Thanks for your interest in touring our Historic A History of... 1878 Sanctuary and Museum covering three centuries of Savannah’s Jewish history. Congregation Tours begin: Mickve Israel Monday—Friday 10 am—12:30 pm AND 2 pm—3:30 pm Tours last approximately 30-45 minutes. Out of respect for the congregational members From and our employees, the building will be closed Our story on certain national and Jewish holidays. Please consult our website for details before arranging 1733... your tour date. begins... Worship services are held weekly on Friday eve- ning and Saturday morning. Please consult our web site for time and location details. 1733 Forty-one brave settlers arrived in the Georgia Colony from London aboard the ship, the William and Sarah on July 11, 1733, just five months after Oglethorpe’s arrival. This was the largest single migration of Jews to the colonies. The trip was funded thanks to a fundraising effort by trustees from Bevis Marks Synagogue in London, England. This group included thirty-four Sephardim who had recently escaped from Inquisition-era Portugal and eight Ashkenazim of German ancestry. Sadly, one child died on the voyage across the Atlantic. ...to These Jewish settlers brought with them a sefer torah, now one of the oldest torah scrolls in Amer- ica, and a circumcision kit for use by the congrega- tion they founded. They named their congregation the Kahal Kadosh Mickve Israel (Holy Congregation, The Hope of Israel), the third founded congrega- tion in America, the first in the South. present Dr. Samuel Nunez, the physician traveling with this group, arrived in the Georgia colony to face an epidemic. Thanks to his medical training in Lisbon, Portugal, he immediately set out to eradicate this plague from the colony. Our story continues to be written by the active Congregation Mickve Israel 1741 involvement of our rabbi, staff and congregants 20 East Gordon Street The War of Jenkins Ear had the Sephardic Jew- and their descendants through participation in ish colonists fleeing to points north when it weekly worship services, as well as congrega- Bull Street at Monterey Square looked doubtful that Britain would win the war. tional activities in the local Jewish and Savannah Post Office Box 816 Because of their Portuguese-converso back- communities. They continue to tell our story with ground, they were very uneasy about the pos- their involvement in communities throughout Savannah, Georgia 31402-0816 sibility of being captured by an invading Span- the nation and the world. 912-233-1547 ish army and convicted of heresy. Thanks for becoming a part of our story. www.mickveisrael.org 1790 1773 1853 1876 The Georgia State House granted Mordecai Sheftall donated Rabbi Jacob Construction begins! The cornerstone for the current sanctuary on Monterey Congregation Mickve Israel a land for a Hebrew Com- Rosenfeld was Square was dedicated on March 1, 1876. This magnificent synagogue, designed Charter of Incorporation, signed munity Cemetery. It pro- hired as Mickve by the nationally known New York architect, Henry G. Harrison, was built in a by Governor Edward Telfair. vided burial sites for Jews Israel’s first rabbi. pure neo-Gothic style, reflecting the fashionable architecture of the Victorian era. in Savannah or from else- where in America. 1820 1861 1878 The first synagogue building erected in Rabbi Jacob Rosenfeld left in the early 1860s to The current Monterey Square sanctuary was 1778 the State of Georgia was consecrated form Congregation Bnai Brith Jacob, a more tradi- consecrated on April 11, 1878. The three Mordecai Sheftall was ap- by Dr. Jacob De La Motta on the corner tional Ashkenazic congregation. He eventually re- stained glass windows above the Ark, designed pointed Deputy Commis- of Perry Lane and Whitaker Street. A turned in 1870 to serve as Mickve Israel’s rabbi. by Rabbi Isaac Mendes and built by the promi- sary General of Issues for portable organ was borrowed from In- nent William Gibson’s Sons of New York, are the State of Georgia, mak- dependent Presbyterian Church for this 1868 original to the 1878 building. Rabbi Mendes ing him the highest ranking dedication. Dr. LaMotta’s sermon On February 1, 1868, Raphael de Castro Lewin, served the Temple for 27 years. He instituted Jewish officer to serve in prompted responses from Presidents Mickve Israel’s second rabbi, delivered a sermon Confirmation for young women in 1880. the Colonial Army during Jefferson and Madison which