Temple Sinai (Sumter, South Carolina)

Infobox_nrhp | name =Temple Sinai
Sumter, South Carolina
nrhp_type =


caption =
location= 11 Church Street

Sumter, South Carolina
lat_degrees = 33
lat_minutes = 55
lat_seconds = 17.72
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 80
long_minutes = 20
long_seconds = 48.43
long_direction = W
locmapin = South Carolina
area =
built =1912
architect=
architecture= Moorish Revival
added = January 21, 1999
governing_body = Private
refnum=98001645cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Temple Sinai is an historic Reform synagogue located at 11 Church Street on the corner of West Hampton Avenue, in Sumter, South Carolina Built in 1912 of brick in the Moorish Revival style, Temple Sinai was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 21, 1999. It is also known as Congregation Sinai, whose official name is the Sumter Society of Israelites. [ [ [http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/sumter/S10817743026/index.htm South Carolina Department of Archives and History article on Temple Sinai] ]

History

The first Jewish settlers in Sumter were Sephardi who came from Charleston in 1815. Congregation Sinai, whose official name is the Sumter Society of Israelites, was formed in April, 1895, by the merger of the Hebrew Cemetery Society and the Sumter Hebrew Benevolent Society. Visiting rabbis from Charleston and Augusta, Georgia. served the congregation until 1904 when Rabbi Jacob Klein settled in Sumter. The sanctuary of the present temple was built in 1912 facing Church Street to replace an earlier wooden synagogue on the site. [ [http://www.jhssc.org/Sumter_Temple_Sinai_History.html Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina: History of Temple Sinai] ]

The Barnett Memorial Addition, a two-story brick Moorish Revival auditorium/banquest hall and classroom/office building facing West Hampton Avenue, was built in 1932, behind the sanctuary, which it complements. In 1956, the one story brick Hyman Brody Building was attached to the rear of the Barnett Memorial Addition to provide a kitchen and more classrooms, offices and rest rooms. Although simpler than the other two buildings, it still has some Moorish features. [ [http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/sumter/S10817743026/index.htm Katherine H. Richardson, Nomination Form for Temple Sinai, which is accessible only by Internet Explorer at the link in South Carolina Department of Archives and History article on Temple Sinai] ]

Temple Sinai's archives have been donated to the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina [ [http://www.jhssc.org/Events.html Donation of Temple Sinai archives to Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina] ]

tained glass windows

Temple Sinai is noted for the eleven [http://store.allstainedglass.com/gutocoartglt.html drapery glass] stained glass windows on its side and entrance walls, which depict scenes from the Tanakh. With the exception of one round window high over the entrance portico, the windows are uniformly five feet wide by twenty feet high and in their shape mimic the castellated domed Moorish towers that flank the entrance. [ [http://www.jhssc.org/Sumter_Temple_Sinai_History.html Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina: History of Temple Sinai] ] [ [http://www.jhssc.org/Sumter_HeritageDays_March2006.html Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina: Jewish Heritage Days, Sumter, SC, March 2006] ]

Current status

Temple Sinai is still an active reform congregation. [ [http://www.jhssc.org/SC_Synagogues_Centers.html Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina: Directory of South Carolina Synagogues] ]

ee also

* List of Registered Historic Places in South Carolina

References

External links

* [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/SC/Sumter/state.html National Register listings for Sumter County]
* [http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/sumter/S10817743026/index.htm South Carolina Department of Archives and History article on Temple Sinai]
* [http://www.jhssc.org/Sumter_HeritageDays_March2006.html Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina: Jewish Heritage Days, Sumter, SC, March 2006]
* [http://www.jhssc.org/Sumter_Temple_Sinai_History.html Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina: History of Temple Sinai]
* [http://www.jhssc.org/SC_Synagogues_Centers.html Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina: Directory of South Carolina Synagogues]
* [http://www.jhssc.org/Events.html Donation of Temple Sinai archives to Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina]
* [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~scsumter/cemeteries/jewish.html Kenneth Schmidt, Transcription of Sumter Jewish Cemetery, 2005]