Bolton Street Synagogue was started by 20 to 30 families in the Bolton Hill neighborhood of Baltimore. Some were members of Beth Am Synagogue following the departure of one of its rabbis and some, like Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, were on the waitlist to join Beth Am.
Today, those families, along with more than 200 others, are celebrating Bolton Street Synagogue’s 40th anniversary.
“I think making sure people know what the history — even of our own members — is a nice thing, and looking forward is even a nicer thing,” Krevor-Weisbaum, campaign chair for the synagogue’s 40th celebrations, said. “We’re sharing some of the stories of the past, but we’re much more so building on the future.”
The unofficial kick-off celebration for the congregation was the unveiling of a three-panel wall mural made up of 513 individual wooden tiles made by congregants.
“Every tile was touched by more than one person,” said Cory Hermann, the director of education at Bolton Street Synagogue. “The paper [mache] that are used in the design were all created by the kids … The kids also then painted all of the sky tiles.”
The project was originally brought by Ethel Zelenske, Bolton Street Synagogue’s immediate past president. While president, her cousins, Neil — who was an artist — and his wife — who lived in England — became members of the synagogue, attended services and events virtually, and gave generously to the synagogue. However, at the end of 2024, Neil died from colon cancer.
“Neil, who was more like a brother to me, passed away right after I finished my term. So I wanted to do something special with the funds that had come in,” Zelenske explained. “When Neil was still alive, they said to do something for the kids.”
Zelenske added that the project was not to become a memorial for Neil, but instead something inspired by his art. So Hermann brought on Tova Speter, an artist she met while working at a URJ camp over the summer.
“Some of his art centered around trees, and Tova did some research on who Bolton Street Synagogue is, looked at our website, and she came up with the design of the tree, incorporating our logo and the color scheme,” said Hermann.
“It was amazing how she got us as a congregation,” added Zelenske.
The wife, daughter, and granddaughters of Zelenske’s cousin also created six tiles to contribute to the project.
“I would see toddlers all up to old people like me, and even some older than me [participating],” Zelenske said. “It was really a wonderful opportunity for the whole congregation to participate. And … I just never get tired of looking at it. It’s just so gorgeous.”
Hermann added, “I think as we were talking, the initial [mural] wasn’t necessarily [for the 40th anniversary], but we realized the timing of it made sense, and so we connected it to our 40th with celebrating our values. In particular, this idea of l’dor v’dor [and] making sure we put the year we were established down below as well. And we looked at it as the unofficial kickoff to the 40th.”
The mural incorporates tile designs that congregants voted on that reflect the congregation’s values. Themes of inclusiveness are represented as spirals, spirituality is stars, and tikkun olam is represented by hands. Gold lines are painted throughout the mural connecting the present to the past and future generations. The center of the mural is a tree, the Bolton Street Synagogue logo, with roots that spell out l’dor v’dor.
In addition to unveiling the mural, the official 40th celebration Shabbat celebration was held last Friday, where the congregation welcomed more than 130 people for a conversational dinner and service.
“This is big for us,” said Nancy Savage, a Campaign Committee member. “We had some rocky times in terms of continuing to bring people in and ‘are we going to be here in 10 years?’ And not only are we here, but we’re here and we’re thriving.”
