Sinai’s current building was built in 1997, with an addition completed
in 2005. It sits in the heart of the Near North neighborhood of Chicago,
blocks from Water Tower and Michigan Avenue. It is one of the only
Jewish congregations in the nation built and established in an urban
center during the last 50 years.
Chicago Sinai Congregation literally has been "on the move" through much of its history. Our first Temple was a former church on Monroe Street between Clark and LaSalle in the Loop. The second, on Plymouth Court only a few blocks away, was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
After the Chicago fire, the Congregation relocated to 21st Street and Indiana Boulevard. Sinai occupied this facility until 1912. This building was torn down.
In 1912, Sinai moved to 47th Street and Grand Boulevard (now Martin Luther King Boulevard). Many of our older members still recall services and programs in this facility. This building is still in use as a Missionary Baptist facility.
In 1949, the Congregation relocated to 53rd Street and Lake Shore Drive in Hyde Park. Many current members participated in services in this building. The building was torn down after the Congregation moved in 1996.
Today, Sinai celebrates life in its sixth home -- a beautifully designed Temple and religious center in the heart of Chicago's Near North Side.
Dirk Lohan, noted architect and interior designer of the new Sinai chapel and stained glass windows, had these comments about the new space:
"Perhaps the chapel’s most noticeable features are the gently vaulted ceiling and the five stained glass windows. The vaulted wood ceiling establishes a unique quality that distinguishes this space from other flat ceiling spaces. The wood gives it warmth and simultaneously an acoustical absorption that will add to the intimate quality of the room.
The five stained glass windows break down into two groupings; the three windows on the north side are very similar to each other and are decorative patterns of different shades of blue glass which filter the daylight and somewhat obscure the outside world.
Next to the Ark, the two feature windows introduce into the same pattern of blue glass an abstracted rendition of the tablets that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai. They contain the Hebrew numbers from one to ten representing the ten commandments. I would hope that these windows will encourage and inspire the members of Chicago Sinai Congregation to reflect upon the meaning of these scriptural symbols in the contemporary world".
He concludes with:
"It is my sincere hope that the new chapel through its proportions, materials and colors will become the jewel within the spaces of the Sinai building".