Congregation Sherith Israel (San Francisco, California)

Temple Sherith Israel
The synagogue main sanctuary, gallery and dome (SE aspect), in 2011
Religion
Affiliation	Reform Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Synagogue
Governing body	Union for Reform Judaism
Status	Active
Location
Location	2266 California Street, San Francisco, California 94115
Country	United States
Location in San Francisco Bay Area, California
Geographic coordinates	37°47′22″N 122°25′55″W
Architecture
Architect(s)	Albert Pissis
Type	Synagogue architecture
Style	Beaux-Arts Byzantine Revival Romanesque Revival
Date established	1851 (as a congregation)
Groundbreaking	October 8, 1903
Completed	1905
Construction cost	$250,000
Specifications
Direction of façade	South
Capacity	1,385 worshipers
Length	128 feet (39 m)
Width	100 feet (30 m)
Interior area	20,000 square feet (1,900 m2)
Height (max)	140 feet (43 m)
Dome(s)	One
Dome height (outer)	50 feet (15 m)
Dome dia. (outer)	60 feet (18 m)
Materials	Brick, Colusa sandstone, steel, wood, lath, plaster, stained glass, slate
Website
sherithisrael.org
Congregation Sherith Israel
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
NRHP reference No.	10000114
Added to NRHP	March 31, 2010

Congregation Sherith Israel (transliterated from Hebrew as "loyal remnant of Israel") is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in San Francisco, California, in the United States. Founded in 1851 during California’s Gold Rush period, it is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States. In more modern times, the congregation widely known for its innovative approach to worship and lifecycle celebrations. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, its historic sanctuary building, completed in 1905, is one of San Francisco's most prominent architectural landmarks.

The synagogue was a principal site of the San Francisco graft prosecution trials held between 1905 and 1908.

History and congregational life

The Gold Rush and Jewish pioneers

The history of Congregation Sherith Israel is also San Francisco’s history: Gold Rush, fire, earthquake, scandal, war and yet another earthquake. In 1848, the village of Yerba Buena lay poised between Mexican rule and American annexation. Then gold was found 140 miles away at Sutter's Mill. Meanwhile, Jews in Central Europe lived under repressive regimes that constrained employment, forced military conscription and restricted marriage. Understandably, many enterprising young Jews did not see much of a future for themselves in their homelands. Drawn by the lure of wealth, freedom and opportunity, California became their new Promised Land.

The founding of Congregation Sherith Israel

In September 1849 – months after the discovery of gold but still a year before California achieved statehood – a small band of Jewish pioneers gathered in a wood-frame tent. Although lacking a rabbi and Torah scrolls, they were determined to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

These young Jews came from Prussia, Bavaria, England, France and the eastern United States. They worshiped together again during Passover and the High Holy Days in 1850, formed two benevolent societies to aid the needy and bought land for a cemetery.

In April 1851, San Francisco’s frontier Jews met again, this time to establish a permanent congregation and elect officers. In typical fashion they split almost immediately, forming not one but two synagogues: Congregation Sherith Israel followed the minhag Polen, the traditions of Jews from Posen in Prussia, while Congregation Emanu-El chose to worship according to the German practices of Jews from Bavaria. The synagogues have been friendly neighbors ever since.

The birth of a Reform Jewish institution

As San Francisco boomed, keeping Sherith Israel housed proved a considerable challenge. The congregation’s first temporary meeting place, like much of the city, was destroyed by the "Great Fire" of 1851. After losing its next home to yet another of the conflagrations that routinely swept through the city during those early years, Sherith Israel's members built the temple's first house of worship on Stockton Street between Broadway and Vallejo in 1854 at a cost of $10,000.

So many Jews had departed Europe for San Francisco that, by the end of the 1850s, upwards of six percent of the city’s population was Jewish – a higher percentage (briefly) than in New York. After the Civil War, another generation arrived to seek its fortune in California. In 1870, Congregation Sherith Israel moved to a Gothic-style structure on Post and Taylor Streets, where it remained for 34 years.

Initially Orthodox in the Polish style, Sherith Israel took major steps toward becoming a Reform congregation during this period. In a visible departure from tradition, the Post Street sanctuary was designed for mixed seating. Gradually, with much discussion and struggle, wearing a kippah became optional, Friday evening services were initiated, a choir introduced and a new prayerbook chosen. Two dynamic rabbis hastened the move toward Reform: Rabbi Henry Vidaver (1873–1882) and Rabbi Jacob Nieto (1893–1930). In 1903, as ground was broken for the current site on California Street, Congregation Sherith Israel made these changes official and joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, now known as the Union for Reform Judaism.

