EXHIBITS

100 Years of Congregation Brith Sholem: Honoring the Jewish Community in Ogden, Utah: The History of Congregation Brith Sholem and Synagogue

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The History of Congregation Brith Sholem and Synagogue

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Newspaper article discussing the observance of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, with services held at the Knights of Pythias Hall by Rabbi S. Alkow, The Salt Lake Tribune, September 17, 1917.

The name of the congregation was altered to Congregation Brith Sholem in 1917, although various sources state its existence began in 1916. The earliest mention of the new congregation’s name exists in an article from the Ogden Daily Standard published March 8, 1917. “Hebrews of Ogden Start a Fund for Synagogue to Be Erected in This City” discusses Ogden’s Jewish community’s plans to form a financial foundation to raise funds to build a new synagogue for Congregation “B’rith Sholen [sic].”[5] For newly established Jewish communities in the West, “the synagogue became the architectural expression of [their] status as a pillar of the new society.”[6] Because of this belief, Jews in Ogden desired a synagogue that would provide a holy place to practice Judaism and hold communal gatherings.

Rabbi Samuel Alkow was the first recorded rabbi of Ogden’s Jewish congregation from 1914 to 1917. Though it is uncertain if Rabbi Alkow was fully in charge of activities for Congregation Brith Sholem, as he was also rabbi for Congregation Montefiore in Salt Lake City.[7]

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The cornerstone of Congregation Brith Sholem synagogue, dedicated on August 21, 1921. A newspaper article from the Salt Lake Telegram written on August 22, 1921, states that over 2,000 persons attended the cornerstone ceremony. Also, a sealed copper box was placed in the cornerstone which contains the roster of the first members of Ohab Sholem, which was the first Jewish congregation in Ogden created in 1890, and current members of Congregation Brith Sholem of 1921.

The estimated cost for the planned two-story building was $12,000.[10] Ben Oppman, Rabbi Lazhras Lehrer, Emil Rosenberg, Joseph Kraines, William Benowitz, and Abraham Siner, including his wife, Rosa, played a significant role in organizing and establishing the synagogue. Ben Oppman oversaw fundraising efforts, chaired the building committee, and headed other Jewish-related events. Oppman also hosted many of these events, including religious services at his clothing store Rosenbluth & Oppman on Twenty-Fifth Street. Abraham Siner secured the lot for the synagogue along Grant Avenue.[11] Unfortunately, Siner’s unexpected death in January 1919 prevented him from seeing the completion of the synagogue. His wife, Rosa, donated the funds for the synagogue’s cornerstone in honor of her late husband.[12]

Congregation Brith Sholem began as an Orthodox-practicing religion and continued that into their synagogue construction in plans to build a second floor. This addition would separate men and women during religious services to observe Orthodox traditions: men would sit on the first floor while women and children sat on the second-floor balcony. The second floor of the structure was never built due to lack of growth within the congregation.[13] A hardwood floor was built for the second floor of the synagogue. However, to accommodate Orthodox beliefs, early members of the synagogue divided men and women during worship by sitting on different sides of the main floor.[14] Today Congregation Brith Sholem is a Reform synagogue, and there is no longer required seating arrangements for religious services. Reform Judaism continues to celebrate and honor Jewish religious traditions while encompassing diversity and inclusion within their religious leadership roles as well as with members of their congregation. 

[1] Eileen Hallet Stone, A Homeland in the West: Utah Jews Remember (Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press, 2011), 19; Kirsten Sorenson, “Congregation Traces Roots to Ogden’s Railroads,” Examiner (Ogden, UT), August 16, 1997, 7A; O’Neil, “Jewish Church,”13.
[2] O’Neil, “Jewish Church,” 13.
[3] “Celebrate and Plan a Church,” Standard (Ogden, UT), March 18, 1911, 8.
[4] “Society: Today’s Events,” Republican (Salt Lake City, UT), February 27, 1913, 5.
[5] “Hebrews of Ogden Start a Fund for Synagogue to Be Erected in This City,” Standard (Ogden, UT), March 8, 1917.
[6] Ava F. Kahn, Jewish Life in the American West: Perspectives on Migration, Settlement, and Community (Los Angeles: Autry Museum of Western Heritage, 2002), 100.
[7] “Soldiers Must Return Six Months After War or Lose Wives,” Post (Provo, UT), September 18, 1917, 6.
[8] “Ogden Synagogue Cornerstone Laid,” Telegram (Salt Lake City, UT), August 22, 1921, 9.
[9] “Celebration Marking New Year Celebrated at Synagogue,” Standard (Ogden, UT), October 2, 1921, 12.
[10] “Work Begun on New Synagogue,” Standard-Examiner (Ogden, UT), July 29, 1921, 6.
[11] “Mrs. Siner Donates Synagogue Stone,” Standard Examiner (Ogden, UT), August 23, 1921, 10.
[12] “Mrs. Siner,” 10.
[13] Peggy Fletcher Stack, “Ogden’s Brith Sholem Celebrates 100 Years of Utah Jewish History,” Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT), August 23, 1997.
[14] Goodman, “Small Synagogue,” 50.