B'Nai Israel Synagogue is an historic former

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

, and now

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

, located at 126 South Main in Cape Girardeau,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, in the United States. It was erected in 1937 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. It is located in the Courthouse-Seminary Neighborhood Historic District.

History

The decision to build a synagogue for Cape Girardeau's Jewish community came following the destruction of their Torah. In 1937, a 450-year-old Torah was brought to the United States by Isaac Becker, a

Sikeston Sikeston is a city located both in southern Scott County and northern New Madrid County, in the state of Missouri, United States. It is situated just north of the "Missouri Bootheel", although many locals consider Sikeston a part of it. By way o ...

merchant. Isaac Becker had visited his father in Germany, who told him life for Jews in Germany was getting bad and that the book would be safer with him in the United States. Until that time, the

High Holiday The High Holidays also known as the High Holy Days, or Days of Awe in Judaism, more properly known as the Yamim Noraim ( he, יָמִים נוֹרָאִים, ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm''; "Days of Awe") #strictly, the holidays of Rosh HaShanah ("Jewi ...

service was held in a number of locations: the local Elks Club building, the Sturdivant Bank, the Presbyterian Church, the Community Building in Fairground Park. However, tragedy struck on February 27, 1937, when the book was lost when the Community Building - the building it had been stored at - had been consumed by fire. After the fire, it was decided that a permanent synagogue was needed for both the Jewish community to worship at and as a place to store the community's scrolls. The synagogue was designed by the Saint Louis architect Thomas P. Barnett Jr. who also designed other buildings in Cape Girardeau as well as the

Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, also known as the Saint Louis Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Completed in 1914, it is the mother church of the Arch ...

. The synagogue is located at 126 S. Main Street in Cape Girardeau's historic commercial district.

Architecture

The synagogue is a stuccoed brick, one-story building constructed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style with Islamic influences. The building is covered in white stucco and red mission tiles. The building has a flap sloping roofline and red tiles along the parapet. A dome constructed of red painted sheet metal squares. A symmetrical band of decorative ceramic mosaic tiles form the base of the dome. Recessed Islamic pointed horseshoe arches provide openings on all three sides. Diamond pane casement windows with Islamic detail are arranged in the sides of the portico. To the south lies a gated area made of wrought iron with the Star of David molded into the iron.

References

1937 establishments in Missouri Buildings and structures in Cape Girardeau, Missouri Evangelical churches in Missouri Former synagogues in Missouri Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Missouri National Register of Historic Places in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in the United States Spanish Colonial Revival synagogues Synagogue buildings with domes Synagogues completed in 1937 Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places {{US-synagogue-stub