Take me out to the … synagogue?

Anthony Weiss

This Friday, at the 113-year old B’nai Yisrael Synagogue in South Bend, Ind., local officials will gather to dedicate a plaque denoting the building as a historic landmark. Nothing so unusual about that.

Somewhat more unusual is that afterwards, attendees can stick around the shul to shop for South Bend Silver Hawks caps, jerseys or even flip flops.

That’s because the building, which had been vacant since the congregation relocated in 1990, has been renovated and incorporated into the city’s Four Winds Field minor league baseball complex. It now serves as the home team’s gift shop, called the Hawks’ Nest.

The five-minute video, above, tells the full story.

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Anthony Weiss is a Los Angeles-based staff writer for JTA.