defined entitled Orthodoxy vs. Reform. Mixed seating and the American Revolution. their views of religious freedom. other changes were instituted. Mickve Israel’s 1902-1903 transition to Reform Jewish practice had begun! The first Mordecai Sheftall Memorial Hall was 1789 1829 completed and dedicated. It adjoined the sanc- Levi Sheftall, President of The first synagogue, a small 1874 tuary’s eastern wall and provided space for a Mickve Israel, sent a con- wooden structure, was destroyed religious school, meeting rooms and the like. It gratulatory letter to President by fire in 1829, but the Torahs Savannah participated in the great wave of German- Jewish immigration that began about 1840. By 1874 was designed by one of the ablest architects of Washington for his inaugura- and Ark were saved without in- the city and a congregational member, Hyman tion. Washington’s response is jury. A new building was begun it became clear that the small synagogue on Perry Lane and Whitaker Street was no longer adequate W. Witcover. As the congregation grew, this hall the first Presidential letter on the same site in 1834 and would be replaced in 1957 and again in 2003. sent to a Jewish congregation. opened on July 13, 1838. and property was purchased for a new building. 1904 1945 1976 1991 Mickve Israel did not formally become Re- Rabbi George Solomon, the congre- Congregation Mickve Israel be- Shalom School is founded as a supplementary form until 1904 when it became a member gation’s rabbi for 42 years (1903- came part of the celebration of religious school jointly sponsored by Congrega- of the Union of American Hebrew Congrega- 1945), died. He was a prominent the 1976 Bicentennial through tions Agudath Achim and Mickve Israel. It is one tions (now Union of Reform Judaism). Other leader in the Jewish and general com- the presentation of a joint letter of the few religious schools in the United States Reform practices along the way included munities and ably guided the congre- from the six colonial congrega- to successfully serve the children and families of use of a built-in pipe organ, a religious gation through major national and tions to President Gerald Ford. both Conservative and Reform congregations. school that educated both girls and boys, world events during his tenure. Confirmation services, optional use of the 1983 2003 wedding chuppah, and use of Re- The Mickve Israel crest was designed by The third (and current) Mordecai Sheftall form’s new Union Prayer Book. 1957 The congregation outgrew the Morde- Jane A. Feiler for the cover of Rabbi Saul Memorial Hall opened on the site of the cai Sheftall Memorial Hall and a new J. Rubin’s book, Third to None: The Saga previous two buildings of the same 1927—Fire in the Spire!!! hall, designed by congregational of Savannah Jewry 1733-1983, the Con- name. This three-story structure houses Near disaster struck on Tuesday morning, member and prominent local archi- gregation’s signature history, first pub- the Shalom School, the museum, gift April 19, 1927, when a workman, removing tect, Henry Levy, was dedicated. lished in 1983. It was adopted as the shop, social hall, kitchen, a library, and paint inside the spire, dropped a tool and congregation’s official crest in 1991. the administrative offices. descended his ladder to retrieve it without extinguishing his blow torch. The resulting 1975 1988 2012 fire destroyed much of the roof, the spire, Through David A. Byck, Jr.’s dedicated research and Since 1988, the “Shalom Y’all Jewish Food Mickve Israel became the choir loft, the organ, and some of the discovery of the Sheftall Diaries, a museum filled with Festival®” has enjoyed enthusiastic com- one of the destination western part of the building, including the photographs, documents and treasures from Mickve munity-wide support. Possibly the largest sites for celebrating rear pews. The entire contents of the Ark, Israel’s earliest days opened on the ground floor of the Jewish food festival in the world, this cele- the 100th anniversary including the two precious original deerskin Mordecai Sheftall Memorial Hall. His main objective bration (now held on the last Sunday in of the Girl Scouts Torah scrolls, were saved. Rebuilding the was to showcase the two historic deerskin Torahs, but October in Forsyth Park) regularly draws an which began a few sanctuary took eight months. also resulted in a deep appreciation of our history. estimated crowd of over 10,000 people. blocks away. .