Congregation Beth Israel (Houston)

Last updated

Congregation Beth Israel
CongregationBethIsraelHoustonTX.jpg
Beth Israel synagogue
Religion
Affiliation Reform Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organizational status Synagogue
Leadership
  • Rabbi David A. Lyon
  • Rabbi Adrienne P. Scott
  • Cantor Kenneth J. Feibush
StatusActive
Location
Location5600 N. Braeswood Blvd., Houston, Texas 77096
CountryUnited States
Relief map of Texas.png
Red pog.svg
Location in Texas
Geographic coordinates 29°40′37″N95°29′16″W / 29.6769°N 95.4879°W / 29.6769; -95.4879
Architecture
Date established1854 (as a congregation)
Completed
  • 1874 (Franklin Avenue)
  • 1908 (Crawford Street)
  • 1925 (see NRHP below)
  • 1967 (N. Braeswood Blvd.)
Website
beth-israel.org
Temple Beth Israel
Temple Beth Israel -- Houston, Texas.jpg
Former Temple Beth Israel building, 1925–1967
Location3517 Austin St., Midtown Houston, Texas
Coordinates 29°44′14″N95°22′30″W / 29.73735°N 95.37496°W / 29.73735; -95.37496
Built1924 –1925
Architect Finger, Joseph
Architectural style Streamline Moderne
NRHP reference No. 84001826
RTHL No. 14339
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMarch 1, 1984
Designated RTHL1974
[1]

Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 5600 North Braeswood Boulevard, in Houston, Texas, in the United States. The congregation, founded in 1854, is the oldest Jewish congregation in Texas; and it operates the Shlenker School.

Contents

History

The congregation was founded in 1854 as an Orthodox Jewish kehilla and legally chartered in 1859. [2] The Orthodox Beth Israel Congregation in Houston opened in a former house that had been converted to a synagogue. [3] : 216  In 1874 the congregation voted to change their affiliation to Reform Judaism, sparking the foundation of Congregation Adath Yeshurun, now known as Congregation Beth Yeshurun. [2] Hyman Judah Schachtel was a past rabbi.

Beth Israel's Franklin Avenue Temple building was completed in 1874. [4] [5] The temple was at Crawford Street at Franklin Avenue in what is now Downtown Houston. In 1908 the congregation moved into a new temple at Crawford at Lamar Street, in an area that was a Jewish community. [6] After the congregation left the Lamar site, the New Day Temple occupied it. As of 2016 The Grove at Discovery Green occupies the former Lamar site. [7]

Maximilian Heller was rabbi of the congregation from 1886 to 1887. [8]

A new temple at Austin Street and Holman Avenue was dedicated in 1925. [4] [5] Originally it was considered to be a part of the Third Ward. [9]

Rabbi Henry Barnston served as the Congregation's rabbi from 1900 to 1943, after which he served as rabbi emeritus until his death in 1949. [10]

The Moderne style, 1924-built Austin Street building, designed by congregant Joseph Finger, was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and was awarded Recorded Texas Historical Landmark status in 2009. [1]

In 1943 Temple Beth Israel announced that people who espoused Zionist ideals, observed the laws of kashrut or favored the perpetuation of Hebrew as a language were not allowed to be members, so Emanu-El was formed by people who disagreed with the decision. As of 1967 Beth Israel accepts people with Zionist beliefs. [3] : 217  [11]

In 1966 the Houston Independent School District purchased the 1920s temple building on Austin Street. [12] [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2] HISD began using that building—at first—as an annex for San Jacinto High School since the school's population was increasing. [12] : 8 

In the years leading to 1967, the Jewish community was moving to Meyerland. To follow the community, [6] in 1967 the congregation moved to a new temple on North Braeswood Boulevard. The former temple building on Austin Street became the first home of Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and was renamed the Ruth Denney Theatre. When the high school moved to new quarters, the building became a performance venue for Houston Community College's Central Fine Arts division and was renamed the Heinen Theatre. [1] The historic building is located in Midtown Houston. [lower-alpha 3]

Rabbi David Lyon, Rabbi Adrienne Scott, and Cantor Kenneth Feibush currently preside over the congregation of Beth Israel. [17]

Properties

Current property

The current synagogue at 5600 North Braeswood Boulevard has a lobby with twelve needlepoints. The design of these needlepoints had inspiration in the Hadassah Medical Center's Chagall windows. The current synagogue facility has been expanded since its initial construction in order to house a Jewish school. [3] : 218 

