Baltimore, MD – Nov. 8, 2022 - There are dinners, and then there are dinners! On Sunday night, November 6, I had the pleasure of attending the first, and perhaps the annual, dinner for Congregation Shomrei Mishmeres HaKodesh that took place at Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah Hebrew Congregation (MMAE). SMH honored its Rav and Rebbetzin, Rabbi Chaim and Rebbetzin Dvora Schwartz.
This was a real treat because I have not attended a community dinner since pre-covid. But the real treat was to come in the form of Hinei MaTov U’Mah Naim Sheves Achim Gam Yachad, of sitting with all the people who came to show their Hakaros HaTov to the shul and their Rav and Rebbetzin.
It was a dinner at which Rabbi Yaakov Hopfer, our Mara D’Asra, opened the evening with his divrei bracha, stating that “everyone looks happy.” And indeed, we were! The dinner crowd reflected the shul’s mission in creating a warm and welcoming kehilla. My husband and I are not members of the shul. However, as we know the Rav and Rebbetzin on a personal level, we were so happy to celebrate this milestone with them by a) having an official shul dinner and b) being honored for their klal work!
The emcee, Mr. Bruce Luchansky, did a masterful job of introducing the speakers while interacting with the crowd in his inimitable way! There was a siyum on Mishnayos l’Iliu nishmas Rabbi Peretz Dinovitz, Z’L, led by Rabbi Naftoli Edinger, followed by beautiful dancing.
O’Fishel, deliciously catered the dinner and the music was skillfully played by Dr. Yehuda Mond, and accompanied by the rising singing sensation, Uri Meltzer.
Most people may or may not know that Congregation Shomrei Mishmeres HaKodesh is a continuation of a shul that was long since established in the history of Jewish Baltimore; that shul being the Lloyd Street Synagogue. Under the leadership of Rabbi Avraham Schwartz, the shul was created for the Eastern European Jews who immigrated to Baltimore in the early 1900s. As membership dwindled, the shul disbanded and later became part of the Jewish Historical Society of Maryland through the efforts of Rabbonim at that time in order to preserve its sanctified status.
Fast forward about one hundred years later to 2006, a rebirth occurred through the re-establishment of the Shomrei Mishmeres HaKodesh Shul perpetuated by Rabbi Chaim Schwartz, a grandchild of one of the founding trustees of the original shul, Mr. Hyman S. Schwartz.
As a long-time Baltimorean with deep roots to Eastern European Jewry, and having family that was also a part of building up the Baltimore orthodox community, I appreciated the historical background of this 16 year old-new shul!
From starting out on a back porch and remodeling to a respectable Beis HaKnesses with a beautiful, dedicated library, the shul has plans of renovating to accommodate their growing needs.
While the men were dancing, I decided to get the inside story of what the shul is like and asked one of the women attendees for her thoughts. Her words echoed that of the different speakers throughout the dinner. “I appreciate davening at a shul where the Rav and Rebbetzin connect to the Mispallelim. Whether it is a simcha or, sadly the opposite, they feel and act accordingly as if it’s their very own. And that is comforting.”
Indeed, when Rabbi Schwartz accepted the beautiful artwork from the shul as a token of appreciation and addressed the audience with his comments of hakoras hatov, he concluded with very telling words, “thank you for bentching us so that we can bentch you.”
The Baltimore community is truly blessed to have a kaleidoscope of places of worship where one can find his Makom in Avodas Hashem, one of these being the Congregation Shomrei Mishmeres HaKodesh.
