B'nai Israel Synagogue and Montefiore Cemetery

For similarly named synagogues, see B'nai Israel.

B'nai Israel Synagogue
The synagogue, in 2010
Religion
Affiliation	Reform Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Synagogue
Leadership	Lay–led
Status	Active
Location
Location	601 Cottonwood Street, Grand Forks, North Dakota
Country	United States
Location in North Dakota
Geographic coordinates	47°54′58.2″N 97°1′58.3″W
Architecture
Architect(s)	Joseph Bell DeRemer
Type	Synagogue architecture
Style	Art Deco
General contractor	Skarsbro and Thorwaldson
Date established	1891 (as a congregation)
Completed	1937
Construction cost	$14,000
Website
bnaiisraelnd.org
B'nai Israel Synagogue and Montefiore Cemetery
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
NRHP reference No.	11000745
Added to NRHP	October 13, 2011
[1]

Montefiore Cemetery
Details
Established	1888
Location	1450 N. Columbia Road, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58203
Country	United States
Coordinates	47°56′01″N 97°03′59″W
Footnotes	[1]

B'nai Israel Synagogue and Montefiore Cemetery in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in the United States, consists of a Reform Jewish congregation and its synagogue; and the congregation's related cemetery. Both the synagogue building and the cemetery were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

B'nai Israel Synagogue

The B'nai Israel Synagogue (transliterated from Hebrew as "Sons / Children of Israel") is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 601 Cottonwood Street, in Grand Forks.

The congregation was chartered on August 26, 1891; founded by Eastern European Jews, including Jews fleeing pogroms in Russia and Lithuanian Jews. The first building, a wooden synagogue called the Congregation of the Children of Israel, was built in 1891 at 2nd Avenue, South & 7th Street.

The second and current synagogue was built in 1937, designed by Grand Forks architect, Joseph Bell DeRemer, in the Art Deco style of architecture, and built by local builders Skarsbro and Thorwaldson at a cost of $14,000.

In the early 1990s, B'nai Israel joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism).^[2]

The synagogue has been without a permanent rabbi since 1987.

Montefiore Cemetery

Montefiore Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery located at 1450 North Columbia Road, in Grand Forks. The cemetery dates from 1888. The Montefiore Cemetery in Grand Forks is one of many institutions named in honor of Sir Moses Montefiore.^[3]

Heritage listing

On October 13, 2011, the B'nai Israel Synagogue and the Montefiore Cemetery were jointly added to the National Register of Historic Places, as one listing.^[4][5][6][7]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. Lieberman, Victor. "The Early History". B'nai Israel Synagogue. Retrieved February 22, 2013.^{[self-published source?]}
3. "Sir Moses Montefiore". Chabad.org.
4. "NRHP weekly listing". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. October 21, 2011.
5. "Congregation of the Children of Israel synagogue" (image). Digital Horizon Online.
6. "Grand Forks County, North Dakota". Jewish Cemetery Project.
7. Papermaster, Isadore. "History of the North Dakota Jewish Community" (PDF). Union for Reform Judaism.^{[permanent dead link]}

External links

• B'nai Israel Synagogue official website
• Montefiore Cemetery at Find A Grave
• Finneman, Teri (August 26, 2011). "North Dakota Sites Recommended for NRHP". Area voices. North Dakota. Archived from the original on September 14, 2011.
• Porter Ph.D, Dr. Kimberly K. (Winter 2008). "Taking the University to the People: Experiential Education via Oral History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 27, 2021.
• Smith, Gladys. "Jewish Life in a Small North Dakota Town, circa 1940s". Museum of Family History. Grand Forks.