Temple of Israel (Wilmington, North Carolina)

Last updated

Temple of Israel
Facade Temple of Israel.jpg
Temple of Israel façade
Religion
Affiliation Reform Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organizational status Synagogue
Leadership
  • Rabbi Emily Losben-Ostrov
  • Rabbi James L. Apple (Emeritus)
Year consecrated May 12, 1876
StatusActive
Location
Location1 South Fourth Street, Wilmington, North Carolina 28401
CountryUnited States
USA North Carolina relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Location in North Carolina
Geographic coordinates 34°14′08″N77°56′40″W / 34.23546°N 77.9444°W / 34.23546; -77.9444
Architecture
Architect(s) Samuel Sloan
TypeSynagogue
Style
Date established1872 (as a congregation)
Completed1876
Specifications
Dome(s)Two
Materials Masonry; stucco
Website
temple-of-israel.org

The Temple of Israel is a Reform Jewish synagogue located on the corner of Fourth and Market Streets in Wilmington, North Carolina, in the United States. [1] Built in 1876, the Temple of Israel is the oldest synagogue in North Carolina and one of the earliest Reform synagogues in the American South. [2] [3] Temple of Israel is led by Rabbi Emily Losben-Ostrov. [4]

Contents

History

Sephardic Jews first arrived in North Carolina during the early 18th century. [3] By 1852, a Jewish Burial Society was formed in Wilmington with a Hebrew cemetery opening in 1855. [5] An Orthodox Jewish congregation was formed in 1867, but did not succeed. In 1872, a Reform congregation was started by German Jews and their synagogue, the Temple of Israel, was dedicated on May 12, 1876. [3] [6]

Architecture

Designed by Samuel Sloan, [7] the synagogue is a combination of Greek Revival and Moorish Revival styles. The Moorish architecture is unique in the city of Wilmington, but was common during late 19th century for many American synagogues. The synagogue features horseshoe arches and twin towers topped with golden onion domes. [3] [8] The building's exterior was restored in 1982, 2000 and 2013. [6] It is a contributing building in the Wilmington Historic District.

Notable members

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synagogue</span> Place of worship for Jews and Samaritans

A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It has a place for prayer where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, choir performances, and children's plays. They also have rooms for study, social halls, administrative and charitable offices, classrooms for religious and Hebrew studies, and many places to sit and congregate. They often display commemorative, historic, or modern artwork alongside items of Jewish historical significance or history about the synagogue itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Emanu-El of New York</span> Reform Jewish congregation in New York City

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synagogue architecture</span>

Synagogue architecture often follows styles in vogue at the place and time of construction. There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. According to tradition, the Shekhinah or divine presence can be found wherever there is a minyan, a quorum, of ten. A synagogue always contains an Torah ark where the Torah scrolls are kept, called the aron qodesh by Ashkenazi Jews and the hekhal by Sephardic Jews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leopoldstädter Tempel</span> Former synagogue in Vienna, Austria

The Leopoldstädter Tempel, also known as the Israelitische Bethaus in der Wiener Vorstadt Leopoldstadt, was a Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Tempelgasse 5, in Leopoldstadt, in the 2nd district of Vienna, Austria. Completed in 1858, the synagogue was destroyed as a result of Kristallnacht. A monument marks the location of the former synagogue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moorish Revival architecture</span> Revival architectural style

Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th century, part of a widening vocabulary of articulated decorative ornament drawn from historical sources beyond familiar classical and Gothic modes. Neo-Moorish architecture drew on elements from classic Moorish architecture and, as a result, from the wider Islamic architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Mickve Israel</span> Reform synagogue in Savannah, Georgia, United States

Congregation Mickve Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 20 East Gordon Street, Monterey Square, in Savannah, Georgia, in the United States. The site also contains a Jewish history museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilshire Boulevard Temple</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in Los Angeles, California, US

The Wilshire Boulevard Temple, known from 1862 to 1933 as Congregation B'nai B'rith, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 3663 Wilshire Boulevard, in the Wilshire Center district of Los Angeles, California, in the United States. Founded in 1862, it is the oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B'nai Israel Synagogue (Baltimore)</span> Synagogue in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

