Description: Illustration of the Jewish Synagogue located at the corner of Plum Street and Eighth in Cincinnati, from "Cincinnati, from 1800 to 1875, a condensed history of Cincinnati," by E. H. Austerlitz. The cornerstone for the Plum Street Temple was laid on May 12, 1865, and the completed building was dedicated on August 24, 1866. Designed by James Keyes Wilson, it is constructed in the Byzantine-Moorish style--one of only two such synagogues in the United States. The longtime leader of the synagogue was Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, and Plum Street Temple is closely associated with the founding of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1873, the Hebrew Union College in 1875, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis in 1889. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04254
Subjects: Jews--Social life and customs; Multicultural Ohio--Ethnic Communities; Religious facilities; Synagogues--Ohio--Cincinnati
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Illustration showing a Jew lighting the Sabbath candle, from "The Jewish Nation: Containing an Account of their Manners and Customs, Rites and Worship, Laws and Polity," by D.P. Kidder, 1850. Jews have lived in Ohio from the state's creation in 1803. Before the American Civil War, however, the number of Jews residing in Ohio remained small. During this period, Cincinnati was the largest city in Ohio and the center of the Jewish community in the state, though it was not until 1824 that Jews in Cincinnati established their first congregation. Illustrating the small Jewish population in Ohio during this period, only forty thousand Jews lived west of the Appalachian Mountains by 1850 and only 150,000 Jews lived in the entire United States by 1870. The lighting of the candle shortly before sunset on Friday nights to usher in the Jewish Sabbath is a weekly tradition in many Jewish homes. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04255
Subjects: Ohio--Religion; Multicultural Ohio--Ethnic Communities; Jews--Social life and customs; Religious services