In 1992, Congregation Beit Yaakov was founded as Baltimore’s first inclusive Sephardic congregation.
At the time, Sephardic synagogues were relatively rare in Baltimore, with the few that did exist in the area having been primarily aimed at Persian Jews.
Over time, though, Baltimore’s Sephardic community has grown as more Jewish people have moved to the U.S. from countries such as Iran, Syria, Morocco and more. Beit Yaakov may have started out with only seven congregants, but 22 years later, it boasts a membership of over 150 people.
“It feels like a family, so it’s like we have 150 family members,” said Elliott Sharaby, Beit Yaakov’s chairman of the board. “There’s a real feeling of community, and watching our families and children grow is very rewarding.”
Originally called Netzach Israel, Beit Yaakov was founded out of the basement of Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion. Its founding rabbi, Rabbi Emanuel Goldfeiz, left Iran in 1979 to escape the Iranian Revolution.
“[My mentor] brought some students from Iran over to the U.S. The idea was that they would study, and then return to become rabbis and religious leaders in Iran,” Goldfeiz recalled. “I studied at Yeshivas Ner Yisroel [now Ner Israel Rabbinical College], but I ended up staying.”
At the time, establishing Sephardic congregations was not a priority for Baltimore’s Jewish community because the Sephardic population was so small. But the presence of Sephardic Jews in the U.S. is far from a recent development: The oldest synagogue in New York City, one of the biggest hubs of Jewish community in the country, is Sephardic. Congregation Shearith Israel, also called “The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue,” was founded in 1654 and still operates to this day.
Beit Yaakov’s founding was assisted by philanthropist Edmond J. Safra, a Sephardic Jewish billionaire with roots in Lebanon, Syria and Brazil. Goldfeiz recalled that Safra promised to pay for half of the congregation’s building cost once they moved out of Shaarei Zion. To this day, Beit Yaakov credits the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation on its website.
There are a few key differences between how Ashkenazi and Sephardic synagogues operate. One of the main ones is that, while Ashkenazi congregations store their Torahs in velvet covers and read them on the bimah, Sephardic congregations build cylindrical cases for their Torah and read them on flat tables.
According to chabad.org, this is a matter of halachah that pertains to mezuzot: Ashkenazi Jews typically affix their mezuzot at a slanted angle, but Sephardic Jews position them vertically. This is because Ashkenazi law denotes vertical mezuzot being invalid, and vice versa.
“Beit Yaakov provides a place where congregants can pray and learn according to their customs. Many of our congregants are from Syria, Yemen, Iran, Morocco. … they have customs specific to Middle Eastern Judaism, which isn’t always included at other synagogues,” Sharaby said.
More Sephardic synagogues have popped up around Baltimore in the years since Beit Yaakov’s founding, but the synagogue’s leadership welcomes them rather than seeing them as competition.
Beit Yaakov also follows a rule uncommon in some synagogues: no talking allowed.
“The only time you should be talking in synagogue is when you talk to Hashem,” Goldfeiz noted.
He added that one of the things that makes Beit Yaakov unique is how diverse it is, in part due to the diversity of the Sephardic community itself. While the term is derived from the Hebrew word for Spain, Sephardic Jews come from far beyond the Iberian peninsula. Beit Yaakov’s members hail from Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Israel and several countries in Africa. There are even a few Ashkenazi congregants.
“We have unity because we are different. We have different cultures, and they complement each other,” Goldfeiz explained. “When you find unity, when you see that there is not much difference between us. We have more in common than we might have thought.”
Beit Yaakov has been taking some steps to modernize the synagogue. The congregation recently finished renovations, as the building was very old when it was first purchased. These renovations were made possible by a grant from the Safra Philanthropic Foundation, which still supports the congregation.
Beit Yaakov also has started to host night classes for adults, where participants study the Talmud and Jewish tradition. These classes have attracted a crowd of 46 regulars.
“For many of them, it’s the first time they’re setting aside time to come and learn,” Goldfeiz said. “Most of them were not privileged enough to have a formal Jewish education as children.”
