For many folks, the droning noise of construction is a pain. Whether it’s at work, home or in public, the sound of beeping, cranes, laying pipe and hammering are not exactly welcome.
But at Kehilath B’nai Torah, Rabbi Jonathan Aryeh Seidemann sees it differently.
“These are happy noises,” he said loudly in an attempt to make himself heard over the din.
At Kehilath B’nai Torah, the 26-year-old shul is busy undergoing its most expansive enhancement yet. The main sanctuary is being enlarged. Another classroom is being added. More restrooms are coming, as is more kitchen and storage space. The synagogue is getting a bigger lobby and enhanced office space, too.
“We’ve really outgrown our facilities,” Seidemann said. “We’ve gotten to the point where we’re borrowing space from another school, and that other shul has been very accommodating to us, but I think they’re looking forward with as much anticipation for the completion of our project as we are.”
For the rabbi of the Orthodox Baltimore synagogue, which serves the city’s Ranchleigh and Greenspring neighborhoods, all of this progress means a lot considering he has been with the congregation since the start.
“It was a group of young families that wanted to start a new shul to serve the growing neighborhood and the needs of young families,” Seidemann said. “When it started off, they approached me and we worked together on starting it.”
The job was not an easy one at first, but it was always worthwhile. Seidemann said he quickly realized this synagogue was going to be a special one.
“There are three dozen Orthodox shuls, maybe more, in Baltimore,” he said, pausing as a particularly loud drilling noise began behind him. “All of the rabbis, they’re amazing. When I walk into a meeting [with them], I have to pinch myself because I am surrounded by giants. But what I’ve been told, what we hear from people, is that amongst the specialness of this shul, is it is a true family shul.”
Seidemann appreciates this anecdote every time he hears it, but said that it really meant a lot when a senior rabbi in Baltimore told him that recently. He used the example of newlyweds as an example of what that means in practice.
“When a young woman from this shul marries someone, say, from a different city or a different shul, or a young man marries a young woman who comes from a different city or a different shul, I tell them that it’s true — I say they didn’t just get a bride or a groom, they got a whole shul family. And it’s really true,” he said.
The 150 or so families at Kehilath B’nai Torah come from all walks of life, which makes this dynamic even more special. Seidemann said there are old members and young ones, rich ones and poor ones. There are those who don’t do much in the Jewish community outside of services as well as big figures and lay leaders in Baltimore Jewry.
“It’s just a big, extended family that are there for each other, that grow with each other, that inspire each other. It’s a beautiful thing,” he said.
Kehilath B’nai Torah’s growth has been steady since 1999, as not even the COVID-19 pandemic did much to change the rate of people joining. Seidemann said he doesn’t recall being any less busy then, as everything the shul does simply moved online.
Amid Chanukah celebrations, it is another chance for the congregants to appreciate the cycle of the Jewish year, the rabbi said. He said that whether it’s Chaunkah, Pesach, Purim or any other Jewish holiday, it is an opportunity.
“These are gifts that God gives the Jewish people to focus on different aspects of what it is to be a Jew, or what it is to be a person,” he said.
Soon, Seidemann will be back in his office, helping to further the kind and warm community that he helped found more than a quarter-century ago.
But for now, it’s under construction.