Sanctuary building

In the 1890s, Congregation Sherith Israel faced the prospect of outgrowing its 1870 Gothic Revival-style synagogue on Post Street. Heeding this realization, congregational leaders first secured property on the northeast corner of California and Webster Streets on September 8, 1902, then hired École des Beaux Arts-trained architect Albert Pissis to draw up plans for a new temple. Ground was broken on October 8, 1903, and the cornerstone was laid on February 22, 1904. The sanctuary was officially consecrated on September 24, 1905. While improvements have been made through the ensuing years, the building has been preserved close to its original construction.

Temple Sherith Israel, a fusion of Byzantine and Romanesque forms, cost $250,000 to build in 1904–1905. The structure stands 140 feet (43 m) above California Street. Its signature dome – which can be seen from many vantage points throughout San Francisco – is 60 feet (18 m) wide at its outside diameter. The sanctuary's interior contains 20,000 square feet (1,900 m²) of space, 3,500 organ pipes, nearly 1,400 seats, 1,109 decorative light bulbs, more than 89 ornamental leaded glass windows and 32 arched clear glass windows in its outer drum.

During the 1906 earthquake, the building sustained only modest damage which was quickly repaired. It was also undamaged during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Nonetheless, the State of California has mandated that unreinforced masonry structures like Temple Sherith Israel must meet stringent seismic resilience standards. In 2017, the congregation completed a seismic retrofit of the sanctuary, funded through a capital campaign.

Rabbinical leadership

The following individuals have served as rabbi of Congregation Sherith Israel:

Ordinal	Officeholder	Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
1	Henry A. Henry	1857	1863	5–6 years
2	Aaron J. Messing	1870	1890	20 years
3	Jacob Nieto	1893	1930	36–37 years
4	Jacob J. Weinstein	1930	1932	1–2 years
5	Morris Goldstein	1932	1972	39–40 years
6	Martin Weiner	1972	2003	30–31 years
7	Larry Raphael	2003	2016	12–13 years
8	Jessica Zimmerman Graf	2016	incumbent	7–8 years

Gallery

• 
  Southwest corner
• 
  West façade
• 
  Northwest corner

See also

• Hills of Eternity Memorial Park
• History of the Jews in San Francisco
• National Register of Historic Places listings in San Francisco

