The history of Jews in St Louis goes back to at least 1807.[1]St. Louis has the largest Jewish population in Missouri and is the largest urban area in the state of Missouri.[2] Today's Jewish community is primarily composed of the descendants of Jews who immigrated from Germany in the first few decades of the 19th century, as well as Jews who came from Eastern Europe slightly later.[3]
Commonly considered the pioneerJew of St. Louis was Wolf Bloch, a native of Schwihau, Bohemia, who is reported to have settled there in 1816.
The earliest evidence of a Jew settling in St. Louis is that of Joseph Philipson from Pennsylvania. He arrived in St. Louis in the early winter of 1807. On December 13, 1807 Joseph, 34 years old, opened his general merchandising store and permanently settled in St. Louis. Joseph was not only the first Jewish merchant to settle in St. Louis, he was also the first American merchant to establish a permanent store in St. Louis. In 1808, Joseph's brother Jacob arrived in St. Louis and established his own store. Their remaining brother Simon remained in Philadelphia, traveling occasionally to St. Louis. Until 1816 the Philipsons were the only Jews known to live in St. Louis. Jacob died about 1858, buried in the City Cemetery. [Source: "The Philipsons"]
The first synagogue
The early arrivals were not religiously observant and probably intermarried and in this way may have lost their identity; for it was not until the Jewish New Year of 1836 that the first religious services were held, when ten men rented a little room over Max's Grocery and Restaurant, on the corner of Second and Spruce Streets (now occupied by the St. Louis Arch Grounds). The next year these pioneers organized the United Hebrew Congregation, which is still in existence. According to Jonathan Sarna, it is the oldest synagogue west of the Mississippi River.[4] A. Weigel was its first president; and services were held for many years at a private house in Frenchtown. The first building used as a synagogue was located on Fifth Street between Green and Washington Avenues. In 1855 this organization bought a site and erected its own temple on Sixth Street between Locust and St. Charles streets. The building was consecrated on June 17, 1859, with Rabbi M. J. Raphall of New York officiating. The rabbinate was held by Rabbi Henry J. Messing from 1878 to 1911.
The B'nai El congregation was organized in 1852, and moved into its own house of worship at Sixth and Cerre streets in 1855. Rabbi Moritz Spitz, editor of The Jewish Voice, was the occupant of its pulpit in from approximately 1880–1920.
In 1866 Congregation Shaare Emeth was organized on 17th and Pine, with Rabbi S. H. Sonnenschein as its spiritual leader, and Alexander Suss as its first president.[5] Rabbis James M. Bennett and Andrea Goldstein are the present clergy. In 1886 a number of the members, being dissatisfied, banded together, and with Rabbi Sonnenschein organized Congregation Temple Israel, with Isaac Schwab as president. Rabbi Amy Feder and Rabbi Michael Alper are the present spiritual advisers. There are also six regularly organized Orthodox congregations in the city.
Cemeteries
In 1844 A. J. Latz purchased a lot on Pratte Avenue for a cemetery, which was used until 1856, when the United Hebrew Congregation acquired what is now known as Mount Olive Cemetery. The B'nai El congregation used as its first burial-ground a plot of land on Gravois road, now enlarged and known as Mount Sinai Cemetery. This land was purchased in 1849. Later the Mt. Sinai Cemetery Association was formed, and the cornerstone of its chapel was laid June 22, 1873, the Revs. Wolfenstein and Sonnenschein officiating. The members of B'nai El, Shaare Emeth, and Temple Israel congregations are entitled to burial in these grounds.
United Hebrew Relief Association
After the Chicago fire in 1871 many Jewish families removed from that city to St. Louis; and these required temporary assistance. It was then that the United Hebrew Relief Association was inaugurated, with B. Singer as president, and Rabbi S. Wolfenstein (later superintendent of the Cleveland Orphan Asylum) as vice-president. Numerous charitable organizations sprang up from time to time until 1897, when the first consolidation was effected. The United Hebrew Relief Association, the Sisterhood of Personal Service, the Ladies' Zion Society, and the Hebrew Ladies' Sewing Society combined, with a view to more effective work, under the name "United Jewish Charities," with Moses Fraley as president.
