Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue, located at 90 Hassell Street, was founded as a Sephardic Orthodox congregation in 1749, making it the fourth oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. In 1824, petitions to change the Sephardic Orthodox liturgy were denied, leading to the resignation of liberal congregants, led by Isaac Harby and Abraham Moise, who, influenced by the Hamburg Reform Congregation in Germany, and organized The Reformed Society of Israelites. This pioneering movement of Reform Judaism led to KKBE’s role as one of the founding synagogues of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, now Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), in 1873. The current colonnaded building, constructed in 1840 by David L. Lopez to the Greek Revival design of architects Tappan and Noble and work plans by Cyrus L. Warner, is the second oldest synagogue building in the United States and the oldest in continuous use. It replaces the 1794 cupolated Georgian style temple destroyed during the great Charleston fire of 1838. The iron fence surrounding the temple survives from the original construction, as do the bases of two menorahs on either side of the Bimah.
National Register #78002499 (1978)
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