1300 Whaley Street Columbia SC January 15, 2017 BETH SHALOM CEMETERY In 1883 members of Columbia’s Jewish community founded the Hebrew Cemetery Society of Columbia as an alternative to the Hebrew Benevolent Society’s cemetery, which had been established in 1822. The organization purchased a 4-acre tract bounded by Indigo (Whaley), Lower (Heyward), Marion, and Sumter streets as […]
December 11, 2016 Columbia SC Tree of Life Synagogue In 1896 members of 18 Jewish families assembled to worship at the Independent Fire Company’s station overlooking Sidney Park. Organized as Etz Chayim (Tree of Life), this group’s members embraced Judaism’s Reform branch or liberal movement. In 1907, members moved into the first temple built in […]
November 9, 2008Columbia SC Columbia’s First SynagogueIn 1846 the Columbia Hebrew Benevolent Society Hall built a frame building on this site for the Israelite Sunday School which met on the first floor. The society organized the first formal congregation in Columbia, which was named Sherith Israel (Remnant of Israel) with its synagogue on the second […]
Columbia, SC The Jewish community in Columbia has existed since the early 19th century. As in other early American cities, many of the town’s first Jewish settlers were Sephardic, with ancestors from Spain or Portugal. In 1846, Columbia’s first congregation was organized and given the name Sharit Israel—the same name that religious traditionalists in Charleston […]