Congregation Kesher Israel (Philadelphia)

Congregation Kesher Israel (Philadelphia)

October 31, 2014
Basic information
Location 412-418 Lombard Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Affiliation Jewish
Municipality Philadelphia
Year consecrated First Independent Church of Christ, 1796
Kesher Israel, 1897
Status Active
Leadership Seth Frisch (Rabbi)
Adam Gilbert (Cantor)
Website http://www.historickesherisrael.org
Architect(s) J. Franklin Stuckert (1895)[1]
Completed 1796
Direction of façade North

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.

History

The current building was constructed in 1796 for the first Independent Church of Christ. 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 building was purchased and converted to a synagogue in 1889. As a condition of the sale, the graves were moved from the cemetery and reinterred at Fernwood Cemetery.[2] 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.

First Independent Church of Christ

Joseph Priestley is credited with inspiring the creation in 1796 of the first Unitarian Society of Philadelphia. He would come occasionally to preach at the Church.[3]

Joseph Smith, during a visit to Philadelphia, preached at the Universalist Church in December 1839.[4]

The church had vacated the building at 412 Lombard Street by 1887.[5]

Kesher Israel history

Bnai Jacob, founded in 1883, and Rodephe Tzedek, founded in 1887, merged in 1894 to form congregation Kesher Israel.[6] 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...[7]

On January 24, 1897, the congregation dedicated its new synagogue building.[8] Capacity was listed as 1,400.[9]

In 1998, congregant Michael Yaron donated $2.0 million to the synagogue which enabled Kesher Israel to renovate its sanctuary and building.[10] The congregation began the renovations in January 1998, and in September 1998 celebrated the completion of the project.[11]

Harry Boonin chronicled the history of the synagogue and published the book The Life and Times of Congregation Kesher Israel in 2007.[12]


References

  1. ↑ "Building Intelligence". The American Architect and Building News. James R. Osgood & Company. May 4, 1895. p. 5. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Moss, Roger W. (2005). Historic Sacred Places of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 70-73. ISBN 0812237927.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ 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.)
  5. ↑ "April 2008 meeting". jgsgp.org. Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia. April 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  6. ↑ Traditions in Transition: Jewish Culture in Philadelphia, 1840-1940. The Historical Society of PA. October 1, 2006. p. 50. ISBN 1422358291.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ Childs, G.W. (1898). Public Ledger Almanac. p. 70.
  9. ↑ "Domestic Notes". The Menorah. Jewish Chautauqua Society (22): 171. 1898. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  10. ↑ Nark, Jason (March 23, 2012). "Jail could await Old City developer, again". Daily News. Philadelphia. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  11. ↑ "As I see It: Answered Prayers". Jewish Exponent. Philadelphia. September 10, 1998.
  12. ↑ 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.

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

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