Temple Sinai also known as Congregation Sinai, whose official name is the Sumter Society of Israelites, is an historic
Reform
Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
congregation and
synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
, located at 11-13 Church Street, on the corner of West Hampton Avenue, in
Sumter Sumter may refer to:
People Given name
* Sumter S. Arnim (1904–1990), American dentist
* Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. (1893–1985), United States Army general
Surname
* Rowendy Sumter (born 1988), Curaçaoan footballer
* Shavonda E. Sumt ...
,
South Carolina
South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
, in the United States.
The brick temple was built in 1912 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 Romanticism, Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mi ...
style and was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on January 21, 1999. It also houses the Temple Sinai Jewish History Center that opened in June 2018.
History
The first Jewish settlers in Sumter were
Sephardi
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...
who came from Charleston in 1815. Congregation Sinai was formed in April 1895, by the merger of the Hebrew Cemetery Society and the Sumter Hebrew Benevolent Society. Visiting rabbis from Charleston and
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...
, served the congregation until 1904 when Rabbi Jacob Klein settled in Sumter and began serving Temple Sinai. The sanctuary of the present temple was built in 1912 facing Church Street to replace an earlier wooden synagogue at the same location.
The Barnett Memorial Addition, a two-story brick Moorish Revival auditorium/banquest hall and classroom/office building facing West Hampton Avenue, was built in 1932, behind the sanctuary, which it complements. In 1956, the one story brick Hyman Brody Building was attached to the rear of the Barnett Memorial Addition to provide a kitchen and more classrooms, offices and restrooms. Although simpler than the other two buildings, it still has some Moorish features.
Temple Sinai's archives have been donated to the Jewish Heritage Collection at the
College of Charleston
The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th-oldest institution of higher lea ...
.
Stained glass windows
Temple Sinai is noted for the eleven drapery glass stained glass windows on its side and entrance walls, which depict scenes from the
castellated domed Moorish towers that flank the entrance.
Current status
Temple Sinai entered into an agreement with Coastal Community Foundation, Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue, and the Charleston Jewish Federation to maintain its cemetery and Temple and to address concerns regarding its long-term viability. Additionally, in 2015, Temple Sinai entered a partnership with the Sumter County Museum to create a permanent exhibit on Jewish history in South Carolina and in Sumter. The museum also includes a section devoted to the Holocaust and Sumter's ties to the Holocaust, and opened to the public on June 2, 2018.