St. Thomas Synagogue on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
St. Thomas Synagogue is an historic
The St. Thomas Synagogue stands north of Charlotte Amalie's central business district, on the north side of Crystal Gade near its junction with Raadets Gade. It is a single-story structure, built out of rubblestone joined by a mortar mix of lime, sand, and
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 ...
at 2116 Crystal Gade, Queens Quarters, in Charlotte Amalie on the island of Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands
The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...
. The formal name of the synagogue is Congregation Beracha Veshalom Vegmiluth Hasadim ( he, קהל קדוש ברכה ושלום וגמילות חסדים). It was declared a National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1997.
History
The congregation was founded in 1796 by Spanish and PortugueseSephardic Jews
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
who had come to the Caribbean Basin
In Geography, the Caribbean Basin is generally defined as the area running from Florida westward along the Gulf coast, then south along the Mexican coast through Central America and then eastward across the northern coast of South America. Thi ...
to finance trade between Europe and the New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
. The building was constructed in 1833, and is the second oldest synagogue in the United States (after Touro Synagogue
The Touro Synagogue or Congregation Jeshuat Israel ( he, קהל קדוש ישועת ישראל) is a synagogue built in 1763 in Newport, Rhode Island. It is the oldest synagogue building still standing in the United States, the only surviving sy ...
in Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Y ...
built in 1763). As a result of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Category 5 hurricanes which ravaged much of the Caribbean and St. Thomas in September 2017, the synagogue sustained significant damage, but has remained in continuous operation under the leadership of Rabbi Michael Feshbach.
Description
The St. Thomas Synagogue stands north of Charlotte Amalie's central business district, on the north side of Crystal Gade near its junction with Raadets Gade. It is a single-story structure, built out of rubblestone joined by a mortar mix of lime, sand, and molasses
Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods. ...
, and covered by a shallow pitch hip roof. Its front, separated from the street by an entry courtyard, has a Greek Revival temple front, but with Gothic arched window openings. The facade is recessed, with the temple pediment supported by brick pillars with Tuscan styling. On the interior, the Torah ark is located on the east wall, with the ''tevah
Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in t ...
'' (i.e. bimah or pulpit), on a dais against the west wall. The center of the chamber is demarcated by a square of four Ionic columns mounted on pedestals, and there are rows of bench pews on the north and south walls. The seating areas of men and women are separated by movable wooden partitions.
See also
*List of United States National Historic Landmarks in United States commonwealths and territories, associated states, and foreign states
This is a list of National Historic Landmarks in U.S. commonwealths and territories, associated states, and foreign states.
Included are lists of National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) and of National Park Service administered areas in U.S. Commonw ...
* National Register of Historic Places listings in the United States Virgin Islands __NOTOC__
This is a list of the buildings, sites, districts, and objects listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States Virgin Islands. There are currently 88 listed sites spread across 16 of the 20 subdistricts withi ...
References
External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Thomas Synagogue Historic district contributing properties in the United States Virgin Islands National Historic Landmarks in the United States Virgin Islands Portuguese-Jewish culture in the United States Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States Virgin Islands Reform synagogues in the United States Synagogues completed in 1833 Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands Sephardi Jewish culture in the Caribbean Sephardi Jewish culture in the United States Sephardi Reform Judaism Sephardi synagogues Spanish-Jewish culture in the United States Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places Synagogues in the United States Virgin Islands 1830s establishments in the Caribbean 1833 establishments in North America