- Congregation B'nai Israel (Galveston, Texas)
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Current B'nai Israel Temple
Congregation B'nai Israel (בני ישראל in Hebrew) is a Jewish synagogue located in Galveston, Texas, USA. It is the oldest Jewish Reform Congregation in the U.S. state of Texas.[1]
Contents
History
The first Jewish cemetery in Texas was established in Galveston in 1852, with the first organized Jewish services being held 1856. These two endeavors culminated in the organization of Congregation B'nai Israel in 1868 and its chartering in 1870.[1]
The congregation has the distinction of being the first Jewish Reform congregation chartered in Texas, as well as being only the second Jewish congregation founded in the state. On June 20, 1875, the congregation voted to become one of the charter members of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now known as the Union for Reform Judaism.) [1]
One of the pioneers of Reform Judaism in the United States, Abraham Cohen Labatt, moved to Galveston in 1878 and joined the congregation. He was an active member until his death in 1899.[2]
Since its founding, the congregation has been served by eleven rabbis:
- Alexander Rosenspitz (1868–70)
- Abraham Blum, MD (1871–85)
- Joseph Silverman (1885–88)
- Rabbi Henry Cohen (1888–1949)
- Leo Stillpass (1950–55)
- Stanley Dreyfus (1956–65)
- Robert Blinder (1965–69)
- Samuel M. Stahl (1969–76)
- Jimmy Kessler (1976–81)
- Alan Greenbaum (1981–85)
- Martin Levy (1985–89)
- Jimmy Kessler (1989–present)
Kessler was the first native Texan to assume the leadership of the congregation.[3]
Henry Cohen Community House
Community House EntranceThe Henry Cohen Community House was built in 1928 in honor of Rabbi Henry Cohen and was associated with Congregation B'nai Israel.[4] The entry to the building has a carved limestone portal and the structure uses the "Magen David" as the primary iconographic element in its decoration.[5] After the Congregation built a new synagogue, the community house was sold to the Masons to serve as their Masonic Temple.
B'nai Israel and the Galveston Movement
Rabbi Cohen Community House GateB'nai Israel's Rabbi Henry Cohen is credited with helping to found the Galveston Movement, which operated between 1907 and 1914. The objective of the program was to shift Jews fleeing Russia and eastern Europe away from crowded East Coast cities to the Gulf Coast, thereby redirecting more settlement to the middle of the United States. Rabbi Cohen and members of the congregation met all of the ships that docked carrying Jewish immigrants at the Port of Galveston, and helped to direct many of the passengers to new homes in Texas and beyond.[6]
As a result, through the combined efforts of Rabbi Cohen and others, it is estimated that over ten thousand Jewish immigrants passed through Galveston.[6]
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First B'nai Israel Temple c.1870
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Historical Marker Medallion
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Hebrew Benevolent Cemetery c.1852
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Rabbi Jimmy Kessler, the current Rabbi of the Temple.
See also
- Galveston Movement
- Galveston, Texas
- Jewish Texan
- Rabbi Henry Cohen
- History of the Jews in Galveston, Texas
- Texas Jewish Historical Society
- Oldest synagogues in the United States
References
- ^ a b c TSHA Online - Texas State Historical Association
- ^ TSHA Online - Texas State Historical Association
- ^ Temple B'nai Israel
- ^ TEMPLE B'NAI ISRAEL, GALVESTON, The Handbook of Texas. Accessed October 24, 2007.
- ^ B'nai Israel, Galveston, TX: Robert P. Davis, Architect. Accessed October 24, 2007.
- ^ a b Handbook of Texas Online - GALVESTON MOVEMENT
External links
Categories:- Synagogues in Texas
- Religious organizations established in 1868
- Jewish American history
- Jews and Judaism in Texas
- Jews and Judaism in Galveston, Texas
- Jewish communal organizations
- Reform synagogues in the United States
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