Shaarie Torah is a Conservative Jewish congregation and synagogue in Portland, Oregon, United States. The congregation was founded in 1858, while Oregon was still a territory, and built its first synagogue in 1859.

Architecture

Temple Beth Israel, a Reform Congregation at N.W. 19th and Flanders continues to serve the congregation. The congregation's first building was a modest, single story, pitched-roof, wood-framed, clapboard building with Gothic, pointed-arch windows and door. This early structure was replaced by an 1889 synagogue building, which was destroyed by fire in December 1923."Fire Destroys Big Synagogue" (December 30, 1923). ''

The Sunday Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', pp. 1, 6. Designed by Portland architect

Warren H. Williams Warren Hedley Williams (born 27 December 1963) is an Aboriginal Australian singer, musician and songwriter from Hermannsburg, Northern Territory, Hermannsburg in Central Australia. As of 2013 he worked as a Radio personality, broadcaster on Cent ...

, the building, called Moorish revival design in some sources, is elsewhere described as a combination of eclectic and

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

styles, with two towers topped by bulbous domes. '' The Oregonian'' newspaper in 1923 described its style as "semi-Gothic and Mooresque". It was located at S.W. 12th and Main streets in downtown Portland. Its two towers were tall, and the main interior space measured , and featured an arched ceiling 52 feet high. It was replaced in 1928 by a notable Neo-Byzantine synagogue building at N.W. 19th and Flanders that continues to serve the congregation. It was listed as Temple Beth Israel on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It is considered one of the finest examples of Byzantine-style architecture on the

west coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

, and was inspired by the Alte Synagoge (Steelerstrasse Synagogue) in

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

, Germany. The interior of Steelerstrasse, the first modern synagogue in Germany, was praised as Germany's most beautiful; it was destroyed during Kristallnacht. A new synagogue opened on May 15, 1960, at Park Avenue and Jackson Street, but it was demolished a few years later due to the construction of Interstate 405. The current synagogue at 920 Northwest 25th Avenue was dedicated on June 13, 1965.

References

External links

Congregation Shaarie Torah
(official website)
Congregation Beth Israel
(official website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaarie Torah 1928 establishments in Oregon Byzantine Revival architecture in Oregon Byzantine Revival synagogues Conservative synagogues in Oregon Jews and Judaism in Portland, Oregon Northwest District, Portland, Oregon Religious buildings and structures in Portland, Oregon

Architecture

See also

References

External links