Congregation Beth Israel (Portland, Oregon)
Jewish synagogue in Portland, Oregon, U.S.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 1931 NW Flanders Street, Portland, Oregon, in the United States.
| Congregation Beth Israel | |
|---|---|
Temple Beth Israel (2008) | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Reform Judaism |
| Synagogue | |
| Status | Active |
| Location | |
| Location | 1972 NW Flanders Street, Portland, Oregon |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 45°31′34″N 122°41′28″W |
| Architecture | |
| Architects |
|
| Type | Synagogue |
| Style | Neo-Byzantine |
| Established | 1858 (as a congregation) |
| Completed |
|
Temple Beth Israel | |
| Built | 1926–1928 |
| Part of | Alphabet Historic District[1] (ID00001293) |
| NRHP reference No. | 79002141 |
| Added to NRHP | July 26, 1979 |
History
The congregation was founded in 1858, while Oregon was still a territory. The congregation's first building, constructed in 1859, was a modest, single story, pitched-roof, wood-framed, clapboard building with Gothic pointed-arch windows and door.[2][3]
A new synagogue building replaced this early structure in 1889; a fire destroyed that synagogue in December 1923.[4][5] Designed by Portland architect Warren H. Williams, the building, described as Moorish Revival design in some sources,[5] is elsewhere described as a combination of eclectic and Gothic Revival styles, with two towers topped by bulbous domes.[3]: 55 The Oregonian newspaper described its style as "semi-Gothic and Mooresque" in 1923.[4] Located at S.W. 12th and Main Streets in downtown Portland, its two towers stood 165 ft (50 m) tall; the main interior space measured 82 by 56 feet (25 m × 17 m), and featured an arched ceiling 52 feet (16 m) high.[4]
It was replaced in 1928 by the landmark Neo-Byzantine synagogue building at N.W. 19th and Flanders that continues to serve the congregation. Listed as Temple Beth Israel on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979,[6] the building is considered one of the finest examples of Neo-Byzantine-style architecture on the west coast, and was inspired by the Alte Synagoge (Steelerstrasse Synagogue) in Essen, Germany.[7][8][9][10] The interior of Steelerstrasse, the first modern synagogue in Germany, was praised as Germany's most beautiful before its destruction during the November Pogrom of 1938.[8]
