Congregation B'nai Israel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Congregation B'nai Israel is a Jewish synagogue located in Galveston, Texas. It is the oldest Jewish Reform Congregation in the U.S. state of Texas.
Contents |
[edit] History
The first Jewish cemetery in Texas was established in Galveston in 1852, with the first organized Jewish services being held 1856. These two endeavors culminated in the organization of Congregation B'nai Israel in 1868 and its chartering in 1870.
The congregation has the distinction of being the first Jewish Reform congregation chartered in Texas, as well as being only the second Jewish congregation founded in the state. On June 20, 1875, the congregation voted to become one of the charter members of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
One of the pioneers of Reform Judaism in the United States, Abraham Cohen Labatt, moved to Galveston in 1878 and joined the congregation. He was an active member until his death in 1899.
Since its founding, the congregation has been served by eleven Rabbis: Alexander Rosenspitz (1868-70), Abraham Blum, MD (1871-85), Joseph Silverman (1885-88), Henry Cohen (1888-1949), Leo Stillpass (1950-55), Stanley Dreyfus (1956-65), Robert Blinder (1965-69), Samuel Stahl (1969-76), Jimmy Kessler (1976-81), Alan Greenbaum (1981-85), Martin Levy (1985-89), and again Jimmy Kessler (1989-present). Kessler was the first native Texan to assume the leadership of the congregation.
[edit] B'nai Israel and the Galveston Movement
B'nai Israel's Rabbi Henry Cohen is credited with helping to found the Galveston Movement, which operated between 1907 and 1914. The objective of the program was to shift Jews fleeing Russia and eastern Europe away from crowded East Coast cities to the Gulf Coast, thereby redirecting more settlement to the middle of the United States. Rabbi Cohen and members of the congregation met all of the ships that docked carrying Jewish immigrants, and helped to direct many of the passengers to new homes in Texas and beyond.
As a result, through the combined efforts of Rabbi Cohen and others, it is estimated that over Ten thousand Jewish immigrants passed through Galveston.
