Congregation B'nai Israel (Galveston, Texas)

Congregation B'nai Israel (בני ישראל in Hebrew) is a Jewish synagogue located in Galveston, Texas, USA. Organized by German Jewish immigrants in 1868, it is the oldest Jewish Reform congregation and the second chartered Jewish congregation in the state (Houston had the first).

By the Galveston Movement, from 1907 to 1914, it helped attract thousands of eastern European Jewish immigrants to the city, Gulf Coast, and the middle region of the United States.

German Jews were among the many immigrants to Galveston from the German principalities in the 1840s; through their benevolent society, they established the first Jewish cemetery in Texas here in 1852. They held the first organized Jewish services in the state in Galveston in 1856. These two endeavors culminated in their organizing Congregation B'nai Israel in 1868 and its chartering in 1870.

The congregation has the distinction of being the first Jewish Reform congregation chartered in Texas, as well as the second Jewish congregation founded in the state. On June 20, 1875, the congregation voted to become one of the charter members of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now known as the Union for Reform Judaism.) It organized a school in 1869 and, by 1877, included Hebrew as a requirement of its curriculum.

Abraham Cohen Labatt, one of the pioneers of Reform Judaism in the United States, moved to Galveston in 1878 and joined the congregation. He was an active member until his death in 1899.

Beginning in 1888, Rabbi Henry Cohen led the congregation for more than five decades, through periods of rapid immigration of Jews from eastern Europe and two world wars. In addition, he provided leadership and care to people of all religions in the aftermath of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which destroyed many homes on the island and killed 6,000 people. He rallied members of the congregation to care for others.

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