Tour of Historic Houses of Worship in San Antonio, annual meeting, American Academy of Religion 2016 (original) (raw)

The Lloyd Street Synagogue Mikveh: Creating Community in Nineteenth-Century Baltimore.

The Lloyd Street Synagogue in Baltimore was the first structure built specifically as a synagogue in the state of Maryland. Built in 1845, the synagogue included separate buildings for a school and a mikveh. These two buildings were leveled in 1860 during expansion of the synagogue. Mikva'ot (ritual baths) are central to traditional Jewish life and are used both by men and women for ritual purification. A congregation would often build a mikveh before constructing their synagogue. Excavation uncovered the remains of the circa 1845 mikveh complex, the earliest known mikveh in the United States. Additional features, including the foundations for the mikveh house, a brick hearth for heating water, and the reservoir for " living water " were also defined. These are all similar to elements found in contemporary Dutch synagogues. The Baltimore synagogue and mikveh complex was created by a congregation of immigrant Jews from Central Europe at a time when Baltimore was torn by sectionalism and nativism. Between 1845 and 1860, the mikveh played an important role in the Lloyd Street congregation's journey to becoming American, while simultaneously enabling them to forge a community and to maintain important religious and ritual traditions.

An Architectural History of Temple Emanuel in Beaumont, Texas

This paper examines the architectural history of Temple Emanuel in Beaumont, Texas. The architect was Albert S. Gottlieb of New York and Rabbi Samuel Rosinger was involved in the design and concept for the building. The paper examines the architectural choices as well as the historical context that informed them, including the rising antisemitism and xenophobia of the 1920s.

Arnold W. Brunner and the New Classical Synagogue in America

2011

Arnold W. Brunner (1857–1925), Albert Kahn (1869–1942), and other Jewish architects played an important role in reviving the classical style for American synagogue design at the turn of the twentieth century, putting their stamp on American Jewish identity and American architecture. The American-born Brunner was the preferred architect of New York’s Jewish establishment from the 1880s until his death. He adopted the classical style with his third New York synagogue, Congregation Shearith Israel, dedicated in 1897, and then championed the style in his extensive public writing about synagogue design. The classical style was subsequently widely accepted nationally by Reform congregations, especially in the South and Midwest. Classicism was a mediating device, and served as a new emblem of religious and civic identity. Mixing a variety of architectural and cultural traditions, Jewish architects and their patrons created a bridge between Judaism—or Jewishness—and Americanism