The Shlenker School is on the synagogue property. The school is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas, as of 2022, more students attended The Shlenker School than previously. An organization called Prizmah stated in a 2021 report that families with a preference for education in a school setting during a pandemic, as opposed to via the internet, often preferred schools that continued offering such. [18]

Cemetery

The cemetery owned by Congregation Beth Israel is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Houston. [19]

Congregation Beth Israel owns and operates two cemeteries. Its historic West Dallas cemetery, founded in 1844, is located at 1201 West Dallas, just west of downtown Houston. The West Dallas cemetery includes the Temple of Rest Mausoleum, an iconic Art Deco structure designed by architect Joseph Finger. The hallmarks of this building are the exquisite stained-glass windows, the bronze iron work and the beautiful chandelier in the entry way. The other cemetery is located on 1111 Antoine Drive, in west Houston, just north of I-10. The Antoine cemetery was recently expanded and includes a columbarium.

Notable members

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Quote: "A former Hebrew temple across the street from San Jacinto had been purchased by the school district in 1966 as an annex for the school's burgeoning enrollment". [12] : 8 
  2. ↑ Quote: "Denny was given her choice of three district-owned sites in the central city just outside of downtown Houston for the new school: W. D. Cleveland Elementary School to the west; Montrose Elementary School to the southwest; and the former Temple Beth Israel to the south. Denney, with the assistance of Barry Moore, one of her former Lamar drama students who had become an architect, toured all three sites, giving facilities for performance priority over any other consideration. The former Temple Beth Israel, the annex since 1966 for HISD's vocational San Jacinto High School [renamed Houston Technical Institute on June 1, 1971], seemed best suited for HSPVA's temporary use. Despite five years of district neglect, the sanctuary, attached two-story Levy Memorial Hall, and adjacent one-story Mendelsohn Education Building had the essential components for a small arts high school; use of this campus would only be necessary until HISD could pass a bond issue including funds for a new state-of-the-art building (...)". [12] : 10 
  3. ↑ There are separate boundaries for the Midtown Super Neighborhood and the Midtown Management District. [13] [14] [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midtown, Houston</span> Neighborhood of Houston in Harris County, Texas, USA

Midtown is a central neighborhood of Houston, located west-southwest of Downtown. Separated from Downtown by an elevated section of Interstate 45, Midtown is characterized by a continuation of Downtown's square grid street plan, anchored by Main Street and the METRORail Red Line. Midtown is bordered by Neartown (Montrose) to the west, the Museum District to the south, and Interstate 69 to the east. Midtown's 325 blocks cover 1.24 square miles (3.2 km2) and contained an estimated population of nearly 8,600 in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pershing Middle School (Houston)</span> Middle school in Houston, Texas

John J. Pershing Middle School is a middle school in Houston, Texas, United States. It is located in the Braeswood Place neighborhood, near the Texas Medical Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meyerland, Houston</span> Community in Houston, Texas

Meyerland is a community in southwest Houston, Texas, outside of the 610 Loop and inside Beltway 8. The neighborhood is named after the Meyer family, who bought and owned 6,000 acres (24 km2) of land in southwest Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Braeswood, Houston</span> Neighborhood in Texas, United States

Old Braeswood is a neighborhood of single family homes in Houston, Texas, United States. It is generally bounded by South Main, North Braeswood, Kirby Drive, and Holcombe. The Texas Medical Center, Rice University, Rice Village, and the NRG Center complex are all within a one-mile radius. Nearby neighborhoods include Southgate, West University Place and Braeswood Place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Jacinto High School (Houston)</span> Secondary school in Texas, United States

San Jacinto High School was a secondary school located at 1300 Holman Street in Houston, Texas; now part of the Houston Community College Central College, Central Campus. San Jacinto High School was located in the area now known as Midtown. It was a part of the Houston Independent School District (HISD). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on December 4, 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation B'nai Israel (Galveston, Texas)</span> Jewish synagogue located in Galveston, Texas, USA

Congregation B'nai Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located in Galveston, Texas, in the United States. Organized by German Jewish immigrants in 1868, it is the oldest Reform congregation and the second chartered Jewish congregation in the state.

Jewish Texans have been a part of the history of Texas since the first European explorers arrived in the region in the 16th century. In 1990, there were around 108,000 adherents to Judaism in Texas. More recent estimates place the number at around 120,000.

