Beth El Synagogue is a

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

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 ...

in St. Louis Park,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, a suburb immediately west of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. It is affiliated 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 ...

History

In 1920 individuals started a group to meet on Friday nights to partake in services. This group was called the Young People's Synagogue and A.M. Heller served as

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 t ...

. As the group expanded with more individuals it was hard to meet in a classroom. It was then discussed and decided that a synagogue would be built and the name of it would be Beth El. In November 1922, a house and lot were purchased. To begin, the daily services were held in the little house. By June 1925, ground was broken and in September the cornerstone containing the names of the 25 original members was laid. A new building was built on March 14–21, 1926. Activities in that location included Women's League, Young People's League,

Talmud Torah Talmud Torah (, lit. 'Study of the Torah') schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of religious school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary education in Hebrew language, H ...

classes, Boy Scouts, and Girl Scouts. The first confirmation class graduated in 1926. In 1930, Men's Club was organized and our Shofar (monthly bulletin) began publication. Aleph Preschool, began in 1939. As the number of families joining the synagogue was growing, there needed to be more room. On March 14, 1948, the Bet Hamidrash and Community House were built. In the early 1950s, Beth El Memorial Park was purchased and constructed. The Board approved the purchase of land in St. Louis Park. Ground was broken for the Youth and Activities Building on September 17, 1961. Activities continued at both buildings, youth and educational activities at the new building, all others at the other location. On June 7, 1968, the final service at 1349 Penn North was held and the building was sold to the city of Minneapolis on June 10. In the fall of 1968, groundbreaking occurred in St. Louis Park. In the new building, High Holiday services were held in Convention Hall. The new synagogue building was opened in 1970.

References

External links

* {{Synagogues in the United States Conservative synagogues in Minnesota Synagogues completed in 1970 Jewish organizations established in 1920 1920 establishments in Minnesota St. Louis Park, Minnesota 20th-century synagogues in the United States