The Mizpah congregation is a

Reform Jewish Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous rev ...

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 923 McCallie Avenue in

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

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 1866, the congregation has erected synagogues in 1882, 1904, and its current site, in 1928 that was designated in 1979 as a Tennessee Historical Preservation Site.

History

A Jewish settlement in Chattanooga can be traced back to before the

US Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded f ...

. However, it wasn't until after the war that the Jewish community was really established. In 1860 German immigrants Fannie Schwartzenberg Bach and Jacob Bach made their home there. The Bach family started holding services in their home six years later, Jacob Bach becoming the congregation's first

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 ...

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

, and ritual slaughterer. That same year 21 young Jewish men organized a group called Chebra Gamilas Chaced, which was changed a year later to the Hebrew Benevolence Association. The group received an official state

charter 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 ...

in 1867. The group then purchased land for Jewish community members on the corner of East Third and Collins Street, for a total of $225. In 1869 the congregation got a new volunteer

, E.K. Fischer, who served in this capacity for two years, opening a Jewish religious day school. In 1871 he stepped down for health reasons. Dr. Marx Block then took control of the congregation. It was under Block and his wife, Delphine, that the Jewish community in Chattanooga grew. In 1877 the Hebrew Ladies Aid Society was founded with 33 women. The Congregation's first temple was built in 1882 on Walnut Street near fifth. The group adopted the name Mitzpah, which in

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 ...

means "overlook", or "lookout", which refers to

Lookout Mountain Lookout Mountain is a mountain ridge at the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southeastern Tennessee state line in Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain was the scene of the 18th-century "La ...

. The t was later dropped, changing the name to Mizpaw. Twenty-two years later, in 1904 a new synagogue was built, due to the growth of the congregation, on the corner of Lindsay and Oak Street. The new building seated 350 people, and was the congregation's synagogue for twenty-four years. The Congregation received its first ordained rabbi, Moses J. Gries, in 1889 and he served the congregation until 1892. Although the congregation was not associated with the

Union of American Hebrew Congregations 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 ...

, it started using the revised edition of the union prayer book in 1899, having previously used Isaac M. Wise Minhag America. In 1928,

Adolph Ochs Adolph Simon Ochs (March 12, 1858 – April 8, 1935) was an American newspaper publisher and former owner of ''The New York Times'' and ''The Chattanooga Times'', which is now the ''Chattanooga Times Free Press''. Through his only child, Iphigene ...

, publisher of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and a former Chattanoogan involved in

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

, built the 3rd Mizpah temple. This temple located on McCallie Avenue was designated in 1979 by the Tennessee Preservation Trust, a non-profit historic preservation organization, as a Tennessee Preservation Site.

References

External links

* {{Synagogues in the United States Buildings and structures in Chattanooga, Tennessee Culture of Chattanooga, Tennessee German-Jewish culture in the United States German-American culture in Tennessee Jews and Judaism in Appalachia Reform synagogues in Tennessee 1866 establishments in Tennessee 20th-century synagogues in the United States Jewish organizations established in 1866 Synagogues completed in 1928