The Hebrew Free and Industrial School Society, an organization for the instruction of children in Jewish history and religion, was founded by Rabbi H. J. Messing in 1879, with J. B. Greensfelder as president; and the Jewish Alliance Night-School for immigrants was established a few years later by Prof. W. Deutsch, and was presided over by Elias Michaels.
The Home for Aged and Infirm Israelites was founded in 1882, with B. Hysinger at its head. In 1905, it owned the property which it occupied, and provided for about fifty residents.
Jewish Hospital
The United Jewish Charities being in need of funds in 1898, a large fair was held for one week in the Coliseum of the Exposition Building, under the auspices of a special committee presided over by Julius Lesser, with the result that the Charities received the sum of $37,000, one-half of which was appropriated toward the relief fund, while the remainder was used for erecting a building to be used by the Jewish charitable and educational bodies of St. Louis. The title to this building is vested in the United Jewish Charitable and Educational Associations, the first president of which is Elias Michaels.
Realizing the need of a hospital for the poor, the Jews of St. Louis contributed a fund of $100,000, which was paid to The Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, incorporated in 1900, and presided over by August Frank. The hospital was moved to the eastern edge of Forest Park in 1927. It was located at 5414 Delmar Boulevard. This placed it within two blocks of Barnes Hospital, and in 1996 the two hospitals merged to become Barnes-Jewish Hospital. This is now the largest hospital in Missouri.
The spirit of consolidation which was prevalent during the year 1901 affected those Jews who were interested in the several charitable and educational institutions of the city, and who believed that by a stronger union more work could be accomplished and larger contributions secured. Accordingly, on November 7, 1901, a committee of 100 persons assembled at the Columbian Club, and it was decided to organize the Jewish Charitable and Educational Union, with Moses Fraley as president. Over $42,000 a year is paid into its treasury by the Jews of St. Louis and distributed among the following constituent societies: the United Jewish Charities, Jewish Hospital, Home for Aged and Infirm Israelites, Hebrew Free and Industrial School Society, and Jewish Alliance Night-School Society. Annual appropriations are made also for the Cleveland Orphan Asylum and for the Hospital for Consumptives at Denver.
The first national Conference of Jewish Charities was held at St. Louis in 1885, with Marcus Bernheimer as president and Albert Arnstein as secretary.
Newspapers and educational institutions
St. Louis had two Jewish papers in 1905. The Jewish Voice, successor to The Jewish Tribune, was founded in 1876 by Godlove, Friedman, and Wolfner. The Revs. S. H. Sonnenschein and Moritz Spitz later became joint owners of the paper, which wa eventually edited and owned by the latter. In 1901 The Modern View, owned and edited by A. Rosenthal, made its first appearance.
The Hebrew Young Men's Literary Association, which in a few years became the YMHA of St. Louis, began its existence in 1877, with J. B. Greensfelder as president. This organization in 1878 appointed a committee to solicit funds and distribute them among those refugees who were coming to St. Louis on account of the spread of yellow fever in the Southern States. Benjamin Altheimer was chairman of this committee. The YMHA maintained its literary and social work for a number of years, but it gradually passed out of existence. In 1896 it was reorganized, with A. Rosenthal as its new president; as of 1905 it had 600 members. The reorganized association took the lead in providing aid for the Romanian refugees in 1900. The Pioneers Ladies' Literary Society is the oldest organization of its kind in the country, having begun its work in 1877. Mrs. August Frank was its first president.
The Jews of St. Louis are fully identified with the welfare of the city. Isaac Schwab, Jonathan Rice, Jacob J. Wertheimer, Elias Michaels, Nathan Frank, and Charles A. Stix were members of the board of directors of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, under whose auspices the World's Fair was held in St. Louis during the year 1904.
