“The Chicago Loop Synagogue holds a special place in the Jewish community. For almost 100 years, it’s where the faithful went to worship downtown, but now the temple is navigating its way through a difficult time, with declining attendance and a broken boiler.
“Nonetheless, the synagogue’s top official is optimistic about its future.
“The synagogue at 16 S. Clark St. has an enormous an enormous 30-foot by 40-foot stained-glass window that was manufactured in Paris.
“‘It’s considered just a magnificent work of art. It’s one of the largest pieces of religious stained glass in the country, if not the world, and the reason is because it’s a single image,’ said Chicago Loop Synagogue president Lee Zoldan.
“‘We were founded in 1929,’ Zoldan said. ‘It says in our charter to be a place for people to say kaddish – which is prayers for their departed relatives – when they were downtown working.’ Now, the synagogue is facing new challenges, including fewer members.
“Earlier this year, Preservation Chicago included the synagogue on its annual “Most Endangered Buildings” list, the synagogue was placed on the most endangered buildings list, citing its declining attendance and broken boiler.
“But Zoldan is glad to be on the most endangered list.
“‘We got the attention of people who care about preserving architecture in Chicago, and preserving buildings that are worth our history,’ she said.
“Despite the challenges facing the synagogue, Zoldan is hopeful, pointing to more residential housing coming to the downtown area, which could help the synagogue’s membership.
“‘I believe that our best days are still ahead of us,’ she said. (Kozlov and Spector, CBS Chicago, 5/11/26)
“The Chicago Loop Synagogue was founded in 1929 to serve the religious needs of Jews working downtown as well as Jewish visitors to Chicago. Among the last buildings constructed in the Loop as a dedicated house of worship, the synagogue’s current midcentury building at 16 S. Clark Street was designed in 1957 by the famous Chicago firm Loebl, Schlossman & Bennett. It replaced an earlier building on the same block that was lost to fire. The 1957 synagogue contains a world-famous stained-glass window on its eastern wall that was designed by Abraham Rattner. Above the entrance is a sculpture by Henri Azaz. The synagogue is included in Chicago’s Famous Buildings (University of Chicago Press, 1965) as one of the city’s architectural gems.”
“Initiated by a gift from the Midwest Branch of The United Synagogue of America (today the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism), the Chicago Loop Synagogue was organized in 1929 by Attorney Maurice J. Nathanson, who served as the first president. It was the first business men’s synagogue in the world, established to serve commuters seeking kosher food and a place to pray during the workday. Today, it remains the only Loop venue to offer both services.
“Composed largely of young businessmen and professionals in the Loop, the congregation had approximately 1,000 members in the 1930s and grew to about 8,000 in the 1950s. However, membership has declined steadily in recent decades, down to around 400 in 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic, from roughly 1,500 back in the early 1990s.
“In its early years, the synagogue rented different spaces around the Loop, including the Tacoma Building (1888-1929), the former restaurant that once stood on the site of the present-day building at 16 South Clark Street, and the Morrison Hotel at 15-29 S. Clark Street (demolished in 1965). After a fire destroyed the old building at 16 South Clark Street in 1953, the Chicago Loop Synagogue purchased the property and erected a new synagogue on the site. Inspired by the success of Temple Har Zion (1951) in River Forest, Illinois, the Chicago Loop Synagogue commissioned Temple Har Zion’s architects, Loebl, Schlossman & Bennett, the leading Chicago Jewish architects of Modernism, to design their new synagogue on S. Clark Street between Madison and Monroe.
“The new Chicago Loop Synagogue is a three-story building that’s entrance on Clark Street is crowned by the bronze sculpture Hands of Peace (1963), by Nehemia Henri Azaz (1923-2008), an Israeli artist of international reputation. The sculpture, a gift of the family of Chicago philanthropist Henry Crown (1896-1990), depicts the outstretched hands of the priestly benediction against a textured background of scripture in both English and Hebrew. An early rendering of the building indicates that the façade was originally conceived with a large sculpted menorah, which would have formed a visual dialogue with the giant figure of Jesus on the crucifix sculpted on the façade of St. Peter’s Catholic church, built in 1953 right around the corner on Madison Street. Henri Azaz also designed the Ark, which stands toward the lower left of the stained-glass window.
“Abraham Rattner (1895-1978) designed the colossal stained-glass window, Let There Be Light, on the sanctuary’s east wall, is considered one the most exceptional works of Jewish art of the 20th century and led one critic to describe the Chicago Loop Synagogue as “perhaps the most beautiful synagogue interior in the United States.” Rattner spent three intense years finishing this artwork. He visited museums and religious leaders and studied the Old Testament, Jewish symbolism and theosophy before finally developing the beautiful composition and color scheme. With Parisian artists helping, Rattner fabricated the window at Atelier Barillet, a leading stained-glass studio in Paris founded by renowned French stained-glass artist Louis Barillet (1880-1948). In the final stage, Rattner personally supervised the window’s assembly at the Loop Synagogue on a daily basis , ensuring that the installation was completed prior to the High Holy Days in the autumn of 1960. (Preservation Chicago Chicago 7 Most Endangered Chapter)