Mount Zion Temple

{{short description|Reform synagogue in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States}} {{Use American English|date=August 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Mount Zion Temple | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = MtZionMN.jpg | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = Mount Zion Temple, in 2017 | religious_affiliation = [[Reform Judaism]] | tradition = | sect = | district = | prefecture = | province = | region = | deity = | rite = | festival =  | organisational_status = [[Synagogue]] | ownership = | governing_body = | leadership = {{ubl|Rabbi Adam Spilker|Rabbi Esther Adler}} | bhattaraka = | patron = | consecration_year = | functional_status = Active | religious_features_label = | religious_features = | location = 1300 [[Summit Avenue (St. Paul)|Summit Avenue]], [[St. Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]], [[Minnesota]] 55105 | locale = | municipality = | cercle = | state = | country = United States | map_type = USA Minneapolis–Saint Paul | map_size = 250 | map_alt = | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in [[St. Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]], [[Minnesota]] | grid_name = | grid_position = | sector = | territory = | administration = | coordinates = {{coords|44|56|27|N|93|9|19|W|region:US-MN_type:landmark|display=it|format=dms}} | coordinates_footnotes = | heritage_designation = | architect = [[Erich Mendelsohn]] | architecture_type = Synagogue | architecture_style = | founded_by = | creator = | funded_by = | general_contractor = Naugle-Leck<ref name=Docomomo_US_MN>[https://www.docomomo-us-mn.org/modern-registry.html Minnesota Modern Registry], Docomomo US MN, accessed December 6, 2024.</ref> | established = 1856 {{small|(as a congregation)}} | groundbreaking = | year_completed = {{ubl|{{nowrap|1871 {{small|(10th and Minnesota Sts.)}}}}|1900 {{small|(Holly and Avon Sts.)}}|1954 {{small|(Summit Ave.)}}}} | 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|mzion.org}} | module =  | footnotes = }}

'''Mount Zion Temple''' is a [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] [[synagogue]] in [[St. Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]], [[Minnesota]], United States. It is the [[Oldest synagogues in the United States|oldest Jewish congregation]] in the state, founded in 1856 as '''Mount Zion Hebrew Association''' in [[Minnesota Territory]]. Its architecturally significant [[mid-century modern]] building is located on [[Summit Avenue (St. Paul)|Summit Avenue]].

== History == Founded in 1856 by eight [[History of Jews in Germany|German-Jewish]] families, Mount Zion Hebrew Association (as it was then called) was the first Jewish congregation in Minnesota. Through the 1860s the congregation met in rented rooms around St. Paul before their first building was completed in 1871, located at East Tenth Street and Minnesota Street in the Lowertown district.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://purl.umn.edu/180451|title = Mount Zion Temple records.|date = |access-date = February 10, 2016|website = Upper Midwest Jewish Archives|publisher = |last = |first = }}</ref> Early on the congregation was divided by a group called Ahabath Ahim,{{efn|{{langx|he|אהבת אחים||Brotherly Love}}}} which branched off then returned.<ref name="Olitzky1996p189-191">[[Kerry Olitzky|Olitzky, Kerry M.]]; Raphael, Marc Lee. ''The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook'', [[Greenwood Publishing Group|Greenwood Press]], June 30, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-313-28856-2}}, pp. 189–191.</ref> Rabbi Leopold Wintner began as Mount Zion's first and Minnesota's first [[rabbi]] in 1871; the same year that the congregation built the first synagogue in the state;<ref>Rosenblum, Gene H. ''Jewish Pioneers of St. Paul, 1849–1874'' [[Arcadia Publishing]], 2001, {{ISBN|0-7385-1862-X}}, p. 79.</ref> and founded the Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society, members of which organized Neighborhood House to serve immigrants in the community.<ref>Berman, Hyman; Mack Schloff, Linda. ''Jews in Minnesota'', Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2002, {{ISBN|0-87351-418-1}}</ref> The rabbis and congregants of Mount Zion are still board members of Neighborhood House.<ref>Rosenblum, Gene. ''The Lost Jewish Community of the West Side Flats, 1882–1962'', [[Arcadia Publishing]], 2002, {{ISBN|0-7385-1986-3}}, pp. 59–60.</ref> In 1878, Mount Zion congregation joined the Reform Movement.

