For other temples called Beth-El see Temple Beth-El

Temple Beth-El

Temple Beth-El, or Temple Beth El, is a name given to many Jewish synagogues, Beth-El meaning "House of God" in Hebrew. It may refer to:-United States :* Temple Beth-El * Temple Beth-El...

.

The Temple Beth-El , located in downtown Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...

, is the oldest

Oldest synagogues in the United States

The designation of the oldest synagogue in the United States requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest congregation...

 dedicated Jewish house of worship in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. The temple was founded in 1876.

Beth-El is a member of the Union for Reform Judaism

Union for Reform Judaism

The Union for Reform Judaism , formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations , is an organization which supports Reform Jewish congregations in North America. The current President is Rabbi Eric H...

, and has led the congregation in Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...

 services since the temple's foundation. The current rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 is Leonard Zukrow.

History

The first Jews who migrated to northwest Florida originally stopped at Milton

Milton, Florida

Milton , or Milltown, because Milton had the largest mill around) is a city in Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States. The city was incorporated in 1844 and is home to Naval Air Station Whiting Field. The population was 7,045 at the 2000 census. In 2004, the population recorded by the U.S...

, twenty miles to the east, because Milton was a national hub for lumber

Lumber

Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....

 production and distribution in the South (the first Jews to the area were skilled in lumber production; they came from heavily wooded areas in what is now southern Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

). Sensing more business opportunities to the west, a congregation settled in Pensacola and founded a Reform temple after forming in 1876. Many of the lumber workers in Milton did not follow the congregation, and eventually started a smaller Jewish community in Okaloosa County

Okaloosa County, Florida

Okaloosa County is a county located in the state of Florida. Located in northwest Florida, it extends from the Gulf of Mexico to the Alabama state line. As of the 2000 census, the population was 170,498. The U.S. Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county is 182,172. The 2009 estimate for the...

 when lumber opportunities dried up. The male members of Beth-El's first congregation consisted largely of business

Business

A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

men and tavern

Tavern

A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....

 owners.

Temple Beth-El is now in its third building, still in its same spot on 800 North Palafox Street. The current building, designed in the 1930s, is an example of Art Deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 architecture, which was prominent in Florida at the time.

Today, many members of the current congregation are descendants of the men who founded the temple over 125 years ago. Immigrants from Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, and the Caucasus

Caucasus

The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

 eventually settled in Pensacola and became part of the congregation as well. Beth-El is unique today in that a large number of the congregation consists of Jews who converted from other faiths.

Starting in 1962, Paula Ackerman

Paula Ackerman

Paula Ackerman was the first woman to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leading the Beth Israel congregation in Meridian, Mississippi from 1950-53 and the Beth-El congregation in Pensacola, Florida from 1962-63...

, the first woman to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, served the congregation at Beth-El. A Pensacola native, Beth-El was Mrs. Ackerman's home temple and she was asked to fill in until a suitable replacement was found in 1963.

Well-known members

• Paula Ackerman
  Paula Ackerman
  Paula Ackerman was the first woman to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leading the Beth Israel congregation in Meridian, Mississippi from 1950-53 and the Beth-El congregation in Pensacola, Florida from 1962-63...
  
  , both as a child and later serving the congregation as a rabbi.

External links

• Temple Beth-El website
• Jews in Florida timeline (mentions Beth-El)

Sources

• A History of Temple Beth-el, Pensacola, Florida 1876-1990, By Janel D. Hendrix, Published by Trent's Prints, 2004