Temple Gemiluth Chessed (
transliterated
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...
from
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
as "Acts of Loving Kindness") is a former
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 ...
congregation and
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 706 Church Street, in
Port Gibson
Port Gibson is a city and the county seat of Claiborne County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is bordered on the west by the Mississippi River.
The first European settlers i ...
,
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
, in the United States. Built in 1892, it is the
oldest congregation in the state and the only building completed in the
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 ...
style. The congregation was founded in 1870 by a community of Jewish immigrants from German states and
Alsace-Lorraine. Due to declining population as people moved to larger urban areas, the congregation closed in 1986.
History
The Port Gibson Jewish community was established in the 1840s by
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...
immigrants from the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
states and
Alsace-Lorraine. Working first as
peddler
A peddler (American English) or pedlar (British English) is a door-to-door and/or travelling vendor of good (economics), goods. In 19th-century United States the word "drummer" was often used to refer to a peddler or traveling salesman; as exem ...
s, they founded the Port Gibson Jewish cemetery in 1870 and built the synagogue in 1892 on Church Street. According to an 1887 deed, the Hebrew Benevolent Society of Port Gibson, incorporated in 1870, purchased the land for $300.
It is the oldest surviving synagogue in the state and the only building of this architectural style.
[ There were about 50-60 Jewish families during the peak of population at the beginning of the twentieth century.][ By then most of the men worked as merchants and cotton brokers.][
With the decline of the ]Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
towns in the later twentieth century, the Jewish community dwindled as the next generations moved to larger cities. The congregation closed in 1986.[ They donated their ]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 () ...
and artifacts to the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience
The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, or MSJE, is a private, non-profit museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. The museum explores the many ways that Jews in the American South influenced and were influenced by the distinct cultural heritage ...
in Utica, Mississippi
Utica is a town in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 820 at the 2010 census, down from 966 at the 2000 census. Utica is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Utica was originally an area known ...
.
Threatened with demolition for other development, the synagogue was sold and purchased by non-Jews, who preserved the building.
Description
The exterior features the unusual combination of a Moorish-style keyhole doorway surmounted by a Russian-style cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout.
The word derives, via Ital ...
. The windows in the turret supporting the dome are also in Moorish keyhole style. The windows on the brick main floor of the building appear from the exterior as simple arched windows.[
Based on the interior, the intentions are obvious that the congregation wanted to build a synagogue in the fashionable Moorish Revival style: the colored glass takes the form of Moorish keyhole windows set into arched, masonry window openings, a thrifty solution that gives the effect of Moorish windows without the expense of fancy brickwork. The handsome horseshoe arch of the niche for the '']aron kodesh
A Torah ark (also known as the ''hekhal'', , or ''aron qodesh'', ) is an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls.
History
The ark is also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' () or ''aron ha-Kod ...
'' is especially graceful.
See also
* History of the Jews in the United States
The history of the Jews in the United States goes back to the 1600s and 1700s. There have been Jewish communities in the United States since colonial times, with individuals living in various cities before the American Revolution. Early Jewish ...
* List of the oldest synagogues in the United States
Synagogues may be considered "oldest" based on different criteria such as oldest surviving building or oldest congregation. Some older synagogue buildings have been in continuous use as synagogues, while others have been converted to other pur ...
References
External links
{{Commons category, Gemiluth Chessed Synagogue, Port Gibson
"History of Gemiluth Chassed"
Institute of Southern Jewish Life
1870 establishments in Mississippi
19th-century synagogues in the United States
Alsatian-Jewish culture in the United States
French-American culture in Mississippi
German-American culture in Mississippi
German-Jewish culture in the United States
Jewish organizations established in 1870
Moorish Revival architecture in Mississippi
Moorish Revival synagogues
National Register of Historic Places in Claiborne County, Mississippi
Synagogues completed in 1892
Synagogues in Mississippi