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Congregation Beth Israel (Gadsden, Alabama)

1908 establishments in Alabama20th-century attacks on synagogues and Jewish communal organizations in the United States20th-century synagogues in the United StatesBuildings and structures in Gadsden, AlabamaCrimes in Alabama
Former synagogues in AlabamaJewish organizations established in 1908Jews and Judaism in AppalachiaNeoclassical architecture in AlabamaNeoclassical synagoguesSynagogues completed in 1923

Congregation Beth Israel (Hebrew: בית ישראל) was a Reform synagogue, located for most of its history at 761 Chestnut Street in Gadsden, Alabama. An outgrowth of Gadsden's Jewish religious school, it was founded in 1908 and incorporated in 1910. It moved into its Chestnut Street building in 1922, and joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1924.From 1911 to 1944 it had no rabbi, and was led by "lay-religious-leader" Hugo Hecht. In 1944, Beth Israel hired its first full-time rabbi, Ernest Appel.The synagogue was fire-bombed and its windows smashed in 1960, during a Friday night service. Two members who rushed outside were wounded with a shotgun by the attacker, a young Nazi sympathizer.Membership was never high; the congregation had 38 members families in 1918, and this grew to 60 families in 1960. Membership fell as major employers closed operations, and Jews emigrated from Gadsden. By 2008, family membership was down to 26. The synagogue closed in 2010.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Congregation Beth Israel (Gadsden, Alabama) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Congregation Beth Israel (Gadsden, Alabama)
Chestnut Street, Gadsden

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N 34.014076 ° E -86.010783 °
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Chestnut Street 761
35901 Gadsden
Alabama, United States
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