Temple Sinai
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| Temple Sinai Sumter, South Carolina |
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| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
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| Location: | 11 Church Street |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Built/Founded: | 1912 |
| Architectural style(s): | Moorish Revival |
| Added to NRHP: | January 21, 1999 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 98001645 |
| Governing body: | Private |
Temple Sinai is an historic Reform synagogue located at 11 Church Street on the corner of West Hampton Avenue, in Sumter, South Carolina Built in 1912 of brick in the Moorish Revival style, Temple Sinai was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 21, 1999. It is also known as Congregation Sinai, whose official name is the Sumter Society of Israelites.[2]
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[edit] History
The first Jewish settlers in Sumter were Sephardi who came from Charleston in 1815. Congregation Sinai, whose official name is the Sumter Society of Israelites, was formed in April, 1895, by the merger of the Hebrew Cemetery Society and the Sumter Hebrew Benevolent Society. Visiting rabbis from Charleston and Augusta, Georgia. served the congregation until 1904 when Rabbi Jacob Klein settled in Sumter. The sanctuary of the present temple was built in 1912 facing Church Street to replace an earlier wooden synagogue on the site.[3]
The Barnett Memorial Addition, a two-story brick Moorish Revival auditorium/banquest hall and classroom/office building facing West Hampton Avenue, was built in 1932, behind the sanctuary, which it complements. In 1956, the one story brick Hyman Brody Building was attached to the rear of the Barnett Memorial Addition to provide a kitchen and more classrooms, offices and rest rooms. Although simpler than the other two buildings, it still has some Moorish features.[4]
Temple Sinai's archives have been donated to the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina[5]
[edit] Stained glass windows
Temple Sinai is noted for the eleven drapery glass stained glass windows on its side and entrance walls, which depict scenes from the Tanakh. With the exception of one round window high over the entrance portico, the windows are uniformly five feet wide by twenty feet high and in their shape mimic the castellated domed Moorish towers that flank the entrance.[6][7]
[edit] Current status
Temple Sinai is still an active reform congregation.[8]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
- ^ [South Carolina Department of Archives and History article on Temple Sinai
- ^ Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina: History of Temple Sinai
- ^ Katherine H. Richardson, Nomination Form for Temple Sinai, which is accessible only by Internet Explorer at the link in South Carolina Department of Archives and History article on Temple Sinai
- ^ Donation of Temple Sinai archives to Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina
- ^ Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina: History of Temple Sinai
- ^ Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina: Jewish Heritage Days, Sumter, SC, March 2006
- ^ Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina: Directory of South Carolina Synagogues
[edit] External links
- National Register listings for Sumter County
- South Carolina Department of Archives and History article on Temple Sinai
- Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina: Jewish Heritage Days, Sumter, SC, March 2006
- Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina: History of Temple Sinai
- Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina: Directory of South Carolina Synagogues
- Donation of Temple Sinai archives to Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina
- Kenneth Schmidt, Transcription of Sumter Jewish Cemetery, 2005
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