Temple Beth-El (Birmingham, Alabama)

Last updated
Temple Beth-El
Temple Beth-El (Birmingham).jpg
Religion
Affiliation Conservative Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organizational status Synagogue
LeadershipRabbi Steven Henkin
StatusActive
Location
Location2179 Highland Avenue, Birmingham, Alabama
CountryUnited States
USA Alabama relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in Alabama
Administration United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Geographic coordinates 33°30′00″N86°47′25″W / 33.5000°N 86.7903°W / 33.5000; -86.7903
Architecture
Date established1907 (as a congregation)
Completed1926
Website
templebeth-el.net

Temple Beth-El is a Conservative synagogue located in Birmingham, Alabama, in the United States. Founded in 1907, Temple Beth-El is a member of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. Temple Beth-El is the only Conservative-affiliated synagogue in Birmingham, and one of only four Conservative synagogues in Alabama.

Contents

Rabbi Steven Henkin has served as rabbi since July 2022.

History

The first Jews arrived in Birmingham in 1873. They were attracted there by potential business opportunities in this burgeoning coal and ore center of the South. In 1881, a dozen families gathered for the first Rosh Hashanah services which were held in a private home. The 1880s saw a great influx of Jewish newcomers to Birmingham. In 1882, Temple Emanu-El was formally incorporated. With a membership of 100 families, the Reform congregation dedicated its first synagogue building in 1889.

An embryonic Orthodox congregation, Knesseth Israel, erected its first synagogue in 1903 to serve the large number of immigrants coming from Eastern Europe. The third synagogue in Birmingham, Temple Beth-El, was chartered in 1907 as a second Orthodox-affiliated congregation. This group became a part of the Conservative movement in 1944.

Temple Beth-El's current sanctuary was built in 1926 and the facility is located at 2179 Highland Avenue on the Southside of Birmingham. Renovations in the 1990s added a cultural center and classrooms, and further renovations were completed in the 2000s (decade) to the sanctuary, chapel, and social hall. Temple Beth-El is one of the few Conservative synagogues in the United States to have its own mikvah.[ citation needed ]

The mikveh at Temple Beth-El. Temple Beth-El (Birmingham) mikveh.jpg
The mikveh at Temple Beth-El.

Currently,[ when? ] Temple Beth-El serves approximately 600-700 Jewish families in the Birmingham area. Other affiliations include a chapter of Sisterhood (affiliated with the national Women's League for Conservative Judaism), a Men's Club (affiliated with the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs) and youth groups active within the umbrella organization United Synagogue Youth.[ citation needed ]

Hillel Norry served as interim rabbi from June 2021 [1] until July 2022. Rabbi Steven Harkin was installed in January 2024. [2]

Involvement in the Civil Rights era

The 1950s and 1960s were a period of upheaval in Birmingham as protesters and police often clashed in the streets during the civil rights movement, including the bombings of religious institutions. On April 28, 1958, 54 sticks of dynamite were placed outside Temple Beth-El in a bombing attempt. Police reported that the burning fuses were doused by heavy rainfall, preventing the dynamite from exploding. [3] Although the crime was never solved, police considered Bobby Frank Cherry, later convicted of bombing the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, to be a suspect. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Beth-El (Great Neck, New York)</span> Reform synagogue in Great Neck, New York, US

Temple Beth-El is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 5 Old Mill Road in the village of Great Neck, Long Island, Nassau County, New York, in the United States. Founded in 1928, it is the oldest synagogue in Great Neck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agudath Israel Etz Ahayem</span> Orthodox synagogue

Agudath Israel Etz Ahayem, transliterated from Hebrew to mean the Congregation of Israel Tree of Life, is a Conservative Jewish synagogue located at 3525 Cloverdale Road in Montgomery, Alabama, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Israel (Worcester, Massachusetts)</span>

Congregation Beth Israel is an egalitarian Conservative synagogue and congregation located at 15 Jamesbury Drive in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the United States. Founded in 1924 as an Orthodox synagogue, the congregation formally affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in 1949, and describes itself as the "leading Conservative congregation in Central Massachusetts."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid (Milwaukee)</span> United States historic place

Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid is an egalitarian Conservative synagogue located at 6880 North Green Bay Road in Glendale, a suburb north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States.

