A synagogue, sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worship. Synagogues have a place for prayer, where Jews attend religious Services or special ceremonies, have rooms for study, social hall(s), administrative and charitable offices, classrooms for religious school and Hebrew school, sometimes Jewish preschools, and often have many places to sit and congregate; display commemorative, historic, or modern artwork throughout; and sometimes have items of some Jewish historical significance or history about the Synagogue itself, on display.
Congregation Emanu-El of New York is the first Reform Jewish congregation in New York City. It has served as a flagship congregation in the Reform branch of Judaism since its founding in 1845. The congregation uses Temple Emanu-El of New York, one of the largest synagogues in the world.
Isaac Mayer Wise was an American Reform rabbi, editor, and author. At his death he was called "the foremost rabbi in America".
Congregation Beth Israel is a synagogue located in West Hartford, Connecticut. The synagogue is one of the two oldest Jewish congregations in Connecticut and one of the largest Reform Jewish congregations in New England, with about 900 member families and about 2,000 individual members.
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 Beth Elohim, also known as the Garfield Temple and the Eighth Avenue Temple, is a Reform Jewish congregation located at 274 Garfield Place and Eighth Avenue, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, United States.
The Isaac M. Wise Temple is the historic synagogue erected for Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise and his congregation in Cincinnati, Ohio. Wise was among the founders of American Reform Judaism. The temple building was designed by prominent Cincinnati architect James Keys Wilson. Its design was inspired by the Alhambra at Granada.
The Sherith Israel Temple is located at 624 Ruth Lyons Lane, in the backstage entertainment district in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. This is the oldest existing synagogue building west of the Allegheny Mountains and the fourth oldest building in downtown Cincinnati. It is the seventh oldest synagogue building in the United States.
Temple Beth El, also known as Temple Beth-El, is a Reform synagogue currently located in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, United States. Beth El was founded in 1850 in the city of Detroit, and is the oldest Jewish congregation in Michigan.
David Philipson was an American Reform rabbi, orator, and author.
Temple Sinai is a Reform synagogue located at 2808 Summit Street in Oakland, California, United States. Founded in 1875, it is the oldest Jewish congregation in the East San Francisco Bay region.
Beth Israel Congregation is a Reform Jewish congregation located at 5315 Old Canton Road in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. Organized in 1860 by Jews of German background, it has always been, and remains, 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.
Temple Emanuel Sinai is a medium-sized Reform (progressive) Jewish synagogue located in Worcester, Massachusetts, New England's second largest city.
Temple Israel is the oldest synagogue in Columbus, Ohio, and a founding member of the Union for Reform Judaism. Formed as early as 1846 as the Orthodox Bene Jeshurun congregation, its first religious leader was Simon Lazarus, a clothing merchant who founded what would become Lazarus department stores.
Temple Israel is a Reform congregation located at 130 Riverside Drive in Dayton, Ohio. Formed in 1850, it incorporated as "Kehillah Kodesh B'nai Yeshurun" in 1854. After meeting in rented quarters, the congregation purchased its first synagogue building, a former Baptist church at 4th and Jefferson, in 1863. Strongly influenced by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, it rapidly modernized its services, and, in 1873, was a founding member of the Union for Reform Judaism.
Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation in Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States. It is the only Reform synagogue in Memphis, the oldest and largest Jewish congregation in Tennessee, and one of the largest Reform congregations in the U.S. It was founded in 1853 by mostly German Jews as Congregation B'nai Israel. Led initially by cantors, in 1858 it hired its first rabbi, Jacob Peres, and leased its first building, which it renovated and eventually purchased.
Max Lilienthal was a German-born adviser for the reform of Jewish schools in Russia and later a rabbi and proponent of Reform Judaism in the United States.
Rabbi Sigma Faye Coran was Senior Rabbi at Rockdale Temple, Amberley, Ohio. She was the first woman to serve as the senior rabbi of a Cincinnati area congregation.