Emanuel Hess, who had been born in Meerholz, Germany in 1845, became rabbi in 1888.<ref name=Brock2003p35>Brock, Eric J. ''The Jewish Community of Shreveport'', [[Arcadia Publishing]], 2003. {{ISBN|978-0-7385-1488-8}}, p. 35.</ref> He had previously served as rabbi of [[Temple Israel (Columbus, Ohio)|Temple Israel]] of Columbus, Ohio in 1876–1877,<ref name=Olitzky1996p290>[[Kerry Olitzky|Olitzky, Kerry M.]]; Raphael, Marc Lee. ''The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook'', [[Greenwood Publishing Group|Greenwood Press]], 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-313-28856-2}}, p. 290.</ref> and then Congregation B'nai Zion in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he served until 1888. Hess was rabbi of Mount Zion until his death in 1906.<ref name=Brock2003p35/>

In the 1940s the congregation participated in recreations such as "The Jewish Home Beautiful" which shared traditions of daily life.<ref>[[Jonathan D. Sarna|Sarna, Jonathan D.]] ''American Judaism: A History'', [[Yale University Press]], 2005, {{ISBN|0-300-10976-8}}, pp. 269–270.</ref> In 1948, began the leadership of Rabbi [[Gunther Plaut]], who published books on the congregation's history<ref>[[Gunther Plaut|Plaut, W. Gunther]]. ''Mount Zion, 1856–1956: The First Hundred Years,'' North Central Pub. Co., 1956.</ref> and on the [[Jewish history]] of Minnesota.

In the 1950s, the congregation chose the prominent avant-garde architect [[Erich Mendelsohn]] to design a building for them on a hill on Summit Avenue. After projects in Europe, the Soviet Union, Israel, and America, this was his final building, breaking ground in 1952 and completed after his death in 1953.<ref>Kidder Smith, George Everard. ''Source Book of American Architecture: 500 Notable Buildings from the 10th Century to the Present'', [[Princeton Architectural Press]], 1996, {{ISBN|1-56898-025-6}}, p. 409.</ref><ref name=Docomomo_US_MN/> Completed in late 1954, the farewell service in the old temple building at Avon St & Holly Ave took place on Friday, December 17, 1954, with dedication of the new building on Sunday, December 19, 1954, installing the [[Torah]] scrolls and lighting an "eternal light" on the altar of the main sanctuary—intended to burn continuously; Rabbi [[Gunther Plaut]] stated it was the first such continuously burning light in the United States.<ref name=MT12181954>"Mount Zion Temple to Be Dedicated," ''The Minneapolis Star'', December 18, 1954.</ref>

In 2002, the Mount Zion Temple was part of a radio program that detailed their restoration of Torah scrolls.<ref>Friend, Beth. [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1143578 "Torah Restoration'"], ''[[National Public Radio]]'', 18 May 2002.</ref> In 2007, 690 families were members of the congregation.<ref>Roberts, Kate. ''Minnesota 150: The People, Places, and Things That Shape Our State'', Minnesota Historical Society, 2007, {{ISBN|0-87351-594-3}}, p. 128.</ref> {{As of|2025}} the rabbis were Adam Stock Spilker, Esther Adler, and Heather Renetzky. The [[hazzan|cantors]] were Rachel Stock Spilker and Jen Strauss-Klein.<ref>{{cite web |work=Mount Zion Temple |url=https://mzion.org/about/clergy-and-staff/ |title=Clergy/Staff |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250502233337/https://mzion.org/about/clergy-and-staff/ |archive-date=2025-05-02 |access-date=May 21, 2025 |date= }}{{self-published-inline|date=May 2025}}</ref>

== Gallery == <gallery> 2025-1011 Mount Zion Temple Sanctuary.jpg|Main sanctuary Interior of Mt. Zion Temple (4419533380).jpg|Sanctuary in 1954, before modifications to bimah 2025-1011 Mount Zion Temple Chapel.jpg|Harris Chapel MtZionTemple-1875.jpg|The first Mount Zion Temple, in 1875 2017MtZionMN.jpg|The building and grounds, in 2017 FlameArkMtZionMN.jpg|The Torah ark </gallery>

== See also == * [[List of synagogues in Minnesota]]

== Notes == {{notelist}}

== References == {{Reflist|2}}

== External links == * {{Official website|http://www.mzion.org/ }} * Finding aid to the [http://purl.umn.edu/180451 Mount Zion Temple records] at the [https://www.lib.umn.edu/umja Upper Midwest Jewish Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries].

== Further reading == * Wark, M. A. B., Melamed, N., Ross, H. C., Kelberg, F., & Mount Zion Hebrew Congregation (Saint Paul, Minn.). (2009). ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/457179984 Mount Zion Temple 150th anniversary commemorative book: 2006-2007/5766-5767]''. Saint Paul, MN: Mount Zion Hebrew Congregation.

[[Category:1856 establishments in Minnesota Territory]] [[Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Saint Paul, Minnesota]] [[Category:Erich Mendelsohn buildings]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1856]] [[Category:Jews and Judaism in Minneapolis–Saint Paul]] [[Category:Modernist architecture in Minnesota]] [[Category:Modernist synagogues]] [[Category:Reform synagogues in Minnesota]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1871]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1900]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1956]]