Parashat Lekh Lekha (לך לך – Go for your), Genesis 12:1 to 17:27.
Genesis 12:1
… לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְךָ …
… Get away from your country, from your birthplace…
The word לְךָ (lekha) emphasizes the passage from one state to another, for the fulfillment of a destiny1 .
In 1876, the Adas Israel congregation in Washington built a small brick synagogue. On June 9, President Grant2 and Senator Ferry attend his inauguration. In 1908, following the influx of immigrants, the congregation moved to a new building on Sixth Street.
In 1910, the synagogue was sold. Over the years, the building passed from one state to another. From 1910 to 1940, it hosted various churches. Then, over the following years, it was divided into different spaces (grocery store, hairdresser, dentist’s office, real estate agency, bicycle shop, delicatessen, café, etc.). Eventually it becomes the Lillian & Albert Small.
In 1969, the Jewish Historical Society with the help of local and federal governments moved the 273-ton building which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places3. In 2016, the building is moved again, as well as in January 2019, in order to become the heart of the capital’s new Jewish Museum, The Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum.
1 Genesis 22.2; 27.43 ; Exodus 18.27 ; Joshua 22.4; Song of Songs 2.10.
2 18th President of the United States (1869-1877).< br>3 The National Register of Historic Places (1966) is the official list of monuments placed under the trusteeship of the federal government of the United States, in order to preserve, conserve, restore and manage them.