Temple Beth El

125 Years of Jewish Faith at Temple Beth El

By Charlotte Atchley • Photo by Jennifer Kettler

Nestled downtown, one of Jefferson City’s oldest buildings serves as a house of worship for a small but faithful local Jewish community. 

Temple Beth El was completed in 1883 and remains America’s oldest working synagogue west of the Mississippi.

Jews began settling in Jefferson City around 1865, many of them merchants who set up shop on High Street. It is unclear why these German immigrants decided to make Jefferson City their home, but in 1879, nine of these Jewish men formed the Jefferson City Hebrew Cemetery Association to properly provide Jewish burials. Their association became the first local Jewish congregation, dubbed Congregation Beth El, meaning House of God. Soon the congregation needed a place to worship, and in 1882, the six women who made up the 

Hebrew Ladies Sewing Society raised the money to buy land and build a synagogue. A plaque hangs in Temple Beth El’s sanctuary listing the names of the founding members. Although the founding members of Temple Beth El left Jefferson City soon after the turn of the century, another wave of Jewish settlers arrived in the 1920s, and Jefferson City has had a steady, active Jewish population ever since. 

Today’s Beth El congregation is made up of about 30 families and continues the tradition of a lay-led Reform Judaism in the original synagogue on Monroe Street.  The congregation has enjoyed a lay-led tradition since its founding. Instead of a rabbi leading services, members of the congregation take turns reading at the Friday night services.

“We enjoy our lay-led status,” says Gail Severance, a member of Temple Beth El. “It makes us closer and makes us feel like a more important part of the group. We depend on each other. We use the resources in the group to get things done.”

Severance says being a part of a lay-led congregation has also given her three children a strong Jewish identity. 

Recently, Joe Benson, another member of the congregation, became an ordained rabbi. Benson says that even though he has realized his lifelong dream of being a rabbi, the congregation of Temple Beth El will remain lay-led to maintain the synagogue’s history.

“I am the rabbi-in-residence, and I donate my services to Beth El as they cannot afford a paid rabbi,” explains Benson. “I perform all life-cycle events at Beth El from birth, baby namings, bar and bas mitzvahs, adult Hebrew naming ceremonies, funerals, stone dedications and marriage ceremonies.”

The Hebrew Ladies Sewing Society that raised the funds for the synagogue is still active today but has since changed its name to the Sisterhood. The Sisterhood hosts a book club, collects donations for the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center and helps out at the Samaritan Center. 

The building itself has gone through several renovations to add electricity, running water, and heating and air conditioning. Stained glass windows were also added over the course of time. While these modifications have been made, the building still looks much like it did 125 years ago, sitting on the 300 block of Monroe Street. Inside, the congregation continues to worship just as the temple’s founders did so long ago.