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Chicago Sinai Congregation was the second Reform Jewish synagogue in Chicago and has represented the American liberal Jewish tradition since its founding in 1861. Currently located on Chicago's near north side, the congregation comprises over 700 families and is a member of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ).

History
Sinai's first service was held on June 21, 1861, in what is now the financial district in Chicago's Loop. It was one of a half dozen Reform congregations in the United States and, like the others, had its roots in the Reform movement that had begun in Germany earlier in the 19th Century.

Clergy
The Temple's original Rabbi was Dr. Bernhard Felsenthal, a German-born Talmudic scholar who had earlier helped form the Jewish Reform Society in Chicago.

Sinai's second Rabbi, Isaac Chronic, was among the first to advocate supplementing Sabbath observances with Sunday services thereby recognizing the modern American workweek.

In 1874 Chronic's successor, Kaufmann Kohler, began to hold Weekly Worship Services on Sundays. Kohler went on to become President of Hebrew Union College, educating generations of Reform Rabbis.

Kohler was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Emil G. Hirsch, who served for 42 years. Hirsch was prominent in civic endeavors, founded the national newspaper, The Reform Advocate, and was a professor of Rabbinical Philosophy and Literature at the University of Chicago. Chicagoans of various religions flocked to hear Hirsch address the social evils of the day. "The world to come should be made here," he taught; and "If present conditions are not as they should be, a kingdom of God, these conditions are an accusation against us and they ought to be answered by us."

Louis L. Mann, Sinai's senior Rabbi for 39 years, further defined the role of Rabbi as that of a social and moral advocate - "the mouthpiece of the inarticulate, the uprooted, the poor, the Negro (sic), the deserted, the oppressed and the hungry." He condemned slums as a "mockery of our claim to civilization," challenged McCarthyism, and railed against poverty.

Samuel E. Karff led the Congregation's response to the Holocaust and a renewed interest in Jewish history and traditions by reinstituting Sabbath morning services. Under his leadership, Sinai also became one of the first sponsors of "death and dying" seminars.

Howard Berman has served the Congregation since 1982, becoming Rabbi Emeritus in 1998. He initiated the Sinai Outreach program for interfaith couples. He also led the Congregation in its move from Chicago's South Side to its current location on Delaware Street.

Sinai current rabbis are Michael Sternfield, Senior Rabbi since 1996, and Assistant Rabbi Evan Moffic. Rabbi Sternfield was instrumental in settling the congregation into its new home on Chicago's north side and overseeing the congregation's rapid growth which followed the relocation. He also managed the development of the temple's current prayerbook, the Union Prayerbook - Sinai Edition, which is the first new liturgical guide for Reform Judaism in over 30 years.

Membership
Many distinguished Chicagoans have been members of the congregation. Included among them are Henry Horner, governor of Illinois during the 1930s, Julius Rosenwald, builder of the Sears Roebuck empire, and other leaders of the civic, commercial and cultural life of the city and nation.

Like nearly all long-standing Reform synagogues, Sinai was founded by and remains home to many families of Germanic descent. With recent shifts in urban demographics, however, the temple's composition has become more heterogeneous. Contributing to this change has been the decision, made in 1982, that Chicago Sinai Congregation open its hearts and doors to couples confronting one of the most challenging dilemmas of family and faith - the reconciliation of deep personal love with the significant spiritual, religious, and cultural differences inherent in interfaith marriage. Sinai chose to offer interfaith couples compassion, understanding and a unique human perspective that embraces those of all faiths - providing a spiritual home to Jew and non-Jew alike. Sinai's response to the interfaith challenge stands as testimony to the power of compassion, caring and open minds, open hearts and open doors in addressing these concerns. Sinai's experience is that the vast majority of children born to interfaith couples are named in the Temple and raised in committed Jewish homes.

The 1870s and 1880s witnessed further departures from traditional ritual. Men could now pray without wearing kippot to cover their heads. Bar mitzvah ceremonies were no longer held. The Union Prayer book was adopted in 1895.

By the 1930s, Emanu-El began to absorb large numbers of Jews whose families had arrived in poverty from Eastern Europe and brought with them their Yiddish language and devoutly Orthodox religious heritage. In contrast, Emanu-El was dominated by affluent German-speaking Jews whose liberal approaches to Judaism originated in Western Europe, where civic emancipation had enticed Jews to discard many of their ethnoreligious customs and embrace the lifestyles of their neighbors. For the descendants of Eastern European immigrants, joining Temple Emanu-El often signified their upward mobility and progress in assimilating into American society. However, the intake of these new congregants also helped to put a brake on, if not force a limited retreat from, the 'rejectionist' attitude which 'classical' Reform had espoused towards traditional ritual.