The history of the Jews in Omaha, Nebraska, goes back to the mid-1850s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Galveston, Texas</span>

Jews have inhabited the city of Galveston, Texas, for almost two centuries. The first known Jewish immigrant to the Galveston area was Jao de la Porta, who, along with his brother Morin, financed the first settlement by Europeans on Galveston Island in 1816. de la Porta was born in Portugal of Jewish parentage and later became a Jewish Texan trader. In 1818, Jean Laffite appointed de la Porta supercargo for the Karankawa Indian trade. When Laffite left Galveston Island in 1820, de la Porta became a full-time trader.

Beth Israel Congregation is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 5315 Old Canton Road in Jackson, Mississippi, in the United States. Organized in 1860 by Jews of German background, it is the only Jewish synagogue in Jackson. Beth Israel built the first synagogue in Mississippi in 1867, and, after it burned down, its 1874 replacement was at one time the oldest religious building in Jackson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Israel (Scottsdale, Arizona)</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in Scottsdale, Arizona, US

Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 10460 North 56th Street in Scottsdale, Arizona, in the United States. Incorporated in 1920, the congregation affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism in 1935.

Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 330 Joe Clifton Drive, in Paducah, Kentucky, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple House of Israel</span> Jewish congregation in Staunton, Virginia, U. S.

Temple House of Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 15 North Market Street, in Staunton, Virginia, in the United States. Founded in 1876 by Major Alexander Hart, it originally held services in members' homes, then moved to a building on Kalorama street in 1885, the year it joined the Union for Reform Judaism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Yeshurun (Houston)</span> Synagogue

Congregation Beth Yeshurun is a Conservative synagogue at 4525 Beechnut Street, Houston, Texas, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Israel (Meridian, Mississippi)</span> Reform Jewish congregation in Mississippi, US

Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Meridian, Mississippi, in the United States. Founded in 1868 and a member of the Union for Reform Judaism, the congregation's first permanent house of worship was a Middle Eastern-style building constructed in 1879. The congregation moved to another building built in the Greek Revival style in 1906, and in 1964 moved to a more modern building, out of which they still operate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Houston</span>

The Jewish community of Houston, Texas has grown and thrived since the 1800s. As of 2008, Jews lived in many Houston neighborhoods and Meyerland is the center of the Jewish community in the area.

Henry Barnston was a British-born American rabbi.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 Olitzky, Kerry M.; Raphael, Marc Lee (1996). The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook. Greenwood Press. p. 346.[ ISBN missing ]
  3. 1 2 3 Bell, Roselyn (1994). "Houston". In Tigay, Alan M. (ed.). The Jewish Traveler: Hadassah Magazine's Guide to the World's Jewish Communities and Sights. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 215–220. ISBN   1568210787.
  4. 1 2 Nathan Cohen, Anne (1954). The Centenary History of Congregation Beth Israel of Houston. Houston: Congregation Beth Israel.
  5. 1 2 "TSHA | Congregation Beth Israel, Houston".
  6. 1 2 Gonzales, J.R. (February 1, 2011). "Congregation Beth Israel through the years". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  7. ↑ Barden-Smith, St. John (October 23, 2016). "Temples of the gods: Houston's religious diversity reflects community". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  8. ↑ Adler, Cyrus, ed. (1903). The American Jewish Year Book, 5664. Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society of America. p. 62 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ Wood, Roger. Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues . 2003, University of Texas Press. 1st ed., p. 73.
  10. ↑ "Barnston, Henry". Encyclopedia.com . Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  11. ↑ The Nation, Jan. 1, 1944
  12. 1 2 3 4 Gore, Elaine Clift (2007). Talent Knows No Color: The History of an Arts Magnet High School. Information Age Publishing. ISBN   1593117612. (Research in curriculum and instruction).
  13. ↑ Midtown Super Neighborhood] (PDF) (Map). City of Houston, Texas.
  14. ↑ Management district map (PDF) (Map). City of Houston, Texas. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  15. ↑ "2006 Midtown Management District Land Use Map" (PDF) (Map). Midtown Houston Management District . 2006.
  16. ↑ "Service and Improvement Plan and Assessment Plan for Fiscal Years 2015-2024" (PDF) (Map). Midtown Houston Management District . p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 29, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  17. ↑ "Rabbi David Lyon Remarks Honoring Ellen Cohen at CancerForward". Ellen Cohen. May 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Meyerland Jewish day schools see increased enrollment during COVID-19 pandemic". Houston Chronicle . January 9, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  19. ↑ Davis, Rod. (August 3, 2003). "Houston's really good idea Bus tour celebrates communities that forged a city". San Antonio Express-News . p. Travel 1M. Retrieved February 11, 2012.

Further reading