Monday, January 24th, 2011
People’s District and Rachel Estabrook present the second in a series of audio portraits of D.C.’s religious leaders. Today, we share the story of Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld of Ohev Sholom – The National Synagogue at 1600 Jonquil Street, NW. Hear the first portrait of Reverend Rob Hardies of All Souls Unitarian Church here.
The history of The National Synagogue dates back to the 1880′s and represents the merging of two Washington, D.C. congregations: Ohev Sholom and Talmud Torah. Congregation Ohev Sholom first met on the second floor over Myer Fisher’s clothing store on the 1100 block of 7th Street N.W. They eventually acquired a property at 500 Eye St in 1906 and built a synagogue.
Across town in SW, Congregation Talmud Torah met in congregant’s homes and shops until opening a synagogue on 467 E Street SW. The two congregations merged on July 7, 1958 to create Ohev Sholom Talmud Torah Congregation also known as The National Synagogue.
Read more about the history of the synagogue. Learn more about D.C.’s Jewish history from People’s District profile of Laura Cohen Apelbaum, executive director of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington.
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Music credit: Simja Dujov


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This is just great! Keep up the good work.
Comment by Jackie — January 24, 2011 @ 11:39 am
I also heard the profile of the UU minister. Both of these stories are interesting profiles of bright, committed people. Nicely done!
Comment by Steve — January 24, 2011 @ 1:42 pm
Great music!
Comment by Vincent — January 24, 2011 @ 2:40 pm
Fantastic work.
Comment by Tex — January 24, 2011 @ 6:28 pm
Inspiring and uplifting interview.
Comment by Tony — January 24, 2011 @ 10:38 pm
I love the line about how many rabbis there are in NY. This guy is a riot!
Comment by Barry — January 24, 2011 @ 10:49 pm
As someone who has zero interest in religion, I was not expecting to be as drawn into either of these profiles as I have been. This one especially gave me the equivalent of a “driveway moment” … Great work!
Comment by Caitlin — January 31, 2011 @ 4:48 pm