The Oldest Synagogue In The World originally published on Food and Fond Memories on December 21, 2016 by sandyaxelrod 0 Comments (Edit)

The Oldest Synagogue In The World

Believe it or not, Charleston, South Carolina, is home to the oldest continuously used synagogue in the WORLD!

Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim in Charleston, SC
Photo Credit: Website

Sanctuary at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim in Charleston, SC
Photo Credit: Steven Hyatt

With Hanukkah almost upon us I wanted to tell you about Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim which has a history that all American Jews can take pride in. This is a story of faith, devotion, and perseverance in the American tradition of freedom of worship. The earliest known reference to a Jew in the English settlement of Charleston, which was founded in 1670, is a description dated 1695. Shortly after that other Jews followed. They were attracted by the civil and religious liberty of South Carolina and the ample economic opportunity of the colony. This group of early Jewish pioneers had grown enough that by 1749 they organized the present congregation, Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (Holy Congregation House of G-d). Fifteen years later, they established the now historic Coming Street Cemetery, the oldest surviving Jewish burial ground in the South.

Charleston is also known as the birthplace of Reform Judaism in the United States. In 1824, 47 congregants petitioned the Adjunta (the trustees) of the synagogue to change the Sephardic Orthodox liturgy. When the petition, which asked for English translation of the prayers, and a sermon in English, was denied, a group of disappointed liberal members resigned from the congregation and organized “The Reformed Society of Israelites”. This independent society, led by Isaac Harby and Abraham Moise was influenced by the ideas of the Hamburg Reform congregation which was the leading modernist community in Europe. Lasting only nine years, many of its practices and principles have become part of today’s Reform Judaism The Progressives rejoined the old congregation, and while the present temple was being built in 1840 a very controversial organ was installed. KKBE was one of the founding synagogues of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1873, now known as the Union for Reform Judaism.

Bema at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim

Torahs at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim

KKBE (as it is known) in Charleston, is the fourth oldest Jewish congregation in the continental United States. Before KKBE congregations were formed in New York, Newport and Savannah. At first, prayers were recited in private quarters and from 1775, in an improvised synagogue adjacent to the present-day grounds. In 1792 the construction of the largest and most impressive synagogue in the United States began and it was dedicated two years later. A member of the visiting Lafayette’s entourage is reported to have described the building as “spacious and elegant.” Tragically this gorgeous, cupolated Georgian synagogue was destroyed in the great Charleston fire of 1838 and replaced in 1840 on the same Hasell Street site by the building that is in use to this day. The colonnaded building, dedicated in early 1841 is often described as one of the country’s finest examples of Greek Revival architecture. At the dedication KKBE’s Reverend (Rabbi) Gustavus Poznanski was moved to say, “This synagogue is our Temple, this city our Jerusalem, and this happy land our Palestine.” Today, KKBE has the second oldest synagogue building In the United States and the oldest in continuous use. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1980.

Stained Glass Windows in the Sanctuary

Organ Loft in the Sanctuary

Aged, yet ageless, dome of the sanctuary at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim

For almost two and a half centuries members of KKBE have been prominent leaders. Among notable early congregants were Moses Lindo, who before the Revolution helped to develop the cultivation of Indigo (then South Carolina’s second crop) and Joseph Levy, veteran of the Cherokee War of 1760-61 and probably the first Jewish military officer in America. Almost two dozen men of Beth Elohim served in the War of Independence. Among them the brilliant young Francis Salvador who was a delegate to the South Carolina Provincial Congresses of 1775 and 1776 and the first Jew to serve in an American legislature. Killed shortly after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Salvador was also the first Jew known to die in the Revolutionary War.

Civil War Battle Model at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim

Mural at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim

This outstanding Greek Revival style building was constructed in 1840 by member David Lopez from a design by architects Tappan and Noble. It replaced the 1794 cupolated Georgian style structure that was destroyed by fire in 1838. You enter the temple grounds via a graceful iron fence dating from the 1794 synagogue. Also surviving are the bases of two menorahs (candelabras) on either side of the Bema. The large marble tablet above the huge entrance doors proclaims the Sh’ma in Hebrew and an unusual English translation: “Hear O Israel the Lord Our God is the sole Eternal Being.” In the foyer over the entrance to the sanctuary is the original dedication stone from the 1794 synagogue. Housing four Torah scrolls is a massive ark made of Santo Domingo mahogany. The stained glass windows date back to 1886 and are replacements of windows destroyed in an earthquake that year. The interior of the synagogue originally followed a traditional Sephardic Orthodox arrangement but was altered first, in 1879 with the installation of family pews and the removal of the pulpit to the front of the sanctuary, and then again in 1886 after the earthquake when the balconies on both sides of the building were removed and the Bema reconfigured.

Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim
90 Hasell Street
Charleston, SC 29401