B'nai Emet Synagogue (St. Louis Park, Minnesota)

Last updated

B'nai Emet Synagogue
Religion
Affiliation Conservative Judaism (former)
Ecclesiastical or organisational status
Status
  • Closed(merged);
  • Repurposed (as a yeshiva)
Location
LocationOttawa Avenue, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
CountryUnited States
USA Minnesota relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location off the former synagogue in Minnesota
Geographic coordinates 44°57′45″N93°24′45″W / 44.96256°N 93.41247°W / 44.96256; -93.41247
Architecture
Date established1889 (as B'nai Abraham)
Completed
  • c.1890s(15th Avenue South)
  • 1920 (Thirteenth Avenue South)
  • 1959 (Ottawa Avenue)

B'nai Emet Synagogue is a former Conservative Jewish congregation and synagogue located on Ottawa Avenue, in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, in the United States.

Contents

The synagogue had its origins in a number of earlier synagogues and congregations that merged in the course of a century, so that the earliest roots of B'nai Emet can be traced back from 1889 until it moved to its final location in 1956. [1] It was used as a location for the Coen brothers' 2009 film A Serious Man . [2] The congregation was affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and in 2011 merged with the Adath Jeshurun Congregation, and put its building up for sale.

History

The earliest synagogue component was Congregation B'nai Abraham established in 1889 and incorporated in 1891 in a South Minneapolis neighborhood by Romanian Jewish immigrants. It was known as the "Rumanian Schil" or the "Rumanian Hebrew Congregation." [3]

The congregation's first home, on 15th Avenue South between 3rd and 4th Streets, seated about 300 people followed the customs of Romanian Jews. [3]

The second building, at 825 Thirteenth Avenue South, was B'nai Abraham's home for 36 years starting in 1920. The synagogue had its own Talmud Torah (supplementary religious school for children's Torah study) until 1927, when Minneapolis Talmud Torah built a South Side structure and B'nai Abraham closed its Talmud Torah. [3]

In 1942, Rabbi Hardin served for two years. Later, Reuben Maier became rabbi of the congregation. His wife Sophie was the daughter of Alexandru Șafran, chief rabbi of Romania until his death. In 1952, Mordecai Liebhaber succeeded Maier. [3]

The congregation built a new sanctuary and center dedicated in 1959. B'nai Abraham grew from 10 families before the move in the 1950s to 400 families in 1971 when B'nai Abraham and Congregation Mikro-Tifereth voted to merge, creating B'nai Emet Synagogue, under Rabbi Sylvan Kamens. [3] [4]

By 2011 membership was down to 225, from a peak in the 1980s of over 900. The congregation merged with the Adath Jeshurun Congregation, and held its last service in June of that year. The building on Ottawa Avenue was put up for sale [5] [6] and is now owned by an Orthodox Jewish high school, known as the Yeshiva of Minneapolis.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eldridge Street Synagogue</span> Synagogue in Manhattan, New York

The Eldridge Street Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue at 12 Eldridge Street, in the Chinatown and Lower East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Built in 1887 for Congregation Kahal Adath Jeshurun, the synagogue is one of the first erected in the U.S. by Eastern European Jews. The congregation, officially known as Kahal Adath Jeshurun with Anshe Lubz, still owns the synagogue and hosts weekly services there in the 21st century. The Museum at Eldridge Street, founded in 1986 as the Eldridge Street Project, also occupies the synagogue under a long-term lease. The building is a National Historic Landmark and a New York City designated landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khal Adath Jeshurun</span> Synagogue in Manhattan, New York

Khal Adath Jeshurun, officially K'hal Adath Jeshurun, abbreviated as KAJ, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 85-93 Bennett Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States.

Adath Jeshurun Congregation is a Conservative synagogue located in Minnetonka, Minnesota, in the United States, with about 1,200 members. Founded in 1884, it is a founding member of the United Synagogue of America, a founding member of the Women's League for Conservative Judaism, and the oldest affiliate of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism west of Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B'nai Jeshurun (Manhattan)</span> Synagogue in New York City

B'nai Jeshurun is a non-denominational Jewish synagogue located at 257 West 88th Street and 270 West 89th Street, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City, New York, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ansche Chesed</span> Synagogue in Manhattan, New York

Ansche Chesed is a Conservative synagogue located at West End Avenue and 100th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple B'Nai Abraham</span>

Temple B'nai Abraham is an unaffiliated Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 300 East Northfield Road, in Livingston, Essex County, New Jersey, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Dorshei Emet</span> Reconstructionist synagogue in Hampstead, Quebec

Congregation Dorshei Emet is a Reconstructionist synagogue in Hampstead, Quebec. It was founded in 1960 by Lavy Becker, who served as volunteer rabbi. Ron Aigen was hired as the congregation's first paid rabbi in 1976. Rabbi Boris Dolin joined the shul in 2016. Dorshei Emet constructed its first synagogue building in 1967. The congregation soon outgrew this structure, and built a larger one on the same site in 2003.

Or Emet, officially the Minnesota Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, is a Humanistic Jewish synagogue and congregation in Minneapolis – Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the United States. The congregation is a member of the Society for Humanistic Judaism. It is a community of cultural Jews, secular Jews, Jewish humanists, and other humanists, united by a commitment to humanism and by respect and support for Jewish culture, traditions, and Jewish identity, and by those traditional Jewish values most consonant with humanism — tikkun olam, social justice. Or Emet embraces a human-centered philosophy that combines rational thinking and scientific inquiry with the celebration of Jewish culture and traditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adath Shalom (Philadelphia)</span>

Adath Shalom was a Conservative synagogue located at 607 W Ritner Street, in the Whitman neighborhood of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The synagogue opened in 1922 and closed in 2007.

Solomon Goldman was an American Conservative rabbi. A noted orator, community leader and scholar, he was especially known for helping to popularize the cause of Zionism in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Shearith Israel (Baltimore, Maryland)</span> Orthodox synagogue in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Congregation Shearith Israel is a historic Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 5835 Park Heights Avenue, in Park Heights, northwest Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States.

Black Jews in New York City comprise one of the largest communities of Black Jews in the United States. Black Jews have lived in New York City since colonial times, with organized Black-Jewish and Black Hebrew Israelite communities emerging during the early 20th century. Black Jewish and Black Hebrew Israelite communities have historically been centered in Harlem, Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Queens. The Commandment Keepers movement originated in Harlem, while the Black Orthodox Jewish community is centered in Brooklyn. New York City is home to four historically Black synagogues with roots in the Black Hebrew Israelite community. A small Beta Israel (Ethiopian-Jewish) community also exists in New York City, many of whom emigrated from Israel. Black Hebrew Israelites are not considered Jewish by the New York Board of Rabbis, an organization representing mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. However, some Black Hebrew Israelite individuals in New York City are recognized as Jewish due to converting through the Orthodox, Conservative, or other Jewish movements.

References

  1. The Jewish Community of Northern Minneapolis, p. 109, (Arcadia Publishing, 2001) by Rhoda Lewin
  2. SPECKTOR, MORDECAI (September 30, 2009). "The way we were Midwest Jews: A Serious Man brings the renowned Coen brothers back to their peculiar Jewish milieu of St. Louis Park". The American Jewish World. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "History". Archived from the original on April 30, 2008. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
  4. "Sylvan D. Kamens, Papers: The Jewish Theological Seminary". Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
  5. "St. Louis Park Historical Society: B'NAI ABRAHAM/B'NAI EMET SYNAGOGUE". Archived from the original on March 29, 2008. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
  6. "B'nai Emet Building Up For Sale", StLouisPark Patch, November 1, 2011.