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Learn about our past and join us on our path forward in Lancaster, PA.
(There is now a digital archive of Congregation Shaarai Shomayim.  Access for researchers can be arranged by contacting the Temple office)

OUR HISTORY

 

Lancaster, PA may seem an unlikely landmark for American Jewish history, yet Jews have been here since the early 18th century and our congregation's cemetery is the fourth oldest Jewish burial ground in North America.

 

In 1740, Joseph Simon became the first practicing Jew to make a permanent home in Lancaster. He and a handful of relatives formed the core of Lancaster's first Jewish community. Simon provided a room in his home for worship, purchased two Torahs (bequeathed by Simon to Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia) and hired and housed the ritual slaughterers. In 1747, he and his friend Isaac Nunes Henriques, purchased a plot of land for a burial ground "for the Society of Jews in and about Lancaster." This cemetery on the north side of Liberty Street between Lime and Shippen Streets is still in use by the Congregation and has five headstones that date from the colonial period. Unable to find Jewish marriage partners in Lancaster, the children of these early settlers gradually left Lancaster and settled elsewhere. On Simon's death in 1804, there were no Jews left in Lancaster. 

 

By the mid-1800s, Jews began to return and in February 1855, Jacob Herzog, a shopkeeper, convened a meeting to establish a formal Jewish congregation. A group of twenty one men chose the name "Shaarai Shomayim" - "The Gates of Heaven" - and on November 17, 1856, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania granted the congregation its official charter. The congregation celebrates its history annually with a special "Charter Shabbat" service on the Friday evening closest to that date.

 

In those early years, Shaarai Shomayim services were held in members' homes or in rooms in stores owned by members. By September 1867, the congregation had its first permanent spiritual home, a small single story building at the corner of East Orange and North Christian streets. This building, generally known both by members and the community as the Orange Street Synagogue remained in use until the congregation moved to its present home at the northwest corner of Duke and James streets in 1896.

 

In its first decades, worship at Shaarai Shomayim was more or less Orthodox in style. German was the language of services, of the religious school, and of the congregation's records. Shaarai Shomayim's first professional rabbi, 30-year old European-trained Morris Ungerleider, started to nudge the congregation toward Classical Reform Judaism in 1884. It was officially adopted in 1888.

 

Until the 1970s, Shaarai Shomayim remained a Classical Reform congregation. Services were conducted in English with only a smattering of Hebrew and limited congregational participation. Musical accompaniment consisted of a paid choir and organ. By the 1980s, traditional practices began to reclaim their place in the life of the congregation. Renovations to the sanctuary in 1991 reflected a new, more inclusive style of worship. 

 

While services continue in the 1896 sanctuary, our temple building has been expanded and refashioned. A building at 508 North Duke Street purchased in 1929 to provide classrooms for the religious school and office space was demolished in 1999 to enlarge the social hall space. Property purchased in 1959 for the new religious school, which was built in 1960 and was incorporated into the construction project in 2000.

Growth in membership, growth in physical facilities, and growth in activities all combine to capture the recent history of Congregation Shaarai Shomayim. Individual Rabbis working with lay leaders responded to changes in Reform Jewish practice to continually update worship and religious education. Increased membership and activity necessitated numerous expansions and modificiations of our city property. Reawakening to the concept of tikkun olam has led to more social action both within our community and beyond.

 

Congregation Shaarai Shomayim remains a dynamic congregation that while remaining true to its long and proud history, is always looking forward.

Throughout its 167 year history, Congregation Shaarai Shomayim and its members have taken very seriously its responsibility to represent the Jewish community within the broader Lancaster community. We have been fortunate that over the years our Rabbis have been well respected and leaders in interfaith, civic and social justice activities within the greater Lancaster community.

Our Cemetery

Shaarai Shomayim maintains the 4th oldest Jewish cemetery in the United States.

 

In 1747 Joseph Simon, the most important Jew of colonial Lancaster, co-deeded the oldest section of our cemetery “in trust for the Society of Jews in and around Lancaster to have and use the same as a burying ground.” In 1903 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declared that our congregation was the successor of the colonial “Society of Jews”. Over the years  adjoining land has been secured. We take seriously our responsibility to honor those buried by maintaining and protecting this sacred burial ground.

 

BURIALS IN OUR CEMETERY

 

A complete listing of the almost 700 burials in our cemetery dating from 1753 can be found on these two websites: Findagrave.com and JewishGen.org. Both websites are free to use but may require registration. In addition to tombstone inscriptions, they may include tombstone and deceased photos, full dates of birth and death, place of birth and death and links to parents and spouse. They both have excellent search engines. Findagrave.com will also allow you to add photos of the deceased and by their edit process add obituaries, notes and corrections. Within the Jewishgen.org website the “burial registry” is under the Databases tab.

 

In addition the Temple office has a hard copy of our census.

 

Findagrave.com also has the burials for local Orthodox congregation Degel Israel (from the late 1800's) and Conservative congregation Beth El (from the mid 1940's).

Want to read more information? David Brener will capture your attention as you read the full history of Congregation Shaarai Shomayim in his book, The Jews of Lancaster, PA: A Story with Two Beginnings. Click here to read his incredible account!

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