The history of the Jews in Brenham, Texas; covers a period of over 140 years. As one of the first areas in Texas, outside of major population centers, to develop a sizable Jewish population, the community boasts many things of historical note. The Brenham community was formally organized in 1885.

Early Jewish settlement

Early

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

settlers A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

arrived in

Brenham, Texas Brenham ( ) is a city in east-central Texas, United States, and the county seat of Washington County, with a population of 17,369 according to the 2020 U.S. census. Brenham is also known for its annual German heritage festival that takes pl ...

, during the 1860s. With the arrival of Jewish merchants, Brenham's retail and wholesale trade expanded further. B. Levinson, an original founder, arrived in 1861. The builders of the Simon Theatre, the Simon family, arrived in 1866. These individuals became active in the business community of Brenham, Texas, and as other Jewish settlers arrived, the need for a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

grew. Early leaders were:

Rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

Israel L. Fink as first president, F. Susnitsky as vice president, L.Z. Harrison, J. Lewis, Abe Fink. These men were part of the 20 original

charter member A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the reci ...

s of B'nai Abraham Synagogue.

B'nai Abraham Synagogue

B'nai Abraham Synagogue was constructed in 1893, after the first structure caught fire in 1892. Viewing the

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

synagogue from the outside, the building appears humble. According to James L. Hailey, " the 1990s the synagogue was believed to be the oldest

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

synagogue to have been in continuous use in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

." The building was relocated to the Northwest Hills neighborhood of

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

in 2015. The B'nai Abraham Cemetery is a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish cemetery located in Brenham and associated with B'nai Abraham Synagogue. It is located near

Blinn College Blinn College is a public junior college in Brenham, Texas, with additional campuses in Bryan, Schulenburg, Sealy, and Waller. Brenham is Blinn's original and main campus, with housing and athletics. History Blinn was founded in 1884 as Mi ...

, west of Brenham's town square. This cemetery is the resting place for many notable Jewish Texans, such the Simon family and Rosa Levin Toubin."Brenham, Texas"
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Simon Family and Theatre

Around 1850, Alex Simon (1823 – October 4, 1906), a citizen of

The Republic of Texas ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

who was born in Pyzdry, Poland, to Michael Gabryel and Ruchel Simon and grew up in

Konin, Poland Konin () is a city in central Poland, on the Warta River. It is the capital of Konin County and is located within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. In 2021 the population of the city was 71,427, making it the fourth-largest city in Greater Poland af ...

, arrived in Brenham. His arrival marked the beginning of the influential Simon family's involvement in the Brenham Jewish community. Alex Simon was one of the founders and builders of the B'nai Abraham Synagogue. According to architect Robert P. Davis, " was also one of the principal investors in the

Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway (GC&SF) was chartered in Texas in 1873 to build a railroad from Galveston, Texas, to Santa Fe, New Mexico. By 1886, it had built from Galveston to a junction in Temple, Texas, which was founded by the co ...

...which brought Jewish immigrants up from

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

through the

Brazos River The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 14th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater ...

valley to Bryan and out to San Angelo." Alex Simon's son, James Simon (March 8, 1858 – August 1, 1925) is known for having financed the construction of the Simon Theatre. Historically, Simon family members have been buried at the B'nai Abraham Cemetery.

Community Historians

The history of the Brenham community has been written by the Jewish Texan historian, Rosa Levin Toubin (June 21, 1897 – August 14, 1989). A Brenham native, Rosa Levin Toubin, daughter of Joe Levin (September 21, 1874 – March 20, 1954) who was a founder of the B'nai Abraham Synagogue. Rosa Levin Toubin attended

and

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

and on June 26, 1925, she married Sam H. Toubin (August 25, 1892 – September 17, 1982) who "owned and operated the New York stores in nine towns in Texas". Concerning the Brenham community, in 1980 Rosa Levin "Mrs. Sam" Toubin wrote the texts, ''Colorful Brenham Community has history of over 120 years''. and ''History of B'nai Abraham Synagogue''. Leon Toubin, a Jewish Texan community and business leader, is the present caretaker of B'nai Abraham Synagogue and the spokesperson for the community. In the text ''Lone Stars of David: The Jews of Texas'', Leon Toubin discusses the history of the Brenham community. He states that the synagogue has "holy scriptures and everything ... heonly thing we need is

Jewish people Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

." In the text, ''Growing Up Jewish in America: An Oral History'', Toubin discusses the descendants of the Brenham community and states that at one time they, "were probably all Jewish once, but we're

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

now". Toubin tells a similar story for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

special one-hour documentary, ''At Home on the Range: Jewish Life in Texas''. This story concerns former Washington County Sheriff Goldberg. Toubin states that, ''"The sheriff we had here was named Goldberg. I got a call from a Goldberg in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. He said: 'Leon, I want to ask you a question. There’s a sheriff in Brenham named Goldberg, is he Jewish?' So I stopped him on the street one day and said: 'Sheriff I want to ask you a question. Are you Jewish?' The sheriff said: 'Leon, I was probably Jewish. But the family came here and there weren’t any Jewish girls to marry. Everyone intermarried and I'm Lutheran today. But I was probably Jewish at one time."''

Brenham State School

The Jewish residents of the Brenham State School have a history of celebrating

Jewish holidays Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. ...

. The Houston Chronicle reported that five Jewish residents from Brenham State School participated in

Rosh Hashana Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summer/early autu ...

with the Richmond State School in 2000. The Jewish residents of the Brenham State School also celebrated

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

with the Richmond State School in 2002. On September 18, 2006, Congregation Beth El of

Missouri City, Texas Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 74,259, an increas ...

, participated in celebrating the

High Holy Days In Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim; , ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm'') consist of: #strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah ("Jewish New Year") and Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"); #by extension, th ...

with Jewish residents from both State Schools. These services were led by

Dovid Goldstein from the

Chabad outreach Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...

in Houston.

American Jewish Congress v. Bost

American Jewish Congress v. Bost is an

establishment clause In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The ''Establishment Clause'' an ...

lawsuit concerning the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...

. The case is the first constitutional challenge to a

charitable choice Charitable choice refers to direct United States government funding of religious organizations to provide social services. Created in 1996, charitable choice allows government officials to purchase services from religious providers using Temporar ...

contract. In the community of Brenham, the

American Jewish Congress The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests in the US and internationally through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts. History The idea for a ...

and the Texas Civil Rights Project filed a lawsuit against a

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

program that they believed used a tax-funded jobs program to support religious practices that violated the separation of church and state. Other accusations include use of funds to

proselytize Proselytism () is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Carrying out attempts to instill beliefs can be called proselytization. Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between Chris ...

, purchase bibles, and coerce participants to "accept

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

". On May 21, 2002, the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

'' reported that the case would be sent to

federal district court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

. The lawsuit went back and forth between state and federal courts and was twice appealed. In January 2003, the lawsuit that is believed to be the first constitutional challenge to a "charitable choice" contract, came to a conclusion. The case was finally dismissed ''"on the ground that there was no live controversy"''.

Recognition

The September 30, 2005, edition of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' listed the Brenham community as one of "10 great places to share history of the Jewish faith".

References

External links

Slideshow of Leon Toubin
by the

''American Statesman'' {{History of the Jews in the United States