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Congregation Beth Israel ((ヘブライ語:בית ישראל)) is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located in Louisiana. Founded in 1903 or 1904,〔 though tracing its roots back to 1857, it is the oldest Orthodox congregation in the New Orleans region.〔〔 Originally located on Carondelet Street in New Orleans' Central City, it constructed and moved to a building at 7000 Canal Boulevard in Lakeview, New Orleans in 1971.〔 At one time the largest Orthodox congregation in the Southern United States, its membership was over 500 families in the 1960s, but fell to under 200 by 2005.〔〔 That year its Canal Boulevard building was severely flooded by the 2005 New Orleans levee failure disaster during Hurricane Katrina.〔 Despite attempts to save them,〔 all seven of its Torah scrolls were destroyed,〔 as were over 3,000 prayer-books.〔 The building suffered further flooding damage caused by the theft of copper air-conditioning tubing in 2007.〔 In the wake of Katrina another 50 member families left New Orleans, including the rabbi's.〔〔 The congregation began sharing space with Gates of Prayer, a Reform synagogue in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans. By 2009, the congregation had purchased land from Gates of Prayer, and intended to build a new synagogue next to it.〔〔 The congregation shared space in Gates of Prayer's building from 2010 until August 2012, when a new building was dedicated at 4004 West Esplanade Avenue in Metairie.〔 The rabbi is Gabriel Greenberg.〔 ==History== Beth Israel is the oldest Orthodox congregation in the New Orleans region,〔Greenberg (2007).〕 and its most prominent.〔Nolan (September 13, 2007).〕 Though it was founded as early as 1903,〔 it traces its roots back to much older synagogues. In the mid-19th century New Orleans had a number of small Orthodox congregations of Eastern European Jews, generally "structured along nationalistic lines". These included a synagogue of Galitzianer Jews (Chevra Thilim), and two of Lithuanian Jews, (one—Chevra Mikve Israel—following the non-Hassidic liturgy, the other—Anshe Sfard—following the Hassidic liturgy). In 1857, a congregation consisting primarily of Prussian Jews from Posen organized as Tememe Derech, "The Right Way". As they followed the Polish rite, they were known as "The Polish Congregation".〔Lachoff & Kahn (2005), p. 8.〕〔Institute of Southern Jewish Life (2010).〕 Tememe Derech built a synagogue in the 500 block of Carondelet Street in the Central City section of New Orleans in 1867. It was the sole Orthodox congregation to construct its own building; only a minority of New Orleans' Jews were Orthodox, and other congregations rented space or met in members' homes.〔 Tememe Derech's membership, however, never exceeded 50,〔Lachoff & Kahn (2005), p. 24.〕 and in 1903 or 1904〔 the synagogue disbanded, and merged with a number of other small Orthodox congregations and a burial society to form Beth Israel.〔〔 Services were initially held in rented quarters in the same 500 block of Carondelet Street.〔 In 1905, Beth Israel purchased the home of New Orleans' former mayor Joseph A. Shakspeare at 1610 Carondelet Street. Funds for the new acquisition came from both the Orthodox and Reform communities of New Orleans. After remodeling the building, the congregation began holding services there, in time for the 1906 High Holy Days.〔〔Lachoff & Kahn (2005), p. 64.〕〔''American Jewish Year Book'', Vol. 21, p. 379.〕 Membership grew quickly; by 1910 Beth Israel was the second-largest Jewish congregation in the city,〔Lachoff & Kahn (2005), p. 65.〕 with 180 member families, and by 1914 that number had grown to 250 families.〔 By 1918, however, membership had fallen to 175 families. That year the synagogues income was $6,000 (today $).〔 Moses Hyman Goldberg was the congregation's first rabbi, but within a year he moved to Chevra Thilim.〔 Goldberg served as New Orleans' ''mohel'' until his death in 1940.〔Lachoff & Kahn (2005), p. 97〕 Beth Israel rebuilt its synagogue at the Carondelet Street location in 1924.〔 The new building was designed by Emil Weil, a noted Southern architect, particularly of Jewish religious buildings. He designed other New Orleans' synagogues, including the Touro Synagogue and the Anshe Sfard, as well as other non-religious buildings throughout Louisiana.〔Lachoff & Kahn (2005), p. 82.〕 Beth Israel's new Byzantine Revival building, with its seating capacity of 1,200, reflected "the growing economic and social confidence of the membership": it had "beautiful" stained-glass windows, a "magnificent" imported European chandelier, and "hand-carved Stars of David in the ceiling".〔〔Lachoff & Kahn (2005), p. 67.〕 The building was dedicated on September 12, and a Boston rabbi, Henry Raphael Gold, was a guest speaker. He was so impressed that he stayed on, becoming Beth Israel's rabbi.〔 In 1926 Beth Israel built the "Menorah Institute" Talmud Torah building on Euterpe Street, adjoining the Carondelet synagogue. The school, which served as an Orthodox alternative to the existing Communal Hebrew School, comprised a nursery school, a Hebrew school, and a Sunday school. The building also housed Beth Israel's offices, and the "Little Shul" ("shul" is the Yiddish word for synagogue), where services were held twice a day.〔〔〔New Orleans City Guide (1938/2009), p. 384.〕 The congregation leased land for burials in the Chevra Thilim Cemetery on Canal Street, a site that had been used by Tememe Derech as early as 1860, and which was shared with several other congregations. In the 1930s Beth Israel purchased its own cemetery on Frenchmen Street.〔Lachoff & Kahn (2005), p. 55.〕 Uri Miller joined Beth Israel as rabbi in 1935, a post he would hold through the early 1940s.〔Feibelman (1941), p. 93.〕〔Landman (1942), p. 172.〕 He was president of the Hebrew Theological College Alumni from 1936 to 1938, and of its successor the Rabbinical Council of America from 1946 to 1948.〔Sherman (1996), p. 257.〕 During Miller's tenure the synagogue's neighborhood began to deteriorate. Members started moving uptown, and the congregation embarked on a search for a new location.〔Lachoff & Kahn (2005), p. 124.〕〔 In 1963 Beth Israel purchased a block of land at 7000 Canal Boulevard at Walker Street in the Lakeview neighborhood. It moved into its new larger building there in 1971.〔〔 From 1914 through World War II Beth Israel described itself the "largest Orthodox congregation in the South",〔〔 and in the 1960s it had 500 member families.〔 By 2005, however, that number had been reduced to fewer than 200.〔 Nevertheless, Beth Israel still held services twice a day, the only synagogue in New Orleans to do so.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Congregation Beth Israel (New Orleans)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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