Congregation Kol Emeth's (CKE) history is much like the history of the Village of Skokie. After WW II there was a large Jewish influx into Skokie primarily from those Jews who migrated north from the west side into areas such as Albany Park and then north into Skokie.

In the early 1960s the Fairview school district consisted of almost 50% Jewish children. The schools were closed for the High Holidays. At that point in time a small group of Fairview residents formed the Fairview Jewish Congregation, opened a Hebrew school and held High Holiday services. That group was rather eclectic, but the leaders leaned heavily toward Orthodoxy.

In mid-1966 there were a number of families who attended the holiday services of the Fairview Jewish Congregation who desired to have a Conservative congregation available to them. Conservative congregations that existed at that time were not convenient to the southwest corner of Skokie also known as Fairview. The closest Synagogue was the Lincolnwood Congregation, which was a Traditional Congregation.

After a couple of meetings, the group met at the home of June and Irv Lefkovitz and there formed CKE, a name suggested by Rabbi Nathan Levinson, the first Rabbi of CKE.

In addition to the existing Fairview residents there was an influx of south side Jewish families including some from the "Pill Hill" neighborhood. Among them were members of the Mandell family who wanted to continue the family tradition of sponsoring a Hebrew School and shortly after their joining CKE they funded the Mandell Hebrew School.

Joseph Gross was immediately engaged as the Hebrew School principal and Pavel Slavinsky was engaged as the Cantor. Interestingly the principal was Orthodox, the Cantor was Reform and the Rabbi was Conservative. This combination occasionally (if not often) provided a little chaos. Early on Hebrew School classes were held at the Fairview School and the first High Holiday Service was held at Niles East High School. For the next several years High Holiday Services were held at the Fairview South School.

The founding members not only established CKE but also became the social network for a large percentage of the founding members and other early members. Lifetime friendships were established.

Shortly after its establishment CKE rented a storefront at 7742 Lavergne Avenue in Skokie. The membership, all quite young, volunteered to paint the premises, clean the floors, build a temporary ark, and man the Synagogue office. The school grew quickly, the flow of Bar and Bat Mitzvah candidates increased, and services were held at the Fairview School. In June 1969 the vacant land at 5130 Touhy Avenue in Skokie was purchased, and funding was solicited for seed money for the construction of the Synagogue building.

Under the watchful eye of Irv Lefkovitz and his construction/architect brother, the Synagogue was built and completed in September 1973 in time for the first holiday services to be held at this location. It should be noted that CKE was never intended to be a large religious organization, and the target was approximately 200 family members.

In the early 1980s a truly important change came about when the Conservative movement agreed that women should be able to fully participate in all aspects of Jewish life.  Following the movement, CKE transitioned to egalitarian worship.

The Congregation went through a series of changes in the Cantorial position until August 1983 when Cantor Barry Schechter was engaged. Six years earlier Rabbi Bernard Mussman replaced our founding Rabbi and held that position until August 1994. Unfortunately, in the early 1980s the demographics of the Fairview area changed dramatically, and the school enrollment quickly tumbled down. With regrets the Hebrew School was closed. On December 20, 1989, the balance of the mortgage was retired and since then the congregation has been debt free.

Rabbi Barry Schechter became our Rabbi in August 1994. Fortunately, he also retained his role as Cantor.  Rabbi Schechter is renowned for his warmth, learning, and for the creative use of Jewish humor in his Rabbinate.

With the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020, we went to online services and for the High Holidays that year, we had only essential personnel in the building.  In 2021, we initiated a hybrid model of services, and classes which persists to this day.

In 2023 we made the decision to sell our building and moved into a shared space at 4435 Oakton Street in Skokie along with Congregation Bene Shalom. Also, in 2023 Rabbi Barry Schechter became our Rabbi Emeritus.

In June 2025 Hazzan Sarah Alexander joined our clergy, and we are now offering an expanded menu of classes and activities.  With her energy and commitment to inclusive and observant Conservative Judaism, we hope to write a new chapter in the story of our holy congregation.