The Southern Tour

I rarely go to a synagogue here in Philadelphia, but whenever I visit a city with a synagogue worth visiting, i.e., an old, historic one, I always make it a point to check it out. It’s a paradox, huh?

So it was with my recent swing down south. I was heading to Charleston, S.C. and Savannah, GA, and was eager to visit the historic synagogues in those cities. Because I work in a Jewish history museum, and because the museum shares its location with historic Congregation Mikveh Israel, one of the original colonial congregations and historic in its own right, I had a passing familiarity in, and a professional interest, the two southern sites. Plus, as noted before, I like going to synagogues when I don't have to pray.

Charleston’s Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (sanctuary below) was established in 1749, but the current structure was dedicated in 1841. The congregation’s first synagogue was destroyed in a fire, a fate that apparently befell many a structure in Charleston. It seemed that every historic building in Charleston had the same prologue: “The original church … synagogue …outhouse … you name the structure, burned down and what you are seeing is the one that replaced it.”

Kahol Kadosh was impressively old and southern, or so it seemed to me, and it included an excellent, small exhibition about the history of Jewry in Charleston.

Savannah’s Congregation Mickve Israel (below) was the more impressive structure. As its website declares, it is America’s only gothic style synagogue. Its first synagogue, a small wooden structure was destroyed by – yep, you guessed it, fire in 1829. The current building was consecrated in 1878. Mickve Israel also had a nice exhibition.

The synagogue was on Monterey Square, one of many wonderful squares that Savannah is known for by everyone, apparently, in the United States and more than a few Belgians and no doubt some Burkina Fasoians. But not me. I hadn’t had time to research the city before I went there. It is an exceptionally beautiful city.

But the real treasure for me was the synagogue (below) I stumbled upon in Beaufort, S.C., on the way to Savannah. I was driving around, looking for historic homes in Beaufort, and spotted a building that looked interesting. It was an arsenal, and right behind the arsenal was a synagogue. It didn’t have the grandness of the Charleston or Savannah synagogues. It was a simple structure and reminded me of the roadside churches – and there are lots of them – that dot the road from Charleston to Savannah.

According to the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina website, congregation members at one time rented a room on the second floor of the arsenal (on right in front of synagogue). The white clapboard synagogue was dedicated in 1908.

It was locked up, so I couldn’t go in. But it was a delightful find and, best of all, as far as I know, it has never caught on fire.