. At the time, once again, Kol Emes housed the only [[Mikvah]] in Richmond (until the [[Chabad]] Mikvah opened in the 1980s) and the only shul in Richmond with a [[Mechitza]]h (until Keneseth Beth Israel moved to its present location in the 1970s). In 1965, the Richmond Hebrew Day School, presently Rudlin Torah Academy, was founded in the Kol Emes building, with personal blessings from [[Gadol|Gedolei Yisrael]].<ref name="History of Kol Emes"/>
-The synagogue was at the center of all major religious developments in Jewish and Orthodox life in Richmond, such as in the spheres of [[Jewish education]] and efforts to increase Jewish religious ritual life, having had the attention of rabbis who served the synagogue or even from further afield who saw its centrality and importance.
-==Current events==
-A recent rabbi had the distinction of having become [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] yet serving a non-Hasidic [[Modern Orthodox Judaism|Modern Orthodox]] synagogue as reported in ''[[The Jewish Press]]'' (October 24, 2007):
-:Rabbi Yitzchak Zev (Joseph) Kolakowski became the rav of Kol Emes in January 2007. He received [[semicha]]h at ''[[Yeshiva]] Or Kedoshim'' [[Biala (Hasidic dynasty)|Biala]] in [[Brooklyn]]. He obtained a B.A. in psychology from [[Lander College|Lander College for Men]] in Queens, N.Y. and a postgraduate certificate in Advanced Rabbinics and Synagogue Management from [[Touro College]] in conjunction with [[National Council of Young Israel]] and the [[National_Council_of_Young_Israel#Young_Israel_Council_of_Rabbis|Young Israel Council of Rabbis]]. Rabbi Kolakowski's English translation of sefer ''Seder HaYom'' by the late Biala Rebbe was published in [[2006]] in [[Israel]]. Rabbi Kolakowski and his [[rebbetzin]], Chavah, hope to guide Congregation Kol Emes to become a bastion of [[Torah study|Torah]] and [[Jewish services|tefillah]] within the rich and historic tapestry of Richmond's Jewish community.<ref name="jewishpress.com">[http://www.jewishpress.com/print.do/25552/My_Machberes.html My Machberes: "The Chassidim Of... Richmond, Virginia" by Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum. (The Jewish Press, October 24, 2007)]</ref><ref>[http://www.thejewishpress.com/displaycontent_new.cfm?contentid=25648&contentname=My%20Machberes&sectionid=14&mode=a&recnum=0 My Machberes: "Richmond’s Chassidic History" by Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum. (The Jewish Press, October 31, 2007)]</ref>
-In March 2009, Rabbi Asher Meza came from Eretz Yisrael to act as Young Israel of Richmond's unofficial assistant Rabbi and assist Rabbi Kolakowski in growing the small congregation.
-(Rabbi Asher Meza studied in Jerusalem's Aish HaTorah Yeshiva, along side with many smaller Israeli yeshivos. (Kochav Hashachar))
-The synagogue drew notable attention to itself in the Jewish media because of its new rabbi's Hasidic lifestyle and innovations and his hosting a number of events with the help and participation of [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidim]] and [[Rebbe#Chasidic rebbe|Rebbes]] from the larger Jewish centers:
-:On Sunday night of [[Chol HaMoed]] [[Sukkot|Sukkos]], September 30, [2007] a group of more than 30 [[Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)|Satmar]] men, women, and children, came to Congregation Kol Emes (Young Israel of Richmond) in Richmond, Virginia to conduct a joyous [[Simchat Beit HaShoeivah|Simchas Beis HaShoeivah]] for the entire Jewish community of Richmond. On Sunday, October 21, Rabbi Moshe Taub, [[Kaliv (Hasidic dynasty)|Kalover]] Rebbe from [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn|Williamsburg]], visited Kol Emes at the invitation of Rabbi Kolakowski. The Rebbe arrived at three in the afternoon and at 5:30 delivered a heartwarming ''drashah'' ("sermon") to the entire community. He then received petitioners at Kol Emes from 8-11 p.m. The Kalover Rebbe is celebrated for his successful [[Jewish outreach|outreach efforts]].<ref name="jewishpress.com"/>
-Rabbi Kolakowski drew the attention of the local secular media who have become curious about Judaism through the congregation's activities, such as a report in the ''[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]]'' (December 8, 2007):
-:A weekly Jewish ritual called [[Havdalah]] marks the end of the [[Shabbat|Sabbath]], the Jewish day of rest. After ''Times-Dispatch'' photographer Bruce Parker took a photo of a ''Havdalah'' ceremony at Congregation Kol Emes in Richmond last Saturday night, we decided to follow up with Rabbi Joseph Kolakowski to ask a few questions about the practice and about his congregation.<ref name="inrich.com">[http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.PrintView.-content-articles-RTD-2007-12-08-0080.html Richmond rabbi explains ritual by Tina Eshleman (Richmond Times-Dispatch, December 08, 2007]</ref>
