Sidebar 2: A Declaration of Faith, 1853
Part 7 of “Strangers No More: Jewish Life in Maryland’s Small Towns. Missed the beginning? Head there now! Written by Karen Falk, former JMM curator. Originally published in Generations – Winter 2001. If you would like to purchase a hard copy of this issue, please contact our shop, Esther’s Place, at 443-873-5179 or email info@jewishmuseummd.org.
Henry and Selig Adler were involved in the formal organization of the Jewish community of Cumberland. When Congregation B’er Chayim was chartered in 1853, with Henry Adler as treasurer, it was just the third Jewish congregation to be organized in the state. The Jews of Cumberland built themselves a simple but handsome synagogue in 1867.
The original members of B’er Chayim wanted to lead a traditional Jewish life. In a unique move, they published a resolution in Cumberland’s The Alleganian giving notice that:
We feel it to be our sacred and solemn duty to adhere in future more strictly to our religious faith, principles and ceremonies.
Resolved, that we will in future abstain from all manual labor whatsoever, on Saturday, the Sabbath Day, the day consecrated by our religion as a day of rest, transmitted to us in all its sacredness and with all its solemn duties by our ancestors.
Resolved, that we will close our respective places of business every Friday evening, at sundown, and keep such closed until Saturday night, and will abstain from doing any business whatever.
Resolved, that we tender our friends and customers individually and collectively our sincere thanks, for the liberal patronage bestowed on us, and hope that by thus notifying them of the step we have taken of keeping more strictly our religion, that they will patronize us further on such days as we are permitted by our religion to transact business.
Resolved, that the foregoing resolutions be published in all our town papers for the period of one month.
It is not known whether this bold experiment was implemented and, if so, how long it continued.
Continue to Sidebar 3: A Letter from Brunswick, 1917, publishing March 11, 2019.