Congregation Beth Israel is an egalitarian Conservative synagogue located at 989 West 28th Avenue in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was founded in 1925, but did not formally incorporate until 1932. Its first rabbi was Ben Zion Bokser, hired that year. He was succeeded the following year by Samuel Cass (1933–1941). Other rabbis included David Kogen (1946–1955), Bert Woythaler (1956–1963), and Wilfred Solomon, who served for decades starting in 1964.

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 Beth Israel was a Jewish synagogue located at 840 Highland Road in Sharon, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Originally called House of Israel Congregation, it was founded in 1888 as an Orthodox congregation by Eastern European Jews. The congregation merged with Congregation Rodef Sholom of Youngstown, Ohio in July, 2013; and the former synagogue building was sold to a Christian church in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Israel (Asheville, North Carolina)</span>

Congregation Beth Israel is an independent, traditional egalitarian Jewish congregation, located at 229 Murdock Avenue in Asheville, North Carolina. Founded in 1899 as Bikur Cholim, it was an Orthodox breakaway from Asheville's existing synagogue. It hired its first full-time rabbi in 1909, opened a religious school in 1911, and acquired its first building, which burnt down in 1916, in 1913.

Congregation Beth Israel is a Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 411 South Eighth Street, in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Founded in 1907 to provide services for the High Holidays, it was then, and remains today, the only synagogue in the Lebanon area.

Congregation Am Tikvah is a combined Conservative and Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 625 Brotherhood Way in San Francisco, California, in the United States. The congregation was formed in 2021 as the result of the merger of the Conservative B'nai Emunah and the Reform Beth Israel Judea congregations, with the latter formed in 1969 through a merger of the Conservative Congregation Beth Israel and the Reform Temple Judea. The congregation is affiliated with both the Union for Reform Judaism and the United Synagogue of Conservative 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">Temple Emanuel Sinai (Worcester, Massachusetts)</span> Reform synagogue in Worcester, Massachusetts, US

Temple Emanuel Sinai is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 661 Salisbury Street, Worcester, Massachusetts, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Beth-El (Jersey City, New Jersey)</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in Jersey City, New Jersey, US

Temple Beth-El is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 2419 Kennedy Boulevard in the Bergen Section of Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, 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.

Temple Beth Or, founded as Kahl Montgomery, is an historic Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 2246 Narrow Lane Road, in the Cloverdale neighborhood of Montgomery, Alabama, in the United States.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Suburban Synagogue Beth El</span> Conservative Jewish synagogue in Highland Park, Illinois

North Suburban Synagogue Beth El is a Conservative Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on a 6.5-acre (2.6 ha) campus overlooking Lake Michigan at 1175 Sheridan Road in Highland Park, a northern suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation</span> Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation is a Conservative Jewish synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The congregation moved into its present synagogue building in 1953. It merged with Congregation Or L'Simcha in 2010, bringing its membership to 530 families.

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. Maxie, Chasity (July 7, 2021). "Temple Beth-El leaders say they will stand with family of missing Tuscaloosa doctor". WBRC. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  2. Garrison, Greg (January 12, 2024). "Birmingham's historic Temple Beth-El installs rabbi: 'It's an amazing community'". AL.com. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  3. Temple, C.; Hansen, J. (July 16, 2000). "Ministers' homes, churches among bomb targets". The Birmingham News. Archived from the original on 2015-07-01.
  4. Wiener, J. (June 11, 2001). "Southern Explosure". The Nation.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Temple Beth-El (Birmingham, Alabama) at Wikimedia Commons