Groups Profiled in Richmond
Temple Beth El Jewish Congregation
Temple Ahabah Jewish Congregation
Judaism in Virginia
Judaism is the oldest documented monotheistic faith in the world. This belief in one God stood in sharp contrast to other religions existing at the time of its conception. It is evident that the Jewish religious tradition, still practiced today, has clearly stood the test of time. In addition to believing in one God, Jews believe in a Messiah that has not yet come, which is different than Christians and Muslims, who believe in a Messiah that has walked the earth. Jews also believe in the Torah (equivalent to the first five books of the Christian Old Testament) as God’s way of revealing himself to the Jewish people and believe that all Jews, the People of Israel, are one people and a chosen people.
Judaism is not only a set of religious beliefs but a cultural tradition. There are several branches of Judaism that could be seen as sectors of one faith. One of these branches is Orthodox Judaism, which establishes a clear obedience to Jewish law and tradition. This includes men and women sitting separately in the congregation, no intermarriage with Non-Orthodox Jews, and a strict following of both Kosher dietary laws and an observance of the Sabbath (from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown). Standing in contrast to Orthodox Judaism, Reform Judaism is more liberal and considers the cultural tradition to be more adaptable: each congregation has autonomy in the specifics of its worship services. Conservative Judaism could be seen as the middle road between the two. Its tradition is somewhat adaptable but each congregation is not autonomous; the centralized United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism must approve everything.
History in Richmond
Jews came to America and Richmond in three major waves. The first of these waves (spanning the 17th and 18th centuries) consisted of Jews practicing the Sephardic
(Spanish-Jewish) tradition. This tradition dominated because the much of the first Jews that came to the New World were ones that were escaping the religious persecution of the Spanish Inquisition. Even Jews that were not from Sephardic descent still adopted the Sephardic tradition because it was the most widely practiced.
The first Jews in Virginia were among the first settlers to arrive in Jamestown. As for Richmond, the first documented Jewish inhabitant was Isaiah Isaacs, who happened to be a staunch patriot in the American Revolution. Shortly after the war ended, Isaacs, a local merchant found himself a partner, Jacob Cohen from Philadelphia. The two started the business Cohen & Isaacs, called The Jews Store by the residents of Richmond. Beth Shalom, the first Jewish congregation in Richmond and the sixth in the country was later founded, and from 1789 to 1820, the congregation size increased from 29 members to 41 households (roughly 200 members). Most of the first congregation members were German and originally practiced the Ashkenazim tradition but switched to the Sephardic once they came to America. The Beth Shalom synagogue itself, located on Mayo street (although no longer standing), was dedicated in 1822.
The first Jews in Richmond were not treated as second-class citizens especially after the passage of the Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom in 1786. Many were Masons, along with some of the Founding Fathers. Ironically, many Jews at the time feared that the accepting culture they were in would bring with it a risk of assimilation that would be harder for them to retain their heritage than in places where they were actively persecuted.
The next major wave of Jews came to the city of Richmond between the years 1835 and 1860. These were mainly Ashkenazic German Jews that would later practice the Reform tradition. The reason for their coming to America was a combination of a failure of revolutionary movements in Germany at the time and the increased economic opportunities perceived to be in America.. Among these new German Jews was William Thalhimer, who founded Thalhimers department store located on 17th street between Main and Franklin Streets.
Eventually the Sephardic tradition of Beth Shalom was abandoned and Reform tradition of Beth Ahabah took hold. Around the same time in 1856, the Polish synagogue Kennesseth Israel was founded. The Poles that founded Kennesseth Isreal were small in number and practiced the Orthodox tradition (more common among Eastern-European Jews).
During the Civil War, there were approximately 100 Richmond Jews that fought on the Confederate side. Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s secretary of war, secretary of state, and attorney general Judah Benjamin, called by some “the brains of the Confederacy” was Jewish and spent a lot of time in Richmond during the war. The Sons of Confederate Veterans even considered building a monument to him. Today there are 30 Confederate Jewish soldiers buried in the Soldier’s Section of the Hebrew Cemetery (the first Jewish cemetery in Richmond) located on 4th and Hospital Streets.
Eastern-Europeans, following the Orthodox tradition made up the third wave of Jews to come to Richmond, which occurred roughly from 1865-1890. Many of these Jews, especially the ones from Russia, came to America to escape religious persecution. The Russian Jews in Richmond originally affiliated with the Polish Kenesseth Israel but in 1886 started Sir Moses Montefiore Congregation.
Around this time were the first real signs of Anti-Semitism, which was actually a phenomenon that seeped from the North. It was more of a reaction to the new Eastern European immigrants than anything else. In fact, there were even some Richmond Jews that criticized the new immigrants themselves, engaging in what others called “Jewish Anti-Semitism” by other Jews in the city.
One leading figure of the Reform movement, Edward Calisch sought to integrate the Jews within American culture. He served as rabbi of Beth Ahabah starting in the year 1891 until over 50 years later. Although some Orthodox Jews were distrustful of his intentions, Rabbi Calisch was a skillful orator and leader both in and outside of his congregation. He even served as a mediator between the Protestants and Jews in Richmond. One notable accomplishment of his was cooperating with local Baptist pastors to defeat a bill that would have required the mandatory reading of the Bible in Virginia’s public schools.
It was also around this time, many Jews in Richmond started to identify with and contribute to the cause for a homeland in Palestine. At first, not all Jews identified with the movement (Rabbi Calisch for instance did not), but after the horrors of World War II, sympathy to the cause became more mainstream. There were some German Jewish refugees that came to Richmond around the time of World War II, but many of them only stayed temporarily.
By the 1950s, it was clear that the Richmond Jewish community had migrated from his historical East End location to the West End. In 1959, the Richmond Jewish Community Center was dedicated and has since served as a cultural, social, and recreational center for the Richmond Jewry. Today, the Jewish community itself in Richmond remains vibrant, comprising of several Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform congregations.
indexed by Peter Moore (July 2005)