is a Reform
Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of American Jews today. With an estimated 1.5 million members, it also accounts for the largest number of Jews affiliated with Progressive Judaism worldwide.- Reform Jewish theology :Rabbi W...
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. Founded in 1789 by Spanish and Portuguese Jews
Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the Jewish communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on...
as Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalome
(Hebrew: Holy Congregation, House of Peace,) it is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States
The designation of the oldest synagogue in the United States requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest congregation...
When the congregation was founded, there were 100 Jews in Richmond's population of 3,900. After meeting for some years in leased space, the congregation built its first synagogue in 1822. It was a handsome if modest, one-story, brick building in Georgian style.
The community grew and in 1841 the Ashkenazi members founded a new congregation called Beth Ahabah. In 1846 Beth Ahabah established the first Jewish school in Richmond, and 1846 built a synagogue at Eleventh and Marshall Streets. The Congregation moved toward Reform in 1867 with discussion of acquiring an organ , the decision to switch to family pews (mixing men and women,) and allowing women to join the choir. Beth Ahabah joined the Reform Movement Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1875. A new building was erected, also at Eleventh and Marshall, in 1880. In 1898 K.K. Beth Shalome formally merged with Congregation Beth Ahabah.http://www.bethahabah.org/our-history.htm
On March 4, 1904 the congregation laid the cornerstone for its present building, known as the Franklin Street Synagogue The building was dedicated on December 9, 1904. The domed, Neoclassical synagogue was designed by the Richmond-based firm of Noland and Baskervill, who also designed nearby St. James' Church and the wings of the Virginia State Capitol. The synagogue has 29 stained glass windows. Most notable is a window on the building's eastern wall created and signed by the Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements...
Studios in 1923. It depicts Mt. Sinai.
The congregation maintains the Hebrew Cemetery of Richmond
The Hebrew Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, also known as Hebrew Burying Ground, dates from 1816. This Jewish cemetery, one of the oldest in the United States, was founded in 1816 as successor to the 1789 Franklin Street Burial Grounds of 1789. Among those interred here are Josephine Cohen Joel,...
and the Cemetery for Hebrew Confederate Soldiers
The Cemetery for Hebrew Confederate Soldiers a Jewish cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. It is the only Jewish military cemetery not located in Israel. The cemetery within the Hebrew Cemetery of Richmond, on historic Shockoe Hill, and is maintained by Congregation Beth Ahabah.-External links:*...
, as well as the original site of the 1789 Franklin Street Burial Grounds, which was the first Jewish cemetery in Virginia.
Beth Ahabah Museum
Congregation Beth Ahabah is the home of the Beth Ahabah Museum & Archives
, located at 1109 West Franklin Street. Established in 1977, the museum's focus is the history and culture of Richmond's Jewish community and the Southern Jewish experience. Three galleries feature changing exhibits. The museum is open from Sunday through Thursday.