Ahead of you is a striking building with red brick walls, a huge rounded dome rising above, and intricate stonework-just look for that impressive dome peeking up from behind the trees.
Alright, welcome to Congregation Beth Israel, a synagogue with a history that stretches all the way back to Oregon’s wild frontier days-before Oregon was even a state! Picture this: it’s 1858, and the city’s Jewish community is small but determined, building their very first wooden synagogue, just a single story with Gothic windows. Now, fast-forward to 1889, and things get fancy with a grand new building designed with tall towers and bulbous domes, reaching 165 feet up-imagine those domes gleaming in Portland’s rain, almost like two mighty onions on tiptoe! Sadly, disaster struck in 1923 when a fierce fire roared through the night. But the story doesn’t end there-out of the ashes, a new vision took shape. By 1928, Beth Israel rose again, this time with Neo-Byzantine flair inspired by the famous synagogue of Essen, Germany. Gazing up now, you stand in front of one the west coast’s finest synagogues, echoing with almost 150 years of joyful celebration, solemn prayers, and maybe just a little bit of chutzpah!
