Members of eight families of Jews, comprising Hamilton's entire Orthodox population at that time, gathered one evening at 32 High Street, the residence of Sam Greenberg, in the year 1901 to conduct religious services.  Thus was the cornerstone laid for the present Beth Israel Congregation.
The Beth Israel Synagogue, dedicated in 1931

For about four months, this small group continued to meet at the home of Mr. Greenberg, until finding themselves really an established body. As time passed and the group grew, it was necessary to move to larger quarters and so they rented a small room above Wuebbold's bookstore on North Third Street. On October 10 1911, a charter was obtained from the State of Ohio under the name Bais Israel. It soon became necessary to acquire a building in which to establish that were more permanent quarters. Consequently, the congregation purchased a building at the Southwest corner of Fifth and Charles Streets and housed the Shul  (sanctuary), a Chede (classrooms), and a Mikvah (ritual bath). In 1923, 36 women members met and organized the Ladies Auxiliary of the Beth Israel Synagogue to work towards the goal of purchasing a lot for a new Synagogue building. A lot was purchase by the Ladies Auxiliary in 1929 at Sixth and Butler where the present synagogue now stands.

1929 was a memorable, fateful year in American history -- the year of the great crash on Wall Street, the start of the blackest, gloomiest economic depression in American history.  It took tremendous courage, faith, and enthusiasm to enter into and go through with so ambitious a project as the building of a new Synagogue.  However, forceful and committed leaders were at the helm and on February 22, 1931, Washington's Birthday, the new Synagogue building was dedicated.  The president at that time was Morris Mostow and the rabbi was Rabbi Gabriel Zakuto.  The congregation had, by that time, grown to sixty families. The Beth Israel Religious School was opened in 1939.  In 1947, the congregation acquired its own cemetery, on
Pleasant Avenue.

For a small group this was a large undertaking, but proved so successful, growing with slow steady strides, that 30 years later on September 11, 1960, the cornerstone was laid for the new Education Building. Completed soon after, this Education Building contains offices, a Rabbi's Study, a Library containing hundreds of volumes of Jewish History and literature and classrooms used for the instruction of Judaism and the Hebrew language. Children from the ages of five through thirteen attend a two and a half hour session on Sundays and from the ages of eight through thirteen attend Hebrew classes during the week.  This year, a Midrasha was started, continuing education for students past their Bar and Bat Mitzvah year through High School.

In 1964, an addition to the Education Building, the Leshner Memorial Chapel was completed.  This beautiful chapel will serve for our Junior Congregation as well as giving additional classroom space as needed.

In 1999, the two houses to the south of the Synagogue became available and were purchased.  Old and beyond repair, they were leveled and a parking lot was built.  Eventually the Congregation plans
to extend its building to accommodate growing needs.  Over the years, Beth Israel gradually began to contemporize its ritual and outlook and became affiliated with the United Synagogue of America (now the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism), the national federation of conservative synagogues.  The years have witnessed a number of significant developments in the life of Beth Israel.  In 1984, the congregation voted to count women in Minyans (the required number of Jews present to hold a public worship service).  In 1985, Beth Israel elected its first woman president and voted to call women to the Torah (scroll containing the five books of Moses) for aliyot (the honor of saying a blessing before and after the
reading).  On May 4, 1986, the Congregation celebrated its 75th anniversary.

Today, with its full range of activities and contemporary conservative outlook, Beth Israel services the Jewish communities of Hamilton, Fairfield, Oxford, West Chester, and neighboring areas.  It continues
to provide that spiritual sustenance which has lent meaning and purpose to the lives of Jewish men and women in Southwestern Ohio.  In October of 2001, the Congregation is planning to celebrate the 100th year since its beginnings 32 High Street, the residence of Sam Greenberg, the 90th Anniversary since its incorporation, and the 60 Anniversary since the completion of our current building.  A new wing is being contemplated to even better serve the needs of Conservative Jews in Butler County.

(history contributed by Rabbi Eric R. Slaton, based largely on a history of the Congregation written by Beth Israel's Rabbi, Joseph Krickstein on the occasion of the Dedication of the Leshner Chapel in 1964)

 © 2000 by the Butler County Historical Society