Congregation Shaare Emeth

{{short description|Reform synagogue in Creve Coeur, Missouri, United States}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Congregation Shaare Emeth | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Congregation Shaare Emeth.jpg | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = Interior of the synagogue, in 2007 | religious_affiliation = [[Reform Judaism]] | tradition = | sect = | district = | prefecture = | province = | region = | deity = | rite = | festival =  | organisational_status = [[Synagogue]] | ownership = | governing_body = | leadership = {{ubl|Rabbi Jim Bennett|{{nowrap|Rabbi Andrea Goldstein}}|Rabbi Rachel Bearman|Rabbi Lori Levine {{small|(Education)}}|Rabbi Jeffrey Stiffman {{small|(Emeritus)}} }} | bhattaraka = | patron = | consecration_year = | functional_status = Active | religious_features_label = | religious_features = | location = 11645 Ladue Road, [[Creve Coeur, Missouri|Creve Coeur]], [[St. Louis County, Missouri|St. Louis County]], [[Missouri]] 63141 | locale = | municipality = | cercle = | state = | country = United States | map_type = Missouri | map_size = 250 | map_alt = | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in [[Missouri]] | grid_name = | grid_position = | sector = | territory = | administration = | coordinates = {{coord|38.656389|-90.441111|region:US-MO_type:landmark|format=dms|display=it}} | coordinates_footnotes = | heritage_designation = | architect = | architecture_type = Synagogue | architecture_style = | founded_by = | creator = | funded_by = | general_contractor = | established = 1867 {{small|(as a congregation)}} | groundbreaking = | year_completed = {{ubl|1869 {{small|(17th and Pine Sts.)}}|1897 {{small|(Lindell Street)}}|1934 {{small|([[University City, Missouri|University City]])}}|1980 {{small|(Creve Coeur)}}}} | construction_cost = | date_demolished =  | 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|sestl.org}} | module =  | footnotes = }} '''Congregation Shaare Emeth''' ([[transliterated]] from [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] as "Gates of Truth") is a [[Union for Reform Judaism|Reform Jewish]] congregation and [[synagogue]] located at 11645 Ladue Road, in [[Creve Coeur, Missouri|Creve Coeur]], [[St. Louis County, Missouri|St. Louis County]], [[Missouri]], in the United States.

== History == Founded in [[St. Louis]] in 1867, out of the [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] B’nai El congregation, Shaare Emeth constructed its first synagogue building at 17th and Pine Streets in 1869, designed by Thomas Brady and Otto H. Stickel in the [[Moorish Revival architecture|Moorish Revival]] style,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Simmons, David J. |title=The Architecture of Nineteenth-Century Synagogues in St. Louis |journal=Society of Architectural Historians Missouri Valley |volume=12 |number=4 |date=Winter 2006 |pages=1–8 |doi= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Wischnitzer, Rachel |title=Synagogue Architecture in the United States: History and Interpretation |location=Philadelphia |publisher=Jewish Publication Society of America |year=1955 |isbn= |pages= }}</ref><ref name=OR200>{{cite book |author1=Olitzky, Kerry M. |author1-link=Kerry M. Olitzky |author2=Raphael, Marc Lee |title=The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |location=Westport |year=1996 |pages=200–201 |isbn=9780313288562 }}</ref> with tow [[onion dome]]s.<ref>{{cite web |author=Gruber, Samuel D. |url=https://synagoguesofthesouth.cofc.edu/synagogues/st-louis-mo-congregation-shaare-emeth-1869/ |title=Congregation Shaare Emeth (1869) |work=Synagogues of the South |publisher=College of Charleston |date=2024 |access-date=January 2, 2024 }}</ref> Rabbi [[Solomon H. Sonneschein]] was the congregation's first [[rabbi]], who later went on to be founding rabbi at [[Congregation Temple Israel (Creve Coeur, Missouri)|Congregation Temple Israel]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=A Centennial History of Congregation Temple Israel |last=Rosenkranz |first=Samuel |publisher=Congregation Temple Israel, Creve Coeur, Missouri |year=1986 |pages=1–77 |lccn=85-73578}}</ref>

The 1869 synagogue was replaced by the [[Richardsonian Romanesque architecture|Richardsonian Romanesque]]-style building designed by Link, Rosenheim, and Ittner, completed in 1897. With seating for 1,000 worshippers, the building was notable due to its {{convert|25|sqft|m2|adj=on}} tower, some {{convert|140|ft|m}} high. [[Alfred S. Alschuler]] of Chicago designed the congregation's third synagogue, located in [[University City, Missouri|University City]], completed in 1934.<ref>{{cite web |author=Gruber, Samuel D. |url=https://synagoguesofthesouth.cofc.edu/synagogues/st-louis-mo-congregation-shaare-emeth-1897/ |title=Congregation Shaare Emeth (1897) |work=Synagogues of the South |publisher=College of Charleston |date=2024 |access-date=January 2, 2024 }}</ref> In 1980, the congregation moved to Creve Coeur.

Shaare Emeth is a member of the [[Union for Reform Judaism]]. It is the oldest Reform and largest congregation in the greater St. Louis area. In addition to religious services, the Shaare Emeth has a religious school, Shirlee Green Preschool, and two summer camps, Camp Micah and Camp Emeth. In 2016, the former Orthodox B’nai El and the Reform Shaare Emeth congregations merged.

Clergy include Senior Rabbi Jim Bennett, Rabbi Andrea Goldstein, Rabbi Rachel Bearman, Cantor Seth Warner, and Rabbi Educator Lori Levine; and Rabbi Emeritus is Jeffrey Stiffman.

== Notable members == * [[Rosa Sonneschein]], [[rebbetzin]], editor, and activist for female [[synagogal]] rights<ref>{{cite book |year=1998 |title=Jewish Women in America: an Historical Encyclopedia |url=https://archive.org/details/jewishwomeniname00hyma |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0415919355 }}.</ref><ref>{{cite book |year=1997 |title=The Journey Home: Jewish Women and the American Century |url=https://archive.org/details/journeyhomejewis00antl |url-access=registration |quote=Rosa Sonneschein. |location=New York |publisher=The Free Press |isbn=0684834448}}</ref> * [[Solomon H. Sonneschein]], founding and controversial rabbi<ref name=":0"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaare Emeth}} [[Category:1867 establishments in Missouri]] [[Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1867]] [[Category:Reform synagogues in Missouri]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1869]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1897]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1934]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1980]]