Congregation Ohabai Sholom, known as The Temple, is a

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

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 ...

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 at 5015 Harding Pike, in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, in the United States. Founded in the 1840s, the congregation is notable for the elaborate,

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticism, Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mi ...

Vine Street Temple that was its home from 1874 until its demolition in 1954; replaced by its current synagogue the following year.

History

Ohabai Sholom was founded as an

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 ...

congregation in the 1840s in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Garretson on South Summer Street (5th Avenue). The congregation purchased land for a cemetery in 1851 and in 1874 dedicated the striking, Moorish Revival Vine Street Temple. In 1873 the congregation was one of the founding members of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, now the

Union for Reform Judaism The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms establ ...

. In 1945, the Temple gave Temple B'nai Israel in Tupelo, Mississippi, its first

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

. The congregation moved to its present building in 1955. Rabbi Randall Falk, who served as Senior Rabbi at the Temple from 1960 to 1986, led local clergy in Civil Rights marches and was a founding member of the Metro (Nashville) Human Relations Commission, which was established to promote integration and Civil Rights.

Notable members

* Herb Rich (1928-2008), a former professional NFL football player *

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the ...

, famed Big Band singer and national television personality from the 1940s through 1970s

References

External links

Images of the 1874 Moorish Revival building

Vine Street 1
on tennessee.gov
Vine Street Temple
on pbase.com

on nashvillewebreview.com Buildings and structures in Nashville, Tennessee Founding members of the Union for Reform Judaism Reform synagogues in Tennessee Culture of Nashville, Tennessee 1840s establishments in Tennessee Jewish organizations established in the 1840s Synagogues completed in 1874 Synagogues completed in 1955 20th-century synagogues in the United States {{DavidsonCountyTN-geo-stub