Congregation Ahavath Chesed

{{Short description|Reform Jewish synagogue in Florida, US}} {{for|the synagogue in New York City formerly known as Ahavath Chesed|Central Synagogue (Manhattan)}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Congregation Ahavath Chesed | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = | religious_affiliation = [[Reform Judaism]] | tradition = | sect = | district = | prefecture = | province = | region = | deity = | rite = | festival =  | organisational_status = [[Synagogue]] | ownership = | governing_body = | leadership = {{ubl|Rabbi Maya Glasser|Rabbi Ashley Englander}} | bhattaraka = | patron = | consecration_year = | functional_status = Active | religious_features_label = | religious_features = | location = 8727 San Jose Boulevard, [[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]], [[Florida]] 32217 | locale = | municipality = | cercle = | state = | country = United States | map_type = Florida | map_size = 250 | map_alt = | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in [[Florida]] | grid_name = | grid_position = | sector = | territory = | administration = | coordinates = {{coord|30.221475|-81.615742|region:US-FL_type:landmark|display=it|format=dms}} | coordinates_footnotes = | heritage_designation = | architect = | architecture_type = Synagogue | architecture_style = | founded_by = | creator = | funded_by = | general_contractor = | established = 1880 {{small|(as a congregation)}} | groundbreaking = | year_completed = {{ubl|1882 {{small|(Laura and Union Sts.)}}|1910 {{small|(Laura and Ashley Sts.)}}|{{circa|1927}} {{small|(in [[Riverside and Avondale|Riverside]])}}|1979 {{small|(San Jose Boulevard)}}}} | construction_cost = | date_destroyed = {{ubl|The [[Great Fire of 1901]] {{small|(Laura and Union)}}|1940 fire {{small|(in [[Riverside and Avondale|Riverside]])}}}} | facade_direction = | capacity = | length = | width = | width_nave = | interior_area = | height_max = | dome_quantity = | dome_height_outer = | dome_height_inner = | dome_dia_outer = | dome_dia_inner = | minaret_quantity = | minaret_height = | spire_quantity = | spire_height = | site_area = | temple_quantity = | monument_quantity = | shrine_quantity = | inscriptions = | materials = | elevation_m =  | elevation_footnotes = | nrhp = | designated = | added = | refnum = | delisted1_date = | website = {{URL|thetemplejacksonville.org}} | module =  | footnotes = }}

'''Congregation Ahavath Chesed''', also called '''The Temple Jacksonville''', or simply, '''The Temple''', is a [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] [[Jewish]] congregation and [[synagogue]] located at 8727 San Jose Boulevard, in [[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]], [[Florida]], in the United States. It is one of the oldest Jewish congregation in Florida and one of the first formally incorporated.

==History== Although Jews were already living in Florida in the late 18th century, the Jacksonville Hebrew Cemetery was established in 1857, one year after [[Temple Beth-El (Pensacola, Florida)|Temple Beth-El in Pensacola]], that is the [[Oldest synagogues in the United States|oldest Jewish communal institution]] in Florida.<ref name=AJYB/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishgen.org/cemetery/northamerica/fla.html |title=Florida |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607065243/http://www.jewishgen.org/cemetery/northamerica/fla.html, |archive-date=2011-06-07 |publisher=International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies |work=Cemetery Project |date=n.d. |access-date=March 26, 2009 }}</ref>

In 1867 the “Israelites of Jacksonville” formed a congregation. The congregation was primarily composed of Jews from Prussia and [[History of the Jews in Germany|Germany]].<ref name=history>{{cite web |url=http://www.thetemplejacksonville.org/home/aboutus/history |title=History |work=Temple Beth Israel |date= |access-date=March 26, 2009 }}</ref> For a number of years an organization called the Hebrew Benevolent Society also existed.<ref name=OlitzkyRaphaelp99>{{cite book |author1-link=Kerry Olitzky |author1=Olitzky, Kerry M. |author2=Raphael, Marc Lee |title=The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group|Greenwood Press]] |location= |date=June 30, 1996 |isbn=0-313-28856-9 |page=99 }}</ref> Congregation Ahavath Chesed was organized in 1880.<ref name=AJYB>{{cite book |title=American Jewish Year Book |publisher=[[Jewish Publication Society of America]], [[American Jewish Committee]] |location= |year=1907 |page=150 |isbn= }}</ref> This congregation, led by Jacksonville's Jewish Mayor, Morris A. Dzialynski, received a legal charter in 1882.<ref name=OlitzkyRaphaelp99/>

[[File:Ahaveth Chesed Synogogue, 723 Laura Street, Jacksonville, Duval County, FL HABS FLA,16-JACK,5- (sheet 3 of 4).png|thumb|1975 reproduced sketch of the 1910 synagogue at 723 Laura Street.]] The congregation hired Rabbi Marx Moses, and dedicated its first synagogue on September 8, 1882.<ref name=history/> This building was destroyed by the [[Great Fire of 1901]] and replaced by a [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] building, completed in 1910.<ref>{{cite news |title=New Temple Dedicated, Ahavath Chesed of Jacksonville (Fla.) Has Impressive Ceremonies |work=American Israelite |date=October 6, 1910 |page= }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://synagoguesofthesouth.cofc.edu/synagogues/jacksonville-fl-congregation-bnai-israel-1909/ |title=Jacksonville, FL ~ Congregation B'nai Israel (1909) |work=Synagogues of the South |publisher=[[College of Charleston]] |date=2024 |access-date=January 12, 2024}}</ref> This building has subsequently been demolished and the site is occupied as part of the [[First Baptist Church of Jacksonville]] and associated school, the First Baptist Academy.<ref>{{cite news |author=Davis, Ennis |url=https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/first-baptist-churchs-historic-demolition-derby/ |title=First Baptist Church's historic demolition derby |work=The Jaxson Mag |date=April 6, 2020 |access-date=January 12, 2024 }}</ref>

In 1927, the congregation purchased a residential building<ref>{{cite news |author= |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/florida-community-absorbed-in-congregation-activities |title=Florida Community Absorbed in Congregation Activities |work=[[Jewish Telegraph Agency]] (Archive) |date=February 21, 1928 |access-date=January 12, 2024 }}</ref> designed by [[Henry Klutho]] in [[Riverside and Avondale|Riverside]], at the corner of St. Johns Avenue and Mallory Street. After remodelling as a synagogue, that building was destroyed by a fire in 1940, with the subsequent loss of all of the congregation's records. The congregation rebuilt and eventually moved to its current location on San Jose Boulevard.<ref>{{cite news |author=Wanser, Mary |url=https://residentnews.net/2023/07/13/the-temple-celebrates-140-years-of-deep-roots-in-jacksonville/ |title=The Temple celebrates 140 years of deep roots in Jacksonville |work=Resident Community News |date=July 13, 2023 |access-date=January 12, 2024 }}</ref>

==See also== {{stack|{{portal|Judaism|Florida}}}} * [[History of the Jews in South Florida]] * [[List of the oldest synagogues in the United States]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{official website|http://www.thetemplejacksonville.org/}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahavath Chesed (Jacksonville, Florida)}} [[Category:1880 establishments in Florida]] [[Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Florida]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Jacksonville, Florida]] [[Category:Downtown Jacksonville]] [[Category:German-American culture in Florida]] [[Category:German-Jewish culture in the United States]] [[Category:Laura Street]] [[Category:Reform synagogues in Florida]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1880]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1882]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1910]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1927]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1979]]