The largest Modern Orthodox congregation in America.

Beth Tfiloh Congregation was founded in 1921. It’s first sanctuary was built on Garrison Boulevard in Baltimore in 1927. Over the next four decades Beth Tfiloh grew to be “the largest Modern Orthodox synagogue in America, with over 1,300 members representing a wide range of religious observance.” The current campus property was acquired in 1962 and the awe inspiring sanctuary was dedicated in 1966.

The sanctuary was designed by New York architect Morris Lapidus who was known for his exciting, larger-than-life architectural designs. Almost all of Lapidus’s designs have the quality of being alive and the Beth Tfiloh sanctuary certainly demonstrates that quality. In her 2010 book, The Architecture of Joy, Deborah Desilets describes the sanctuary as “soaringly aspiring” while Scottish architect Basil Spence said of one of Lapidus’s designs “I thought it was going to jump up and bite me.”

Lapidus’s fundamental approach to interior decoration is summed up in the title of his 1996 memoir, “Too Much Is Never Enough”. His byword was “Express, don’t suppress”.