Congregation Beth Israel (Portland, Oregon)

Beth Israel is a Reform congregation and Jewish synagogue in Portland, Oregon, United States. The congregation was founded in 1858, while Oregon was still a territory, and built its first synagogue in 1859.[2]

For similarly named synagogues, see Beth Israel.

Temple Beth Israel
Congregation Beth Israel (Portland, Oregon) is located in Portland, Oregon
Congregation Beth Israel (Portland, Oregon)
Congregation Beth Israel (Portland, Oregon) is located in Oregon
Congregation Beth Israel (Portland, Oregon)
Congregation Beth Israel (Portland, Oregon) is located in the United States
Congregation Beth Israel (Portland, Oregon)
Location1931 NW Flanders St.
Portland, Oregon
Coordinates45°31′34″N 122°41′28″W
Built1926–1928
ArchitectMorris H. Whitehouse
Herman Brookman
Harry A. Herzog
Architectural styleNeo-Byzantine
Part ofAlphabet Historic District[1] (ID00001293)
NRHP reference No.79002141
Added to NRHPJuly 26, 1979

Architecture

The congregation's first building was a modest, single story, pitched-roof, wood-framed, clapboard building with Gothic, pointed-arch windows and door.[3]

This early structure was replaced by an 1889 synagogue building, which was destroyed by fire in December 1923.[4][5] Designed by Portland architect Warren H. Williams, the building, called Moorish revival design in some sources,[6] is elsewhere described as a combination of eclectic and Gothic revival styles, with two towers topped by bulbous domes.[7] The Oregonian newspaper in 1923 described its style as "semi-Gothic and Mooresque".[4] It was located at S.W. 12th and Main streets in downtown Portland. Its two towers were 165 ft (50 m) tall, and the main interior space measured 82 by 56 feet (25 m × 17 m), and featured an arched ceiling 52 feet high.[4]

Postcard depicting the 1889 synagogue

It was replaced in 1928 by a notable Neo-Byzantine synagogue building at N.W. 19th and Flanders that continues to serve the congregation. Its octagonal centralized plan, with distant roots in Byzantine architecture, can be seen as part of a group of Jewish and Christian houses of worship built in the United States in the 1920s.[8]

It was listed as Temple Beth Israel on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[9] Designed by Herman Brookman, it is considered one of the finest examples of Byzantine-style architecture on the west coast, and was inspired by the Alte Synagoge (Steelerstrasse Synagogue) in Essen, Germany.[10][11][12][13]

See also

References
  1. Harrison, Michael; Lutino, Cielo; Mickle, Liza; Mye, Peter; Cunningham, Bill; Gauthier, Stephanie (March 20, 2000), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Alphabet Historic District (PDF), retrieved June 3, 2015.
  2. Facilities Archived 2007-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
  3. The Ties that Bind; A Century of Judaism on America's Last Frontier, Julius J. Nodel and Alfred Asper, pub. by Temple Beth Israel, Portland, 1959, p. 14
  4. "Fire Destroys Big Synagogue" (December 30, 1923). The Sunday Oregonian, pp. 1, 6.
  5. Temple Beth Israel: Portland, OR Archived February 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  6. Temple Beth Israel: Portland, OR Archived February 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  7. The Ties that Bind; A Century of Judaism on America's Last Frontier, Julius J. Nodel and Alfred Asper, pub. by Temple Beth Israel, Portland, 1959, p. 55
  8. Nelson, Robert S. (2018). "The Byzantine Synagogue of Alfred Alschuler". Images : a journal of Jewish art and visual culture. 11 (1): 5–42.
  9. "Oregon National Register List" (PDF). Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. June 6, 2011. p. 41. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 25, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  10. "Architecture in Oregon: Treasures". Architecture Foundation of Oregon. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  11. "Essen". Retrieved May 23, 2008.
  12. Jon Horn and Reed Elwyn (April 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: M. Lloyd Frank Estate" (pdf). National Park Service.
  13. Vaughan, Thomas (1974). Space, style, and structure : building in Northwest America. Oregon Historical Society. p. 481. ISBN 0-87595-047-7. OCLC 1120954.
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