-The interview with the ''Times-Dispatch'' went on to question the previous rabbi's own background revealing his eclectic origins and how he came to be a Hasidic rabbi serving an Orthodox Young Israel synagogue in Virginia:
-:I am 23 years old...My upbringing was far from Orthodox or Hasidic. My mother was raised in a [[Modern Orthodox Judaism|Modern Orthodox]] home in Queens, N.Y., but she chose to leave Orthodox practice. My father is of the [[Roman Catholic]] faith. As an infant, I had my [[Brit milah|bris]] in an Orthodox synagogue and was also [[baptized]] in a Catholic church...My grandparents encouraged me to have a [[bar mitzvah]] in their Orthodox synagogue, and I liked it so much I continued to adopt more Orthodox practices...My senior year in high school and my freshman year in college I spent in a full-time [[yeshiva]] in [[Jerusalem]], where I felt drawn to Hasidic practice and philosophy, which stresses love, joy and spirituality...My wife's name is Melissa (her Hebrew name is Chavah, which translates into English as "Eve"), and she has a very interesting story. She is a convert to the Jewish faith, born into a [[Mormon]] family in Idaho Falls, Idaho. She fulfilled her lifelong dream to be a successful opera singer... since Mr. Dere's passing in 2001 -- saw the congregation waning...Many thought the synagogue would close down, as they went for two years without a rabbi, and were barely eking out a Sabbath service about once a month.. The struggling congregation, under the new lay leadership of Mr. Thomas Buehler, decided that it was time to seek a new rabbi to try a last-ditch effort to rejuvenate the congregation...On [[Hanukkah]] of [[2006]], my wife and I spent our first official [[Shabbat|Sabbath]] as rabbi and [[rebbetzin]] (Yiddish for Rabbi's wife) of Congregation Kol Emes. We fully moved to Richmond in January of this year. Since we have moved here, our synagogue has grown. Historically the synagogue was strictly Orthodox, but I have been pushing a vision of more [[Jewish outreach|outreach]]...We now have [[Jewish services|services]] every week, and they are attended by men and women, Jews and non-Jews, of all different backgrounds.<ref name="inrich.com"/>
-The scenario described is reflective of the changes that are taking place in Jewish communal life, not just in Richmond but in some smaller Jewish communities and within their synagogues as they adapt and respond to the changing religious and sociological conditions in Jewish and general society.
-The Congregation ran a Public Access Cable TV show in Richmond for five weeks, that featured Rabbi Kolakowski accepting live phone calls from viewers.<ref>[http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-05-20-0152.html Call-in TV show to feature local rabbi]</ref>
-Rabbi Kolakowski had since resigned from the synagogue.  The synagogue hired a new rabbi, but he left in less than a year.  Rabbi Kolakowski has now returned to the synagogue and serves as the baal koreh in the shul on Shabbos morning, but they don't have enough money to pay him.
 ==See also==
+{{stack|{{portal|Judaism|Virginia}}}}
-*[[American Jews]]
-*[[History of the Jews in the United States]]
 *[[Richmond Jewish Foundation]]
 *[[Virginia Holocaust Museum]]
+== References ==
-==References and notes==
 {{reflist}}
 ==External links==
-*[http://www.youngisraelofrichmond.com/id2.html Newer website of Young Israel of Richmond / Congregation Kol Emes for fundraising and outreach]
+*{{cite web |url=http://www.youngisraelofrichmond.com/id2.html |title=Congregation Kol Emes |work=Young Israel Of Richmond |date=n.d. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081231005551/http://www.youngisraelofrichmond.com/id2.html |archive-date=December 31, 2008 }}
+*{{cite web |url=http://kolemes.org/ |title=Home page |work=Congregation Kol Emes |date=2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809110747/http://kolemes.org/ |archive-date=August 9, 2018 |access-date= }}
-*[http://www.kolemes.org Current website of the congregation as Kol Emes of Richmond]
-*[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/congregationkolemes/ Synagogue's site on Yahoo!]
+{{Synagogues in the United States}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kol Emes (Richmond, Virginia)}}
+[[Category:National Council of Young Israel]]
+[[Category:Synagogues in Richmond, Virginia]]
+[[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1964]]
+[[Category:Orthodox synagogues in the United States]]
+[[Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States]]
+[[Category:Buildings and structures in Richmond, Virginia]]
+[[Category:1964 establishments in Virginia]]
+[[Category:Synagogues completed in 1964]]
 [[Category:Synagogues in Virginia]]
-[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1964]]
-[[Category:Orthodox synagogues in the United States]]