Mount Zion Temple

44°56′27″N 93°9′19″W / 44.94083°N 93.15528°W / 44.94083; -93.15528ArchitectureArchitect(s)Erich MendelsohnTypeSynagogueDate established1856 (as a congregation)CompletedWebsitemzion.org

Mount Zion Temple is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 1300 Summit Avenue, in St. Paul, Minnesota, in the United States. Founded in 1856 as Mount Zion Hebrew Association, it was the first Jewish congregation in Minnesota. The congregation was formed before the statehood of Minnesota in 1858.

History

Founded in 1856 by eight German-Jewish families, Mount Zion Hebrew Association (as it was then called) was the first Jewish congregation in Minnesota. Through the 1860s the congregation met in rented rooms around St. Paul before their first building was completed in 1871, located at East Tenth Street and Minnesota Street in the Lowertown district.^[1] Early on the congregation was divided by a group called Ahabath Ahim,^[a] which branched off then returned.^[2] Rabbi Leopold Wintner began as Mount Zion's first and Minnesota's first rabbi in 1871; the same year that the congregation built the first synagogue in the state;^[3] and founded the Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society, members of which organized Neighborhood House to serve immigrants in the community.^[4] The rabbis and congregants of Mount Zion are still board members of Neighborhood House.^[5] In 1878, Mount Zion congregation joined the Reform Movement.

Emanuel Hess, who had been born in Meerholz, Germany in 1845, became rabbi in 1888.^[6] He had previously served as rabbi of Temple Israel of Columbus, Ohio in 1876–1877,^[7] and then Congregation B'nai Zion in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he served until 1888. Hess was rabbi of Mount Zion until his death in 1906.^[6]

In the 1940s the congregation participated in recreations such as "The Jewish Home Beautiful" which shared traditions of daily life.^[8] In 1948, began the leadership of Rabbi Gunther Plaut, who published books on the congregation's history^[9] and on the Jewish history of Minnesota.

In the 1950s, the congregation chose the prominent avant-garde architect Erich Mendelsohn to design a building for them. After projects in Europe, the Soviet Union, Israel and America – this was his final building, and it was completed after his death in 1953.^[10] The congregation moved into the current building in 1956, 100 years after it was first founded. It is located on Summit Avenue.

In 2002, the Mount Zion Temple was part of a radio program that detailed their restoration of Torah scrolls.^[11] In 2007, 690 families were members of the congregation.^[12] As of 2012^[update] the rabbis were Adam Stock Spilker and Esther Adler, and the cantors were Rachel Stock Spilker and Jen Strauss-Klein.^[13]

Gallery

• 
  The first Mount Zion Temple, in 1875
• 
  The building and grounds, in 2017
• 
  The Torah ark

See also

• List of synagogues in Minnesota

Notes

References

External links

• Official website
• Finding aid to the Mount Zion Temple records at the Upper Midwest Jewish Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

Further reading

• Wark, M. A. B., Melamed, N., Ross, H. C., Kelberg, F., & Mount Zion Hebrew Congregation (Saint Paul, Minn.). (2009). Mount Zion Temple 150th anniversary commemorative book: 2006-2007/5766-5767. Saint Paul, MN: Mount Zion Hebrew Congregation.