Congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim

Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue
Location 90 Hasell St., Charleston, South Carolina
Coordinates 32°46′56″N 79°55′58″W / 32.78222°N 79.93278°WCoordinates: 32°46′56″N 79°55′58″W / 32.78222°N 79.93278°W
Built Founded in the 1740s; built in 1840
Architect Cyrus L. Warner; David L. Lopez
Architectural style Greek Revival
Governing body Private
NRHP Reference # 78002499
Significant dates
Added to NRHP April 4, 1978[1]
Designated NHL June 19, 1980[2]

Congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (also known as Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue, Congregation K. K. Beth Elohim, or more simply K. K. Beth Elohim) is a historic 1840 synagogue located at 90 Hasell (pronounced as if it were spelled Hazel) Street in Charleston, South Carolina. It was designed by Cyrus L. Warner.

The synagogue was founded in the 1740s and is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States.[3]

Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim

In the 1830s, Beth Elohim adopted a reformed ritual, after reabsorbing a splinter group originally led by Isaac Harby. In 1824 he founded the Reformed Society of the Israelites, authoring the first Reform prayer-book in America. The congregation is sometimes considered to be the originator of Reform Judaism in the United States, though it was mainly established by immigrants from Germany later on. Most of the founding members of the congregation were Sephardi Jews of Spanish and Portuguese descent, but some were German Jews.

The present Greek Revival building is the second oldest synagogue building in continuous use in the United States.[4] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 4, 1978, as Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue[1] and was designated a National Historic Landmark on June 19, 1980.[2][5] The Coming Street Cemetery, owned by the Congregation, is listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  3. ↑ Jonathan Sarna. American Judaism: A History, Yale University Press, 2004, p. 19.
  4. ↑ "Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue, Charleston County (90 Hasell St., Charleston)". National Register Properties in South Carolina listing. South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
  5. ↑ Polly Ann Matherly (April 1980). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim; Congregation Beth Elohim; Beth Elohim Synagogue" (PDF). National Park Service. and Accompanying three photos, exterior and interior, from 1973 and 1977 PDF (32 KB)

External links