History Of The Woodside Synagogue Ahavas Torah
Part Two

In 1974, the congregation purchased a house on Highland Drive (now the Goldberger home) to serve as the Woodside shul. But, by 1977, the shul membership was too big for the basement of a house and so the shul purchased Alton Farm, a house on the corner of Georgia Avenue and Noyes Drive. It is rumored that the original basement of this house was used as part of an underground railroad during the Civil War, and its foundation is the oldest in the area. But the Summit Hill congregation quickly turned the deteriorating plantation house into a thriving community shul.

With a firmly established home, the shul set out to build an eruv in consultation with Rabbi Moshe Heineman of Baltimore. It was completed in 1982, making the shul more accessible to young families.

The shul population quickly outstripped the small building and an expansion plan was set in motion. Members davened at the Youlus home and at the Yeshiva girls' division. The expansion was completed by Pesach of 1983, with a new sanctuary and a fully equipped kitchen. The shul continued its growth spurt and soon outgrew its accommodations once again. But before a construction plan was even designed, disaster struck: an arsonist set the building on fire.

When passing motorists saw shooting flames from the shul windows, they sounded the alarm and members from all over the neighborhood rushed to the scene. The firefighters first went to rescue the Sifrei Torah, which were safely carried out of the smoking building. But while congregants watched helplessly from the street, many of the sforim burned, and the shul suffered severe smoke damage.

Investigators quickly determined that the fire had not been accidental, and camera crews crowded the lawn. Shul officers stood on the hill before the smoldering building, assuring the public that no one in the neighborhood could have set the fire for anti-semitic reasons. Behind them, others passed the charred remains of sforim from hand to hand, gathering them for burial.

The community, both Jewish and non-Jewish, responded with an outpouring of sympathy and aid, offering space, equipment and funds to help rebuild the shul. In the wake of the fire, the membership made plans to rebuild and enlarge again. In the meantime, shul members davened at the Hebrew Academy and at the homes of the Rishe and Gross families.

While the congregation was homeless, members agreed that they were ready for more than a new building -- they wanted a rabbi to lead the shul as well. Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz first addressed the shul in the Hebrew Academy cafeteria. Two years after the fire, the Breitowitz family joined the Woodside community just as the shul moved into its newly refurbished home.

Rabbi Breitowitz received smicha from Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore and his doctorate in law from Harvard University. He has served as Rav of the Woodside Synagogue since 1988 and as an associate professor of law at University of Maryland at Baltimore since 1983. He has a profound love of teaching and great dedication to his work as a posek and pastoral counselor, and in kiruv. In addition, Rav Breitowitz has earned an international reputation as an expert on the agunah problem and medical ethics, and has lectured widely and authored many publications on these topics.

In the autumn of 1998 the Breitowitzes went to Jerusalem for a year-long sabbatical. In their absence Rabbi Chaim Schwartz came to Woodside with his wife Dvora and their three children to lead the congregation. Since Rabbi Breitowitz's return, the Rav has been actively expanding his teaching schedule in Woodside to the great benefit of the shul and the wider community.

In the last several years the shul has launched a full range of successful youth activities, inspired in part by an influx of new, young families, and has hosted lecture series and shabbatonim. Thus, 38 years since its founding, the shul continues to stress Torah learning, community involvement and charity, as well as participation by its members in all aspects of Jewish life. And though it's come a long way from a party room with a dollar-a-year rental fee, the ideals upon which the synagogue was founded still remain.