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Congregation Kesher Israel (Philadelphia)

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Congregation Kesher Israel (Philadelphia)
October 31, 2014
Religion
AffiliationJudaism
Leadership
Adam Gilbert (Cantor)
Year consecratedFirst Independent Church of Christ, 1796
Kesher Israel, 1897
StatusActive
Location
Location412-418 Lombard Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
MunicipalityPhiladelphia
Architecture
Architect(s)J. Franklin Stuckert (1895)[1]
Completed1796
Direction of façadeNorth
Website
http://www.historickesherisrael.org

Congregation Kesher Israel is a synagogue located in the Society Hill section of Center City Philadelphia. The synagogue is home to an active congregation with Shabbat and holy day services, a Hebrew school, adult education, and community programming. It is affiliated with the Conservative movement.

First Independent Church of Christ

Joseph Priestley is credited with inspiring the creation in 1796 of the first Unitarian Society of Philadelphia.[2] This group founded the first Independent Church of Christ and constructed its building at 412 Lombard Street in 1796. Priestly himself would come occasionally to preach at the church he inspired.

The original building extended 80 feet along Lombard Street and was 50 feet deep. There were originally five arched openings along Lombard Street. A passageway led from Lombard Street to a graveyard at the rear.

The Unitarian Society rented its sanctuary out to other Christian societies. Joseph Smith, during a visit to Philadelphia, preached at the Universalist Church in December 1839.[3]

The church had vacated the building at 412 Lombard Street by 1887.[4]

Kesher Israel history

Bnai Jacob synagogue was founded in 1883 and purchased the vacant church and converted it to a synagogue in 1889. As a condition of the sale, the Unitarian Society removed the graves from the church yard; they were reinterred at Fernwood Cemetery in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania.[5]

Rodephe Tzedek, another neighborhood shul founded in 1887, merged with Bnai Jacob in 1894. They formed a new congregation called Kesher Israel.[6] The synagogue's charter was filed on June 21, 1894 and approved by Judge M. Arnold, July 14, 1894, in Common Pleas No. 4, Philadelphia County.[7] Henry Morias updated his history of the Jews of Philadelphia to include the creation of Kesher Israel that year:

"Bene Ya'acob" Congregation and Chebrah Rodephe Tsedek, Anshe Szager ... united during August, 1894-5654, and substituted, for their respective names, "Kesher 'Israel" (The Bond of Israel). A Congregational charter has been obtained, and the worship will continue at the Synagogue of the former Congregation, on the south side of Lombard Street, west of Fourth Street. The building will be enlarged and altered...[8]

On January 24, 1897, the congregation dedicated its new synagogue building.[9] Capacity was listed as 1,400.[10]

In the fall of 1897, one of the first large Zionist meetings in the United States was held at Kesher Israel after Theodor Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress in Basle Switzerland. Kesher Israel became a central meeting hall for early Zionists in Philadelphia.

On December 4, 1919, the basement heater ignited a fire that damaged the building's sanctuary, hallways, and rooms. While the total loss was $1,500, no one was hurt and congregants who lived nearby helped retrieve holy objects from the building.[11]

Rabbi Ivan Caine led Kesher Israel on a part-time basis in the mid-1970s, splitting his time with Society Hill Synagogue also in the neighborhood. The synagogue during this period held morning as well as afternoon services but struggled to secure a minyan of ten men. One wealthier member paid others between $8 and $15 a week to attend and preserve the services.[12]

The building fell into disrepair in the 1970s and 1980s. The building's roof leaked unchecked for 20 years. The water created a hole in the ceiling was repaired for $80,000. Much of the funds came from historic preservation grants.[13]

In 1995, Kesher Israel had neither rabbi nor janitor, and its membership dues remained $10/year. The congregation had replaced the roof but its ceiling, stained glass, bricks, and masonry all required repair.[14]

In 1998, congregant Michael Yaron donated $2.0 million to the synagogue to renovate the sanctuary and building.[15] The congregation began the renovations in January 1998, and in September 1998 celebrated the completion of the project.[16]

Harry Boonin chronicled the history of the synagogue and published the book The Life and Times of Congregation Kesher Israel in 2007.[17] Mitchell Romirowsky has served as the synagogue's interim rabbi since 2018.

References

  1. ^ "Building Intelligence". The American Architect and Building News. James R. Osgood & Company. May 4, 1895. p. 5. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  2. ^ Bowden, Mary Ellen; Rosner, Lisa (2005). Joseph Priestley, Radical Thinker: A Catalogue to Accompany the Exhibit at the Chemical Heritage Foundation Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the Death of Joseph Priestley : 23 August 2004 to 29 July 2005. Philadelphia: Chemical Heritage Foundation. p. 34. ISBN 0941901386.
  3. ^ Shiffert, John (May 1993). "Site of Joseph Smith's 1839 Philadelphia Sermon Identified". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved 22 May 2016. ...a ... ledger book of the Universalist Church has finally identified a significant site in the history of the Church in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area. It reads as follows: '1840 January 14 For use of the Church from Rev. J. Smith by G. H. McCully $13.63.' 'Rev. J. Smith' was, of course, the Prophet Joseph Smith. The church was the First Independent Church of Christ, located at 412 Lombard Street in Philadelphia. And the occasion was ...—the day in the last week of December 1839 when 'a very large church was opened for [Joseph Smith] to preach in, and about three thousand people assembled to hear him.' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1979, p. 298.)
  4. ^ "April 2008 meeting". jgsgp.org. Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia. April 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  5. ^ Moss, Roger W. (2005). Historic Sacred Places of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 70–73. ISBN 0812237927.
  6. ^ Traditions in Transition: Jewish Culture in Philadelphia, 1840-1940. The Historical Society of PA. October 1, 2006. p. 50. ISBN 1422358291.
  7. ^ https://jgsgp.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/NC-2009-Resource-Directory.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  8. ^ Morais, Henry Samuel (1894). The Jews of Philadelphia: Their History from the Earliest Settlements to the Present Time; a Record of Events and Institutions, and of Leading Members of the Jewish Community in Every Sphere of Activity. Philadelphia: Levytype Company. p. 572. Congregation Kesher Israel lombard st.
  9. ^ Childs, G.W. (1898). Public Ledger Almanac. p. 70.
  10. ^ "Domestic Notes". The Menorah (22). Jewish Chautauqua Society: 171. 1898. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  11. ^ "Fire in synagogue does $1500 damange". The Evening Ledger. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. December 4, 1919. p. 6.
  12. ^ Dubin, Murray (December 8, 1974). "Orthodox Jews Fade Away in Society Hill". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. pp. 1B, 10B.
  13. ^ Blake, Joseph P. (May 11, 1991). "Structurally imperfect agency seeks to preserve old churches". Philadelphia Daily News. Philadelphia. p. 11.
  14. ^ Avery, Ron (October 19, 1995). "Worshippers paint up, fix up time takes toll on churches, synagogues". Philadelphia Daily News. Philadelphia. p. 10.
  15. ^ Nark, Jason (March 23, 2012). "Jail could await Old City developer, again". Daily News. Philadelphia. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  16. ^ "As I see It: Answered Prayers". Jewish Exponent. Philadelphia. September 10, 1998.
  17. ^ Gladstone, Bill (October 1, 2008). "Book Review: The Life and Times of Congregation Kesher Israel, by Harry D. Boonin". avotaynuonline.com. Avotaynu Online. Retrieved 22 May 2016.

39°56′33″N 75°08′58″W / 39.942513°N 75.149526°W / 39.942513; -75.149526

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