B'nai Israel Synagogue is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located in the historic Jonestown neighborhood, near downtown and the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. The synagogue is one of the oldest synagogue buildings in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Israel (Portland, Oregon)</span> Jewish synagogue in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 1931 NW Flanders Street, Portland, Oregon, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Gemiluth Chessed</span> Synagogue in Port Gibson, Mississippi

Temple Gemiluth Chessed is a former Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 706 Church Street, in Port Gibson, Mississippi, in the United States. Built in 1892, it is the oldest congregation in the state and the only building completed in the Moorish Revival style. The congregation was founded in 1870 by a community of Jewish immigrants from German states and Alsace-Lorraine. Due to declining population as people moved to larger urban areas, the congregation closed in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Adas Israel (Brownsville, Tennessee)</span> Historic Reform synagogue in Tennessee, US

Temple Adas Israel is an historic Reform Jewish synagogue located at the intersection of Washington and College streets in Brownsville, West Tennessee. Built in 1882 by German Jewish immigrants and descendants, it is the oldest synagogue building in Tennessee and one of fewer than one hundred surviving 19th-century synagogues in the country. On January 19, 1979, Temple Adas Israel was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Rodeph Shalom (Philadelphia)</span> Historic Reform synagogue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US

Congregation Rodeph Shalom, is an historic Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 615 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Established in 1795, it is the oldest Ashkenazic synagogue in the Western Hemisphere. It is noted historically for its leadership of the Reform movement among American Hebrew congregations, for its spiritual influence upon international Jewry, and for its unique 1927 Byzantine and Moorish Revival synagogue building, with Art Deco finishes, on North Broad Street, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Sinai (Oakland, California)</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in California, United States of America

Temple Sinai is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 2808 Summit Street in Oakland, California, in the United States. Founded in 1875, it is the oldest Jewish congregation in the East San Francisco Bay region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Mishkan Israel</span> Reform synagogue in Hamden, Connecticut, US

Congregation Mishkan Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 785 Ridge Road, in Hamden, Connecticut, in the United States. Founded in 1840, it is the oldest Jewish congregation in both Connecticut and New England, and the 14th oldest continuous operating synagogue in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahavath Beth Israel (Boise, Idaho)</span> Reform synagogue in Idaho

Ahavath Beth Israel, officially Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 11 North Latah Street, in Boise, Idaho, in the United States. Its 1896 building is amongst the oldest synagogues in continuous use west of the Mississippi River. The congregation is affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism.

<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">Temple Israel (Minneapolis)</span> Reform synagogue in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 2323 Fremont Avenue South, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the United States. Founded in 1878, it is the oldest synagogue in Minneapolis and one of the largest Jewish congregations in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Israel of the City of New York</span> Reform synagogue in Manhattan, New York

Temple Israel of the City of New York is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 112 East 75th Street, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. The congregation was incorporated by German Jews in 1873.

Arthur Bluethenthal, nicknamed "Bluey", was an All-American football player for Princeton University, who died in combat fighting for France in World War I.

References

  1. Shimron, Yonat (September 8, 2009). "Temple anchors Wilmington's Jews". The News & Observer . newsobserver.com. Archived from the original on September 10, 2009. Retrieved September 8, 2009.
  2. Prose, Francine (March 7, 1993). ""A Sojourn On Cape Fear"". New York Times . Retrieved May 17, 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Chiat, Marilyn (1997). America's Religious Architecture: Sacred Places for Every Community . John Wiley & Sons. pp.  251. ISBN   0-471-14502-5.
  4. Scherr, Andy (March 7, 1993). ""Passover is here"". WWAY. Archived from the original on May 26, 2011. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
  5. Watson, Alan (2003). Wilmington, North Carolina, to 1861. McFarland. p. 154. ISBN   0-7864-1427-8.
  6. 1 2 ""Overview"". Temple of Israel. Archived from the original on April 15, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2008.
  7. Serrano, Nicholas (2012). Esperdy, Gabrielle; Kingsley, Karen (eds.). "Temple of Israel [Wilmington, North Carolina]". SAH Archipedia. Charlottesville: Society of Architectural Historians. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  8. Hutteman, Anne (2000). Wilmington, North Carolina. Arcadia Publishing. p. 75. ISBN   0-7385-0639-7.
  9. "Bluethenthal, Arthur "Bluey"". Jewsinsports.org. Archived from the original on December 5, 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2010.