Posted on 05/28/19
Baltimore, MD - May 28, 2019 - The very last minyan of the Winands Road Synagogue was held this past Monday Evening, May 27, 2019.
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Baltimore, MD - Dec. 15, 2016 - This is an excerpt from a Winands Road Synagogue Center bulletin that is posted on the shul’s website. Although it was written last erev Chanukah by the shul’s Rav, Rabbi Sholom Salfer, hopefully, this timeless message will console his saddened congregation that recently learned of their beloved shul’s imminent closing.
Winands Road Synagogue Center is the last of the remaining shuls in the Randallstown area of Baltimore County. In fact, its unique congregation includes long-time members as well as members who were active in other shuls which have since closed. With roots stretching back more than 100 years, it has been at its present location since 1968. Rabbi Salfer has served as the shul’s Rav since September, 1976, and is one of the longest tenured spiritual leaders in the Baltimore area.
“The upkeep of the shul has become difficult for us to handle,” explains Rabbi Salfer. “We are about $30,000-$40,000 over budget every year, the last number of years, even though, ka”h, we have over 100 family members. We used to have many, many more members, but the neighborhood has changed—even though it is a beautiful neighborhood.”
The shul administration has decided to close the shul, sell it, and distribute the bulk of the money to mosdos (institutions that teach Torah) as well as chesed organizations—both locally and in Eretz Yisrael. The question is, who will buy the shul? Hopefully, Rabbi Salfer says, it will continue to be used for some kind of Jewish purpose, such as a yeshiva; everything else is open for discussion.
“Now, we have a minyan, every day—every morning and every evening, and of course, on Shabbos--and I don’t remember the last time we were without a minyan,” says Rabbi Salfer. “Those people are upset. They prefer not to have to move. For their sake, I would like to leave the shul in the hands of someone who will continue to hold a minyan there.”