Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim
KAHAL KADOSH BETH ELOHIM
(HOLY CONGREGATION HOUSE OF GOD)
FOUNDED 1750
THE CRADLE OF REFORM JUDAISM
IN THE UNITED STATES, 1824
JEWS WHO SETTLED IN CHARLESTON AS EARLY AS
1695 WORSHIPED INFORMALLY UNTIL THE FOUNDING
OF THIS CONGREGATION IN 1750. FIRST SYNAGOGUE
ON THIS SITE, 1780-1792, WAS A CONVERTED COTTON
GIN. A SECOND, BUILT IN 1888 WAS THE SECOND
JEWISH SUNDAY SCHOOL IN THE UNITED STATES. THE
PRESENT SYNAGOGUE, DESIGNED BY C. L. WARNER
AND BUILT BY DAVID LOPEZ, 1840, IS THE SECOND
OLDEST IN THE UNITED STATES, AND OLDEST IN
CONTINUOUS USE. THE TABERNACLE WAS BUILT 1948
ON THE SITE OF THE OLD TABERNACLE (1888-1948)
GEORGE WASHINGTON WROTE THE CONGREGATION
IN 1790:
"MAY THE SAME TEMPORAL AND ETERNAL BLESSINGS WHICH
YOU EMPLORE FOR ME, REST UPON YOUR CONGREGATION"
APPROVED BY THE
HISTORICAL COMMISSION OF CHARLESTON, S.C.
Submitted by Colin Bunnell