Aloha Jewish Chapel Explained

Aloha Jewish Chapel
Image Upright:1.4
Religious Affiliation:Judaism
Rite:Unaffiliated
Festivals:-->
Organisational Status:Synagogue
Organizational Status:-->
Functional Status:Active
Location:Pearl Harbor Naval Station (Makalapa Gate), Honolulu, Hawaii
Country:United States
Map Type:Hawaii
Map Size:250
Map Relief:1
Architect:Vladimir Ossipoff
Architecture Type:Synagogue
Established:1975
Date Destroyed:-->
Elevation Ft:-->

Aloha Jewish Chapel is an unaffiliated Jewish synagogue located on the grounds of what is now Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam in Honolulu, Hawaii, in the United States.

History

Completed in 1975, the building was designed by Vladimir Ossipoff[1] as the first building built by the United States government exclusively for Jewish worship.[2] (The Commodore Levy Chapel, Naval Station Norfolk, is the Navy's oldest Jewish Chapel, but it is part of a larger Chapel complex.) The Aloha Jewish Chapel was dedicated on December 14, 1975 by Rear Admiral Bertram Wallace Korn, who was, at the time, the highest ranking rabbi in the United States military.[3]

The chapel has a vaulted roof with an adjacent mikveh (ritual bath). The building also contains a kitchen for kosher food, a library, and a small social hall.[4] On the exterior of the building is the "Shalom" sculpture created in 1975 by Selma Mannheim of Los Angeles, California. With its copious natural light, the building is considered a prime example of Hawaii Modern architecture.[5] [6]

The congregation raised money for, and purchased, a new Torah scroll, which was dedicated on October 26, 2008. This was the first dedication of a new Torah scroll in Hawaii.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Dean . Sakamoto . Karla . Britton . Diana . Murphy . et al . Hawaiian Modern: The Architecture of Vladimir Ossipoff . 2007 . . New Haven, CT, USA . 978-0-300-12146-9 . 488550784 . 265.
  2. Tigay. Alan M.. January 2009. The Jewish Traveler: Honolulu. Hadassah Magazine. Hadassah. 90. 5. 28. 0017-6516. 610586821. 2013-04-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20110827000122/http://www.hadassahmagazine.org/site/c.twI6LmN7IzF/b.5766821/k.C01E/January_2009_Vol_90_No_5.htm. 2011-08-27. dead.
  3. News: Tong, David . Rabbi calls Zionism vote "propaganda" . Honolulu Star Bulletin . December 13, 1975 . A13 .
  4. Historic American Buildings Survey No. HI-568, pp. 2-4
  5. Book: Sakamoto, Dean . Britton, Karla . Murphy, Diana . 2007 . Hawaiian Modern: The Architecture of Vladimir Ossipoff. et al. . New Haven, CT, USA . . 265 . 978-0-300-12146-9 . 488550784 .
  6. Historic American Buildings Survey No. HI-568