Temple Beth-El is an historic

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 centu ...

synagogue located at 208 South 15th Street in Corsicana, Navarro County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Landmark status

Temple Beth-El became a

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL) is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the U.S. state of Texas. RTHL is a legal designation and the highest honor the st ...

in 1981. On February 3, 1987, Temple Beth-El was added to 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 ...

. Temple Beth-El is one of two State Antiquities Landmarks in Navarro County.

History

The Jewish community of Corsicana established a congregation in 1871.Temple Beth-El, History
. ''The USGenWeb Project''. 2009.
. ''The USGenWeb Project''. 2009. The congregation worshiped at each other's homes until it could raise the funding to build a synagogue.Jacob, Janet.
History restored: Temple gets its colors back with renovations
. ''Corsicana Daily Sun'' (Corsicana, Texas). June 1, 2010. Julius Magil served as rabbi in the early days of its new building. He was born December 29, 1870, at

Mitau Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united ...

, Courland, which was then in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

but is now part of Latvia. He received a secular education at

Realgymnasium ''Gymnasium'' (; German plural: ''Gymnasien''), in the German education system, is the most advanced and highest of the three types of German secondary schools, the others being ''Hauptschule'' (lowest) and ''Realschule'' (middle). ''Gymnas ...

and

University of Zürich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

, Switzerland. Rabbi Magil's religious training took place at the Talmudical College of Grobin, Courland. Rabbi Magil then studied medicine at Fort Wayne Medical College, and he received a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from Rogers College in 1898. The synagogue was built by a Reform Jewish congregation in 1898. It is a wood-frame building, with clapboard siding, keyhole windows in the front doors, and a pair of octagonal towers topped by

onion dome An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point. It is a typ ...

s. In 1900, 66% of the congregants were immigrants and over half were 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 populou ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, or

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. 19% of the membership was from Germany and another 19% was from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. While Eastern European Jews tended towards

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses ...

and

German Jews The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

tended towards Reform Judaism, Temple Beth-El was notable as a Reform synagogue with a predominantly Eastern European and heavily Polish membership. Rabbi Ernest Joseph served as the spiritual leader of Temple Beth-El from 1968 to 1980. In 1980, Temple Beth-El closed as a congregation, although a local

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

still leads a Jewish service on a monthly basis.Jacobs, Janet.
Temple Beth-El ready for some facade work
. ''Corsicana Daily Sun'' (Corsicana, Texas). May 15, 2013. The property was donated to the City of Corsicana around 1990. The City uses it as a community center.MacLaggan, Corrie.
Keeping the Lights Aglow
. ''Austin American-Statesman''. December 4, 2007. In 2010, the synagogue's

stained glass window Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

s were renovated. The synagogue's facade and domes were restored in 2013.

References

External links

*Davis, Robert P.
Beth El, Corsicana, TX
. August 25, 1996. {{DEFAULTSORT:Beth-El 1898 establishments in Texas Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Texas Buildings and structures in Navarro County, Texas Former synagogues in Texas Hungarian-Jewish culture in the United States Moorish Revival architecture in Texas Moorish Revival synagogues National Register of Historic Places in Navarro County, Texas Polish-American culture in Texas Polish-Jewish culture in the United States Religious organizations established in 1871 Reform synagogues in Texas Russian-Jewish culture in the United States Synagogues completed in 1898 Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas

Landmark status

History

See also

References

External links