Aloha Jewish Chapel

Interior of Aloha Jewish Chapel

In this Torah dedication ceremony participants write one of the last letters in a new Sefer Torah at the Aloha Jewish Chapel at Naval Station Pearl Harbor

Aloha Jewish Chapel was built in 1975 on the grounds of, what is now, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, Hawaii. It 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 the State of Hawaii.

Visitor information[]

The Chapel (Building 1514) is located just inside the Makalapa Gate.^[7] Shabbat services are held at 7:30 P.M. on Fridays and at 8:15 A.M. on Saturdays. Torah study is held at 6:30 P.M. on Mondays.^[8] Unless prior arrangements are made, those attending services must have, or be accompanied onto the base by someone having, a military identification card.

References[]

^ Sakamoto, Dean; Britton, Karla; Murphy, Diana, eds. (2007). Hawaiian Modern: The Architecture of Vladimir Ossipoff. et al. New Haven, CT, USA: Honolulu Academy of Arts and Yale University Press. p. 265. ISBN 978-0-300-12146-9. OCLC 488550784.
^ Tigay, Alan M. (January 2009). "The Jewish Traveler: Honolulu". Hadassah Magazine. Hadassah. 90 (5): 28. ISSN 0017-6516. OCLC 610586821. Archived from the original on 2011-08-27. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
^ Tong, David, "Rabbi calls Zionism vote "propaganda", Honolulu Star Bulletin, Dec. 13, 1975, p. A13
^ Historic American Building Survey No. HI-568, pp. 2-4
^ Sakamoto, Dean; Britton, Karla; Murphy, Diana, eds. (2007). Hawaiian Modern: The Architecture of Vladimir Ossipoff. et al. New Haven, CT, USA: Honolulu Academy of Arts and Yale University Press. p. 265. ISBN 978-0-300-12146-9. OCLC 488550784.
^ Historic American Building Survey No. HI-568
^ "Pearl/Harbor Chapels". [CNIC Headquarters]. Washington, DC: Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC). Retrieved 2013-04-12.
^ "Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Chapels". [CNIC Headquarters]. Washington, DC: Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC). Retrieved 2013-04-12.