Beth HaMedrosh HagodolBeth Joseph, known locally as BMHBJ or simply BMH, and for a period after 2012 also known as The Denver Synagogue, is an Orthodox

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 ...

located in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, in the United States.

History

Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol

Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol (BMH-the Great House of Study) originated as a modern Orthodox synagogue in 1897 under the leadership of shoe merchant Henry Plonsky. BMH rented the original Temple Emanuel building at 19th and Curits for holiday services until it purchased the former home of Temple Emanuel in 1898. The building was severely damaged by fire in 1902. Rabbi Charles Eliezer Hillel Kauvar came to BMH in 1902 and served until 1952. BMH laid the cornerstone of their new building on Rosh Hashanah 1916 and was a major civic event, drawing DU chancellor and former Colorado governor Henry Buchtel, Judge Benjamin Barr Lindsey and former Denver School Superintendent William H. Smiley. The congregation occupied this building until 1966; after BMH left, the building served a variety of uses, falling into increasing disrepair before an extensive remodel in 2008 converted the building into a

Messianic In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach' ...

Christian church. In 1963, BMH secured at 560 S. Monaco Parkway and the building was completed in 1969. The congregation was a founding member of the

United Synagogue of America The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) is the major congregational organization of Conservative Judaism in North America, and the largest Conservative Jewish communal body in the world. USCJ closely works with the Rabbinical Assembly ...

(now called the

United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) is the major congregational organization of Conservative Judaism in North America, and the largest Conservative Jewish communal body in the world. USCJ closely works with the Rabbinical Assembly ...

), the primary organization of American

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...

. Rabbi Kauvar was the first vice-president of the organization, and BMH remained affiliated with the Conservative movement until 1955, when Rabbi Kauvar (by then serving as the emeritus rabbi) was influential in causing the congregation to leave the United Synagogue. BMH hired its first Orthodox rabbi in 1956. Stanley M. Wagner became the rabbi in 1972 and BMH joined the

Orthodox Union The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs f ...

, but it maintained several ritual practices not typically followed at OU-affiliates. BMH's Monaco Parkway building was also the home of the Mizel Museum of Judaica, a museum co-founded by Denver businessman Larry Mizel, from the museum's founding in 1982 until it relocated in 2002.

Merged congregation

In 2007, BMH merged with Beth Joseph, an Orthodox congregation founded in 1922, to become Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol-Beth Joseph. Prior to resigning its affiliation with the

(OU) at the end of 2015, it was the only OU affiliated synagogue in the country without a ''

mechitza A ''mechitza'' (, partition or division, pl.: , ) in Judaism is a partition, particularly one that is used to separate men and women. The rationale in halakha (Jewish law) for a partition dividing men and women is derived from the Babylonian ...

'', thus allowing men and women to sit together. It was the only surviving example of a seating style that had previously been present in a substantial number of Orthodox Union affiliated synagogues, and resigned from the OU after learning the organization planned to expel them over the mixed seating issue. Today, BMH-BJ describes itself as an "independent orthodox congregation".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beth Hamedrosh Hagodol-Beth Joseph 1996 establishments in Colorado 20th-century synagogues in the United States Conservadox Jewish organizations established in 1996 Orthodox synagogues in the United States Synagogues completed in 1969 Synagogues in Denver

History

Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol

Merged congregation

See also

References

External links