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Celebrates National Jewish American Heritage Month by detailing the Beth Torah Synagogue’s history on the Ridge

A postcard of the Beth Torah Synagogue which was located at 93rd Street and Vanderpoel Avenue in North Beverly.
This 1961 Chicago Tribune photo shows Rabbi Leonard Devine (second from right) celebrating the dedication of Beth Torah synagogue on October 13, 1961. Rev. Robert Mulligan (from left) of Trinity United Methodist Church, Rev. E. Weldon Keckley of Bethany Union Church, and Rev. Vincent B. Silliman of Beverly Unitarian Church join Devine. In the spirit of ecumenism, these local churches supported the Jewish community until the synagogue was built.
The footprint of the Beth Torah Synagogue is a vacant lot at 93rd Street and Vanderpoel Avenue – which demonstrates that even vacant lots have interesting histories! Photo by C. Flynn.

The Ridge Historical Society

National Jewish American Heritage Month

May 2021

By Carol Flynn

May is a busy month for recognitions – nurses, teachers, and police are all honored during this month.

May is also National Jewish American Heritage Month.

The Ridge was home to a thriving Jewish American community and there was once a Jewish synagogue in North Beverly.

The following is from the RHS newsletter, adapted from “Beth Torah: The Congregation That Held Services in a Castle,” by Errol Magidson, published in Chicago Jewish History, Vol. 38, No. 4, Fall 2014, a publication of the Chicago Jewish Historical Society.

“In 1953, Jews living on the far southwest side of Chicago and nearby suburbs established a Reform congregation which they named Beth Torah, or Temple of Instruction. All but one of the officers lived in the Beverly/Morgan Park community. In their early years, they held services at the [Beverly Unitarian Church in] Givins Beverly Castle, Trinity Methodist Church, and Bethany Union Church, and in members’ homes. Although small, the congregation was active with classes, a youth group, membership and fund drives, and social events like hay rides and fashion shows.

“A major goal of the congregation was to have its own synagogue. Funds were raised, land was purchased at 93rd Street and Vanderpoel Avenue, and a building was constructed.

"Beth Torah Synagogue opened in October 1961. But by 1974, due to an aging membership and a decline in the number of Jewish families in the Beverly area, a number of the Beth Torah congregants opted to affiliate with another congregation in Olympia Fields.

“The Beth Torah Synagogue was purchased by the Chicago Board of Education in 1974 and used for classrooms for a few years. Eventually, the building was torn down but the foundation still remains.”

The weed-choked vacant lot at 93rd Street and Vanderpoel Avenue is all that is left of the synagogue – even vacant lots have interesting histories! There are, of course, Jewish residents on the Ridge, active participants in neighborhood affairs, members of the ever-diverse population that calls this community home.

With thanks to Errol Magidson.