Further reading

• "Shutdown for 100-year-old sanctuary?". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Vol. 109, no. 8. San Francisco (SF), CA: SF Jewish Community Publications. February 25, 2005. p. 22. ISSN 1547-0733.
• "Dome, sweet dome: Saving a Jewish and local landmark". j. Vol. 114, no. 15. SF, CA: SF Jewish Community Publications. April 9, 2010. p. 22A. ISSN 1547-0733.
• Adler, Cyrus; Voorsanger, Jacob (2002). "San Francisco". Jewish Encyclopedia. West Conshohocken, PA: Kopelman Foundation. [From the original, published 1901–1906]
• Altman-Ohr, Andy (September 17, 1999). "Sherith Israel turns the clock back 150 years on new year". j. Vol. 103, no. 37. SF, CA: SF Jewish Community Publications. p. 1. ISSN 1547-0733.
• Altman-Ohr, Andy (October 8, 1999). "Sherith Israel's legacy: Its outspoken rabbis". j. Vol. 103, no. 40. SF, CA: SF Jewish Community Publications. p. 1A. ISSN 1547-0733.
• Benjamin, Israel J. (2011). "Jewish Life in San Francisco, 1860". Jews in the Wild West. Lathrup Village, MI: Jewish-American History Foundation. [From Three Years in America (1862), Hanover]
• California State Historical Resources Commission (January 29, 2010). "Actions taken: National Register of Historic Places nominations". Sacramento, CA: California Department of Parks and Recreation – Office of Historic Preservation.
• Corbett, Michael R. (October 31, 2009). National Register of Historic Places registration form: Temple Sherith Israel (PDF). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior – National Park Service. NPS Form 10-900.
• Dobbs, Stephen Mark (2003). "Jewish Community". Encyclopedia of San Francisco. San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Museum and Historical Society. Archived from the original on October 6, 2016.
• Eskenazi, Joe (February 25, 2005). "On shaky ground: Sherith Israel needs $20 million to retrofit – or will close doors". j. Vol. 109, no. 8. SF, CA: SF Jewish Community Publications. p. 14. ISSN 1547-0733.
• Eskenazi, Joe (September 23, 2005). "The next big step: Synagogue needs city approval for cheaper retrofit". j. Vol. 109, no. 37. SF, CA: SF Jewish Community Publications. p. 9A. ISSN 1547-0733.
• Eskenazi, Joe (April 14, 2006). "Optimistic Sherith Israel plays retrofit waiting game with city". j. Vol. 110, no. 15. SF, CA: SF Jewish Community Publications. p. 15A. ISSN 1547-0733.
• Hachem, M. M.; Paret, T. F.; Searer, G. R.; Freeman, S. A. (October 16, 2008). The evaluation and retrofit of a historic unreinforced masonry building using nonlinear adaptive pushover and dynamic analysis methods (PDF). 14th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering. Tokyo: IAEE. Paper ID 05-04-0110. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2011.
• Katz, Leslie (February 12, 1999). "Boundary-crossing cantor brings soul to Conservative shul". j. Vol. 103, no. 7. SF, CA: SF Jewish Community Publications. p. 8. ISSN 1547-0733. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
• Kim, Queena (June 13, 2010). "What's up with the construction on SF's California and Webster Streets?". The Bay Citizen. SF, CA. Archived from the original on August 15, 2010.
• Libman, Joan (March 12, 2005). "Beneath its beautiful dome, a beloved synagogue finds it houses rare artistic treasures". San Francisco Chronicle. SF, CA: Hearst Corporation. p. E1. ISSN 1932-8672.
• Mix, Robert. "Temple Sherith Israel". 19th century architecture: Chronological listing of selected architectural works in the San Francisco Bay Area. SF, CA: Vernacular Language North.
• National Park Service (April 9, 2010). "National Register of Historic Places – List of actions taken on properties: March 29 through April 2, 2010". Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior.
• Nolte, Carl (April 20, 2010). "Crews save Sherith Israel, a shrine to history". San Francisco Chronicle. SF, CA: Hearst Corporation. p. C1. ISSN 1932-8672.
• Palevsky, Stacey (April 9, 2010). "Sherith Israel to begin long-awaited seismic retrofit". j. Vol. 114, no. 15. SF, CA: SF Jewish Community Publications. p. 3A. ISSN 1547-0733.
• Paret, T. F.; Freeman, S. A.; Searer, G. R.; Hachem, M.; Gilmartin, U. M. (August 2008). Leafer, D.; Kalkan, E. (eds.). "Using traditional and innovative approaches in the seismic evaluation and strengthening of a historic unreinforced masonry synagogue". Engineering Structures. 30 (8). Amsterdam: Elsevier: 2114–2126. Bibcode:2008EngSt..30.2114P. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2007.03.023. ISSN 0141-0296.
• Pazornik, Amanda (June 17, 2010). "Handle with care: Stained glass restoration adds luster to synagogue retrofit". j. Vol. 114, no. 25. SF, CA: SF Jewish Community Publications. p. 4. ISSN 1547-0733.
• Rosenbaum, Fred S. (December 12, 2006). "San Francisco Bay Area". In Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred (eds.). Encyclopaedia Judaica. Vol. 18 (2nd ed.). Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA. pp. 18–20. ISBN 978-0-02-865928-2.
• San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission (January 14, 2010). Resolution (No. 642) to recommend nomination to National Register of Historic Places of property located at 2266 California Street (PDF). SF, CA: SF Planning Department. Case No. 2009.1141U. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 27, 2011.

External links

• Official website
• "Congregation Sherith Israel". Directory of congregations. Union for Reform Judaism. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011.
• "Congregation Sherith Israel". PlanitJewish.com. San Francisco Bay Area. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011.
• "Churches and temples". Discovering San Francisco. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013.
• "Congregation Sherith Israel records, 1851–2003". Bancroft Library Online Archive of California at UC Berkeley.
• "Sherith Israel records, 1851–2000". Judah L. Magnes Museum at UC Berkeley. Archived from the original on May 27, 2011.
• Wiss, Janney. "Sherith Israel – Seismic assessment and strengthening". Elstner Associates projects.