Records of the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (Charleston, S.C.)
Item
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Country
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US
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Language of name of institution
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eng
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Contact information: postal address
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15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
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Contact information: phone number
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001 212 294 8301
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Contact information: email
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RCMiller@cjh.org (archive and library services)
Inquiries@cjh.org (research inquiries)
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Reference number
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I-107
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Type of reference number
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Archival reference number
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Title (official language of the state)
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Records of the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (Charleston, S.C.)
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Language of title
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eng
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Creator / accumulator
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Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (Charleston, S.C.)
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Date(s)
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1790/1950
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Language(s)
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eng
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Extent
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1 box
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Scope and content
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This collection contains the Congregation Beth Elohim of Charleston, South Carolina records. It includes a letter (c. 1790), signed by Philip Hart and Jacob Cohen, officers of the Beth Elohim, congratulating George Washington on assuming the office of President of the United States. The letter was probably sent to Congregation Shearith Israel in New York in an effort to submit a joint communication on behalf of the six Jewish congregations in the United States at the time. However, a different letter was eventually presented to Washington. The letter, with minor emendations, was published by Leon Hühner (1904). A photostatic copy of a financial ledger maintained by Israel De Lieban, Gabay of the Congregation, dated 1800, is also part of this collection. The Congregation's archives keep the original one. The collection also contains printed material dealing primarily with the Congregation's 200th anniversary in 1950.
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(source: Guide to the Records of the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (Charleston, S.C.), 1790-1950)
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Archival history
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The 1790 letter is a gift from the Misses Mordecai of Philadelphia. H.A. Alexander of Atlanta, Georgia, donated the photostatic copy of De Lieben's financial ledger.
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Administrative / Biographical history
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The Jewish presence in Charleston, South Carolina, dates back to the late 17th century, but only in 1749 the community was numerous enough to organise a congregation, the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim. Its first hazzan was Isaac da Costa, and most of its early leading members were Sephardim. Fifteen years after the congregation's establishment, the Coming Street Cemetery was established, the oldest surviving Jewish burial ground in the American South.
At first, prayers were recited in private quarters and, from 1775, in an improvised synagogue. The construction of the Charleston synagogue began in 1792 and was dedicated two years later. However, the great Charleston fire of 1838 destroyed the building. In 1841, it was replaced by the synagogue in use today. The Kahal Kados Beth Elohim is the second oldest synagogue building in the United States and the oldest in continuous use. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1980.
Charleston is also acknowledged as the birthplace of Reform Judaism in the United States. Forty-seven congregants petitioned the synagogue's Adjunta (the trustees) to change the Sephardic Orthodox liturgy in 1824. The petition was denied and led to the said members' resignation, who formed The Reformed Society of Israelites, led by Isaac Harby, Abraham Moise II, and David Nunes Carvalho. Nine years later, The Reformed Society rejoined the old congregation. The first service in the new synagogue built after the great fire introduced a liberalised ritual. The Beth Elohim became one of the earliest synagogues of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1873 (now Union for Reform Judaism, URJ), and it remains committed to Reform Judaism.
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(source: Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim website)
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Access, restrictions
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The collection is open to all researchers except items that may be restricted due to their fragility or privacy.
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Author of the description
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Carla Vieira, 2022
