When you walk along Douglas Boulevard, between Homan and Trumbull Avenues, your eye is attracted to a large, beautiful structure with a wide entrance, supported by massive pillars, over which there are large stained windows. If you walk closer, you will notice, above the entrance, an inscription bearing these prominent letters: "Anshe Kneseth Israel" [in Hebrew].

This building is the largest Orthodox synagogue in Chicago. The Congregation Anshe Kneseth Israel has a membership made up of the oldest [Jewish] settlers in Chicago. It has an historic background of four decades.

About forty years ago, when the Jewish settlement was neither as large nor as highly developed as it is today, a group of immigrants who were devoted 2to the life of Jewish Orthodoxy banded together and founded a synagogue on Clinton and George Streets. And as the Jewish settlement grew larger and larger, this congregation became stronger and more powerful, materially and numerically. As a result of a decision of the membership to enlarge the synagogue, the beautiful building which you now see on Douglas Boulevard near Homan Avenue, was built six years ago.

The impression you receive of the synagogue from its outside appearance is infinitesimally small compared to the impression you get after you enter the building. On the first floor there is a large Heder [Old World type of Hebrew school] and the Beth ha-Midrash [house of study, sometimes used as synagogue]. In the Beth ha-Midrash, there are nearly seven hundred seats, and there are shelves full of sacred writings--the Talmud and the Bible. Jews come to study these sacred books every day. Services are also conducted 3daily, except on Saturday and holidays. Besides individual students, there is a group who study the Bible, a group who study Mishnah (collection of Talmudic laws and precepts upon which the Gemara is based), and a group who study the Talmud. The rabbi of the synagogue conducts the class in Talmud. Adjoining the Beth ha-Midrash is the office of the Hebra Gemiloth Chesed (Free Loan Group). This group has a capital of about $3,000. It loans from ten to one hundred dollars to the needy, to be repaid in small weekly payments without interest.

On Saturdays and holidays, services are conducted in the synagogue proper, which is on the second floor. It is an unusually beautiful structure, built and designed in the style of Jewish Orthodoxy. There are two thousand seats in the synagogue, which is beautifully decorated.

The rabbi of the Congregation Anshe Kneseth Israel is Rabbi Ephraim Epstein, who is one of the most prominent Orthodox rabbis in Chicago. Aside from being a noted European scholar and an authority on our literature, he is an energetic welfare worker. He is one of the founders of the [Hebrew] Theological College. Rabbi Epstein interprets the Talmud every evening to a group who are studying it. He also delivers inspiring sermons every Saturday and holiday. The Congregation also has a Magid [Translator's note: a preacher, not a rabbi], who delivers a sermon each day between the late afternoon and the early evening services. The synagogue has also engaged a permanent cantor [Translator's note: the word "permanent" is used here to distinguish him from a cantor who is engaged for the High, or lesser holiday services only]. The cantor is Mr. Lipner, who has been connected with this synagogue for the past five years. The synagogue also maintains a teaching 5staff.

Mr. M. Solk, president, is responsible for a good deal of the Congregation's accomplishments. He has given most of his time and energy to the synagogue. Originally it was planned that this congregation should be built on Winchester Avenue, near Roosevelt Road, but Mr. Solk was the one who pointed out the need of a synagogue on Douglas Boulevard, because he foresaw that that district would become the Jewish center of Chicago. The vice-president is the philanthropist, Benjamin Cohen; Sam Mann is treasurer; A. Halperin, secretary; A. Cohen, sexton; J. Solk, superintendent of the cemetery. The trustees are L. Rotner, P. Gordon, Joseph Broun, Morris Goodman, and P. Hashak.

The synagogue has already cost the members $150,000. The first mortgage of $50,000 will soon be paid. The yearly expenses amount to $18,000. Last year, $20,000 was raised for various charitable institutions. At present the 6Congregation has over three hundred members in good standing, who are not only loyal to the synagogue but also respond generously to every appeal that is made for the Jews in general.