Mizpah Congregation

The Mizpah congragation is a reformed Jewish congregation is a form of judiasm in which the members believe the members should be equal, and believe that congregation should modernize its traditions.^[1] this differs from traditional judaism in small but significant ways. the first being that women can be rabbis.

History

Records of a Jewish settlement in Chattanooga trace back to before the Civil War, however, it wasn’t until after the war that the Jewish community was really formed. After the Civil war ended, German immigrants Fannie Schwartzenberg Bach and Jacob Bach made a new home in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1860.^[2] The Bach family started holding services in there home in 1866, Jacob Bach becoming the congregation’s first rabbi, and also acted as the cantor, and ritual slaughterer.^[3] That same year (1866) 21 young Jewish men organized a group called Chebra Gamilas Chaced, which was changed a year later to the Hebrew Benevolence Association.^[4] The group received an official state charter 1867. The group then purchased land for Jewish community members, which was located on the corner of East Third and Collins Street, for a total of $225.^[5] In the year 1869 the congregation got a new volunteer rabbi by the name of E.K. Fischer. E.K. Fischer was the rabbi for two years, and created a religious school. However E.K. Fischer stepped down in 1871 due to health reasons.^[6] Dr. Marx Blocks then took control of the congregation. It was under Dr. Marx Blocks and his wife, Delphine, that the Jewish community in Chattanooga grew. Later, in 1877 that the Hebrew Ladies Aid Society was founded with 33 women. The Congregation's first temple was build in 1882 on Walnut Street near fifth. The group adopted the name Mitzpah, which in Hebrew means “overlook”, or “lookout”, which refers to Lookout Mountain.^[7] However soon dropped the t, changing the name to Mizpaw. 22 years later, in 1904 a new synagogue was built, due to the growth of the congregation, on the corner of Lindsay and Oak Street. The new building seated 350 people, and was the congregation’s synagogue for 24 years. The Congregation received its first ordained rabbi, Moses J. Gries, in 1889 and he served the congregation until 1892. Although the congregation was not associated with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. It started using the revised edition of the union prayer book in 1899, it previously used Isaac M. Wise Minhag America.^[8] Adolf Ochs, a prominent member of Chattanooga was involved in the community of reformed Judaism. In 1928 he had the honor of presenting the Chattanooga’s 3rd Mizpah temple. This temple is still located on McCallie Avenue as a Tennessee Preservation Site. He was responsible for publishing the Times free press and the New York Times. he was a big member of the church.

References

http://www.mizpahcongregation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=355&Itemid=262