Kesher Israel (Washington, D.C.)
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Kesher Israel
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| Location | 2801 N Street, NW Washington, D.C. |
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| Coordinates | 38°54′24.71″N 77°3′25.39″W / 38.9068639°N 77.0570528°WCoordinates: 38°54′24.71″N 77°3′25.39″W / 38.9068639°N 77.0570528°W |
| Area | Georgetown Historic District |
| Built | 1931 |
| Architect | Julius Wenig |
| Architectural style | Spanish Colonial Revival Style |
| Website | kesher |
| Part of | Georgetown Historic District (#67000025) |
| Added to NRHP | May 28, 1967 |
Kesher Israel (Hebrew: קשר ישראל, "Kinship of Israel," also known as the Georgetown Synagogue) is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.. The congregation is over 100 years old and its worshipers have included prominent politicians, diplomats, jurists, journalists, and authors. One of them, novelist Herman Wouk, called it “the best little shul in America” and "a haven of true Yiddishkeit at the center of the finest neighborhood in Washington."
In 1910, six local Jewish merchants organized the Georgetown Hebrew Benevolent Society, which began to conduct religious services above a storefront on M Street, NW. A year later, this kernel, now numbering 50 families, founded Kesher Israel Congregation, which thus became the seventh synagogue organized in the nation's capital. In 1915, the congregation acquired, renovated, and began to meet in a premises at 2801 N Street, NW. The current synagogue building, which was constructed in 1931 on that site with a construction budget of $28,000, is a contributing property to the Georgetown Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The synagogue also administers two congregational cemeteries, one in Anacostia and the other in Capitol Heights, Maryland.
Kesher Israel is the last of the city's original pre-war Orthodox synagogues located in walking distance of downtown Washington. Beginning in the 1950s, as the local Jewish community grew exponentially, all the others relocated uptown or to suburban Montgomery County, Maryland. This demographic trend, coupled with the passing of the founding generation, reduced Kesher Israel's membership in the 1960s to the point where it was difficult to ensure daily minyanim. The synagogue, however, experienced a renaissance beginning in the late 1970s, spurred by young urban professionals who were moving to Georgetown and nearby neighborhoods, including the West End, Foggy Bottom, Dupont Circle, Burleith, and even those further afield like Adams-Morgan, Kalorama and Rosslyn, across Key Bridge in Arlington County, Virginia. Its current membership now stands at approximately 250 families and singles. Kesher Israel also attracts many students enrolled at nearby Georgetown University and George Washington University.
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