Among the Jews of St. Louis who have held positions of honor and trust in the community and have been prominent in the different public exchanges of the city may be mentioned: Nathan Frank, owner of the St. Louis Star, a daily newspaper, who represented the city in Congress; Moses N. Sale, a judge of the Circuit Court; Albert Arnstein and Moses Fraley, former members of the city council; Meyer Rosenblatt, who served as collector of revenue for the city; Louis Aloe, a member of the board of election commissioners; Elias Michaels, a member of the school board, and at one time president of the Mercantile Club; Marcus Bernheimer, a former president of the Merchants' Exchange; and Jacob D. Goldman, who has held the same office in the Cotton Exchange.
By 1905 the Jews of St. Louis numbered about 40,000 in a total population of about 575,000.
Today's Jewish population in the St. Louis area exceeds 60,000 in a metropolitan population of about 3,000,000 people.[6]
St. Louis County, MO holds nearly all of Missouri's Jewish community. 7% of St. Louis County's population is Jewish.
Jacob Lampert was a wealthy cigar manufacturer who lived in St. Louis. In 1912, he was Grand Master of the Masons in St. Louis. At the time of his death in 1921, he had the largest estate in the history of Missouri. His will was bitterly contested by eleven nephews and nieces, which was front-page news in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper.
Lee Falk creator of the comic strip characters the Phantom (often considered the first modern superhero) and Mandrake the Magician was born and raised in St. Louis.
Isaac Mayer Wise was an American Reform rabbi, editor, and author. At his death he was called "the foremost rabbi in America".
Jews in Philadelphia can trace their history back to Colonial America. Jews have lived in Philadelphia since the arrival of William Penn in 1682.
The history of the Jews in Pennsylvania dates back to Colonial America.
The history of the Jews in Cincinnati occupies a prominent place in the development of Jewish secular and religious life in the United States. Cincinnati is not only the oldest Jewish community west of the Allegheny Mountains but has also been an institutional center of American Reform Judaism for more than a century. The Israelite, the oldest American Jewish newspaper still (2019) being published, began publication in Cincinnati in 1854.
The history of Jews in Ohio dates back to 1817, when Joseph Jonas, a pioneer, came from England and made his home in Cincinnati. He drew after him a number of English Jews, who held Orthodox-style divine service for the first time in Ohio in 1819, and, as the community grew, organized themselves in 1824 into the first Jewish congregation of the Ohio Valley, the B'ne Israel. This English immigration was followed in the next two decades by the coming of German immigrants who, in contrast, were mostly Reform Jews. A Bavarian, Simson Thorman, settled in 1837 in Cleveland, then a considerable town, which thus became the second place in the state where Jews settled. Thorman was soon followed by countrymen of his, who in 1839 organized themselves into a congregation called the Israelitish Society. The same decade saw an influx of German Jews into Cincinnati, and these in 1841 founded the Bene Yeshurun congregation. To these two communities the Jewish history of Ohio was confined for the first half of the 19th century. In 1850 Ohio had six congregations: four in Cincinnati and two in Cleveland.
Congregation B'nai Israel is a Jewish synagogue located in Galveston, Texas, USA. Organized by German Jewish immigrants in 1868, it is the oldest Jewish 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.
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.
David Philipson was an American Reform rabbi, orator, and author.
The United Hebrew Congregation at 13788 Conway Road in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, is a Reform Jewish synagogue. It was the first Jewish Congregation established west of the Mississippi River.
South Florida is a recognized region of the state of Florida, comprising Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe Counties. These counties contain approximately 12% of the land in Florida, but 28% of its population. The University of South Florida, in Tampa, is not in South Florida as the term is used today.
