B'nai Israel Traditional Synagogue | |
Image Upright: | 1.4 |
Religious Affiliation: | Conservative Judaism |
Rite: | Ashkenazic |
Festivals: | --> |
Organizational Status: | --> |
Status: | Synagogue |
Functional Status: | Active |
Location: | 1907 Vance Ave, Alexandria, Louisiana |
Country: | United States |
Map Type: | Louisiana |
Map Size: | 250 |
Map Relief: | 1 |
Coordinates: | 31.2951°N -92.4533°W |
Architecture Type: | Syngagogue |
Architecture Style: | Mid-Century modernism |
Established: | 1913 |
Year Completed: | 1954 |
Date Destroyed: | --> |
Capacity: | 100 worshippers |
Materials: | Concrete block |
Elevation Ft: | --> |
B'nai Israel Traditional Synagogue is a Conservative synagogue located at 1907 Vance Ave, Alexandria, Louisiana, in the United States. It was founded in 1913 as an Orthodox synagogue by Jews from Poland and Russia, many of whom arrived in Alexandria and Central Louisiana as part of the Galveston Movement. In the 1950s the congregation became Conservative.
The first shul was located at Fourth and Lee Streets. Ten years after B'nai Israel's founding, the congregation had twenty members. A full-time rabbi, Rabbi Jacob Aronson, led Shabbat services and a cheder, which met three times per week. The religious school soon thereafter met six days per week that "provided instruction in Hebrew language, history, and the Bible."[1] By 1940, the congregation had its own building and a small cemetery just north of the city.
In the 1950s a new concrete block building was constructed on Vance Avenue. The rectangular structure was designed with Mid-Century modern architecture.