Plum Street Temple - Cincinnati, Ohio
Posted by: BruceS
N 39° 06.223 W 084° 31.113
16S E 714572 N 4331217
Historic Jewish temple listed as a National Historic Landmark in Cincinnati.
Waymark Code: WM5HW8
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 01/10/2009
Views: 24
"The Plum Street Temple is important architecturally and to the history of
the Reform Judaism in the United States. Beginning in the early 19th century in
Germany Reform Judaism was brought to America by immigrants and reached its
zenith under Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, Wise became Rabbi at the Plum Street Temple
in 1854 and guided that congregation for 53 years. During that period the
Synagogue was the leading reform temple in the United States. Rabbi Wise was the
first President of the Union of American Hebrew congregations and was the
founder of Hebrew Union College.
The congregation was incorporated in 1842 and outgrew an earlier synagogue.
In 1863 subscriptions were circulated for a new building and the present site
was purchased in 1863 for $35,000. Ground was broken that year. The Civil War
halted construction but the cornerstone was laid on May 12, 1865 and the
Synagogue opened August 24 of that year. Current news accounts noted "It is in
the Byzantine style with two steeples....the building, according to the plan,
will be truly grand, both in design and dimensions."! Another booklet notes: "It
is an Alhambra temple, with slender pillars and thirteen domes perhaps to
correspond to the famous passage in Exodus 34:6,7 with the thirteen attributes
of God."
The origins of the congregation were central European and particularly
Germany and the architectural style is based on the Romantic movement abroad,
documented by Rachel Wischnitzer in Synagogue Architecture in the United States.
The search among the Jews for an architectural style that gave them a special
identity may be derived from a group of central European monumental designs,
Rabbi Isaac Wise identified this Moorish style with Reform Judaism and the Plum
Street Temple was the first Moorish Synagogue in the United States. (Temple
Emanu-El in New York was demolished in 1927, Central Synagogue in New York is
another excellent example of this style)
The architect was James Keys Wilson (1828-1894) who had studied his
profession under James Renwick and Martin E. Thompson. Wilson is better known
for his buildings in the Gothic Revival style so he must have collaborated
directly with Rabbi Wise. This New World "Alhambra" is one of the outstanding
examples of the Moorish style." -
National Register Nomination Form