Aaron L. Raskin is an American Chabad Lubavitch rabbi and writer. He serves as spiritual leader of Congregation B'nai Avraham, an Orthodox synagogue in Brooklyn Heights, New York, and dean of Brooklyn Heights Jewish Academy.
Congregation B'nai Amoona is an egalitarian Conservative synagogue, located at 324 South Mason Road in the American city of Creve Coeur, Missouri. It evolved from a small Orthodox congregation of primarily German-speaking members into an English-speaking Conservative congregation.
Daniel Block was a Jewish leader who founded the B'nai B'rith synagogue in St. Louis, Missouri. He lived for only four years in the United States but he made important contributions on the culture of the St. Louis Jewish community to which he belonged. Between his arrival in about 1848, and his death in 1853, he contributed greatly to the organization and development of B'nai El congregation.
Anshei Sphard Beth El Emeth Congregation was an Orthodox Synagogue in Memphis, Tennessee for over a century, which is now under Baron Hirsch Congregation. As of 2023, ASBEE is a charity fund which supports its ventures and other charitable causes.
Morton F. Yolkut (1943–2013) was a nationally renowned rabbi who served Jewish congregations in three American cities, Chicago, Illinois; Southfield, Michigan; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented the American Jewish community at a meeting in 2003 with President George W. Bush and was the Jewish rabbi at the traditional Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral the day after President Bush's second inauguration, January 21, 2005.
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.
Few Jews arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, in its early years. As an immigrant port of entry and border town between North and South and as a manufacturing center in its own right, Baltimore has been well-positioned to reflect developments in American Jewish life. Yet, the Jewish community of Baltimore has maintained its own distinctive character as well.
Congregation Shaare Emeth is a Reform Jewish congregation in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Founded in St. Louis in 1867, it constructed its first building at 17th and Pine Streets in 1869.
↑ Steven M. Cohen; Jacob B. Ukeles; Ron Miller; David Dutwin; Susan Sherr. "2014 St. Louis Jewish Community Study". Berman Jewish DataBank. The Jewish Federations of North America.
↑ "Chabad, JCC offer 'Myths and Mysteries of Judaism'". St. Louis Jewish Light. November 9, 2011. Chabad's Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) will be partnering for the first time with the Jewish Community Center to present "Fascinating Facts: Exploring the Myths and Mysteries of Judaism," a newly developed six-session course commencing Monday, Nov. 21. Spanning a wide range of intriguing subjects, Fascinating Facts includes sessions on Jewish myth and urban legend, biblical stories and events, Jewish foods, the Hebrew language, life cycle events and mysteries of the occult. The course will address issues such as the Jewish view on Satan and the evil eye, whether angels have wings, and why pork is considered the quintessential non-kosher food.
↑ "New Chabad course will focus on Jewish positive psychology". Saint Louis Jewish Light. The Jewish Light is a beneficiary agency of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis. November 12, 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014. "How Happiness Thinks brings together modern research and ancient Jewish wisdom," said Prof. Ben-Shahar, an expert in the field. "This marriage between theology and science can bring about significant positive change in individuals and communities." The course explores to what degree surroundings and circumstances affect one's overall happiness, potential challenges to living a joyous life and whether God cares if people are happy or not.
↑ "Chabad offers new course: 'Toward a Meaningful Life'". St. Louis Jewish Light. St. Louis, Missouri: The Jewish Light is a beneficiary agency of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis. Retrieved 16 December 2014. Chabad of Greater St. Louis, through its affiliate Jewish Learning Institute (JLI), is unveiling an all-new six-week course entitled "Toward a Meaningful Life: A Soul-Searching Journey for Every Jew." The course aims to empower adults of all ages with new life skills gleaned from traditional Torah thought, and thereby enhance the way they view their daily lives.
↑ "Economic crisis from a Jewish perspective". The Naperville Sun (Chicago Tribune). The Sun - Naperville (IL) via HighBeam. January 27, 2012. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Money Matters has been developed by the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute and will be taught in 300 locations throughout the world
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