Congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim
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Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue
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Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim
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| Location | 90 Hasell St., Charleston, South Carolina |
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| Coordinates | 32°46′56″N 79°55′58″W / 32.78222°N 79.93278°WCoordinates: 32°46′56″N 79°55′58″W / 32.78222°N 79.93278°W |
| Built | Founded in the 1749; current sanctuary built in 1840 |
| Architect | Cyrus L. Warner; David L. Lopez |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 78002499 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 4, 1978 |
| Designated NHL | June 19, 1980 |
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (also known as K. K. Beth Elohim, or more simply Congregation Beth Elohim), founded in 1749, is one of the oldest Jewish congregations in the United States. The congregation is nationally significant as the place where ideas resembling Reform Judaism were first evinced. It meets in an architecturally significant 1840 Greek Revival synagogue located at 90 Hasell (pronounced as if it were spelled Hazel) Street in Charleston, South Carolina. It was designed by Cyrus L. Warner.
Before 1830 Kahal Kodesh Beth Elohim (KKBE) was a place of worship in Charleston, South Carolina for Spanish and Portuguese Jews using Portuguese rituals as done in Portugal before the Spanish and Portuguese inquisitions, it later adopted a reformed religious ritual, after reabsorbing a splinter group originally led by Isaac Harby. In 1824 Reformed Society of the Israelites was founded by Portuguese Jews, using the first Reform prayer-book in America. [6] "The Charleston Movement of 1824 was not an indigenous movement, but directly dependent upon a similar movement that had taken place in Germany a few years before, now popularly known as the Hamburg Movement. The Prayer Book of the Reformed Society of Israelites however has nothing in common with the one published for the use of the Hamburg Temple in 1819. Apart from its novelties such as the Articles of Faith, the Wedding Service, the Confirmation Service, the Service for Circumcision and for Naming a Daughter and its English Hymns, it (Reformed Society of Israelites founded in Charleston) is based upon the Portuguese Ritual then in use in Charleston."
The congregation is sometimes considered to be the originator of Reform Judaism in the United States, though it was established by European immigrants mostly from Germany later on. The founding members of the congregation were Sephardi Jews of Spanish and Portuguese descendants, who arrived into Charleston from London, England.
The present Greek Revival building is the second oldest synagogue building, and the oldest in continuous use, in the United States. It is a single story brick building, set on a raised granite foundation. The brick is stuccoed and painted white, and is marked in manner to resemble stone blocks. The front has a full Greek temple front, with fluted Doric columns supporting a gabled pediment. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 4, 1978, as Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue and was designated a National Historic Landmark on June 19, 1980. The Coming Street Cemetery, owned by the Congregation, is listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places.
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