KMS History

On Parashat Parah, March 17, 1990, The Kemp Mill Synagogue (KMS) held its first service, an event that culminated over two years of intensive efforts to meet the spiritual and Tora needs of the growing community in North Kemp Mill. This effort had been launched in June 1988 when Jack Rozmaryn led an unsuccessful campaign to try and purchase a plot of land on Kemp Mill Road to build a branch synagogue. When the sale of the property and the branch did not materialize, other alternatives were discussed.

Convening a group of 50 people in his home in mid-1988, Rozmaryn launched a renewed effort to get a synagogue off the ground. Ten investors from the community stepped forward to ensure the purchase of a house to act as a temporary facility. In January 1990, these investors became a makeshift board of trustees and voted to found the Kemp Mill Synagogue at 708 Hermleigh Road. The synagogue was incorporated as a non-profit corporation.

KMS was not to be and has not become just a place to pray. Our founding philosophy was to combine study, prayer, spirituality, and community into an encompassing institution. In 1994, Rabbi Jack Bieler was officially engaged as rabbi of KMS. He has been the flagship of an ambitious educational program of shiurim and study groups. Weekly Divrei Tora by men and women have enlightened the congregation by offering different perspectives. Youth groups and social activities have bound us together. And, of course, the prodigious efforts of the Kiddush committee have satisfied more than our appetites.

On August 22 1998, KMS celebrated several simachot and Shabbat in our not-then-completed facility on Kemp Mill Road, moving completely into our new, completed facility for the first time on Shabbat of September 19 1998, just in time to be there for the start of the Yamim Noraim.

Although we have realized our dream of a beautiful new facility, KMS remains a synagogue in the making, relying on each of us to make a reality of the aspirations we brought to its founding.