B'nai Israel Traditional Synagogue is a

Jewish 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 worsh ...

located in

Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the prin ...

. It was founded in 1913 as an Orthodox synagogue by Jews from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, many of whom arrived in Alexandria and Central Louisiana as part of the Galveston Movement. In the 1950s the congregation became

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

History

The first shul was located at Fourth and Lee Streets. Ten years after B'nai Israel's founding, the congregation had twenty members. A full-time rabbi, Rabbi Jacob Aronson, led Shabbat services and a

cheder A ''cheder'' ( he, חדר, lit. "room"; Yiddish pronunciation ''kheyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th ...

, which met three times per week. The religious school soon thereafter met six days per week that "provided instruction in Hebrew language, history, and the Bible."''Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities '', "History of Alexandria Congregations "
. By 1940, the congregation had its own building and a small cemetery just north of the city. In the 1950s a new concrete block building was constructed on Vance Avenue. The rectangular structure was designed with Mid-Century modern architecture.

Today

Today "The Shul" meets weekly for Friday evening

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

services.

References

Conservative synagogues in the United States Synagogues in Louisiana Jewish organizations established in 1913 Synagogues completed in 1954 Buildings and structures in Alexandria, Louisiana Polish-American history Russian-American history 1913 establishments in Louisiana {{US-synagogue-stub

History

Today

See also

References