K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Temple

Category: Preserved

Alfred Alschuler designed the Greenwood Avenue building. After viewing photographs of fragments of a second-century synagogue unearthed at Tiberias by Professor Nahum Slouschz, Alschuler adapted its motifs resembling those used in architecture of the Byzantine period and incorporated them in his ornamental designs for the geometrical figures around the walls and the carvings of foliage, grape clusters, oil vials, and menorahs. The building was designated an official Chicago landmark in 1977. The official recommendation for Landmark status emphasized the congregation's contribution to the cultural, economic, social and historical heritage of the City of Chicago.

In 1971, KAM and Isaiah Israel voted to merge and to take the Greenwood Avenue building as the congregation's home. In order to accommodate the needs of the new congregation, John Alschuler (son of Alfred) and Ron Dirsmith designed an addition to the building which contains a chapel, social hall, kitchen, offices, and youth lounge. A garden was created in the space between the addition and the original building as an island of beauty and repose visible from all parts of the structure.