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DC synagogue wheeled to new site for the third time

Following the recitation of the Jewish traveler’s prayer, the Adas Israel synagogue, built back in 1876, was ceremoniously moved one block down Third Street.

Adas Israel, the oldest synagogue in the nation’s capital, was wheeled to its final location on Jan. 9, 2019. Credit: Zachary Leshin.
Adas Israel, the oldest synagogue in the nation’s capital, was wheeled to its final location on Jan. 9, 2019. Credit: Zachary Leshin.

The oldest synagogue in the U.S. capital was wheeled on Wednesday to its third and likely final location.

Following the recitation of the Jewish traveler’s prayer, the Adas Israel synagogue, built back in 1876, was ceremoniously moved one block down Third Street. It will neighbor the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington’s 25,000-square-foot, $40 million Lillian and Albert Small Jewish Museum, scheduled to open in 2021.

The Jewish Historical Society displayed some of the museum’s artifacts, such as a lace collar worn by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in addition to a law school notebook used by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis.

The building was last moved in 2016 to allow for the construction of the $1.3 billion, 2.2 million-square-foot multipurpose Capitol Crossing project.

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