Keneseth Israel is a

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 ...

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 ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. The congregation's original synagogue building was constructed in Louisville in 1928. It was designed by

Joseph & Joseph Joseph & Joseph is an architectural firm founded in 1908 in Louisville, Kentucky. The main services include architectural, engineering and design projects. The firm designed many buildings listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. ...

and was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The original synagogue building suffered extensive damage in a fire in 2021 and after a structural assessment, was demolished.

History

The congregation was founded in 1882 as an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

congregation, B'nai Jacob, and merged with another Orthodox congregation, Beth HaMedrash HaGadol in 1927 to create congregation Keneseth Israel. In 1928 the congregation had a synagogue built at 232–236 East Jacob Street in Louisville. The congregation moved to its current home in 1964. The earliest building was a former church. In 1901, the congregation, then B'nai Israel, dedicated a new building on the site of the former church building at 432 E. Jefferson Street. The building has twin towers with pyramid-form roofs and was striped in red-and-white in the

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...

style then fashionable for synagogues. For most of its history, Keneseth Israel was an Orthodox synagogue affiliated with the

Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs for ...

. In 1994, its members voted to affiliate with the

United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) is the major congregational organization of Conservative Judaism in North America, and the largest Conservative Jewish communal body in the world. USCJ closely works with the Rabbinical Assembly ...

.Lee Weisbach, ''Synagogues of Kentucky; History and Architecture'',

University of Kentucky Press The University Press of Kentucky (UPK) is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 194 ...

, 1995, p. 18.

Clergy

The congregation is led by Rabbi Ben Freed and Cantor

Sharon Hordes Sharon Hordes was ordained as Reconstructionist Judaism's first cantor in 2002. She earned a Bachelor of Music from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Hordes now serves Keneseth Israel as their cantor. Hordes was a presenter at the Jew ...

References

External links

Keneseth Israel website
{{coord, 38, 13, 26.6, N, 85, 40, 29.5, W, type:landmark_region:US-KY, display=title Synagogues in Louisville, Kentucky Religious organizations established in 1882 Moorish Revival architecture in Kentucky Conservative synagogues in the United States Moorish Revival synagogues National Register of Historic Places in Louisville, Kentucky Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Demolished buildings and structures in Louisville, Kentucky 1882 establishments in Kentucky Synagogues completed in 1928 1928 establishments in Kentucky Demolished but still listed on the National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures demolished in 2021 Burned religious buildings and structures in the United States Fires in Kentucky

History

Clergy

See also

References

External links