{{Short description|Reform synagogue in the US Virgin Islands}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox religious building | name = St. Thomas Synagogue | native_name = {{langx|he|קהילת קודש ברכה ושלום וגמילות חסדים}} | native_name_lang = | image = Synagogue of Beracha Veshalom Vegemiluth Hasidim, Krystalgade 16A & B, Charlotte Amalie (St. Thomas County, Virgin Islands).jpg | image_upright = | alt = | caption = St. Thomas Synagogue | religious_affiliation = [[Reform Judaism]] | tradition = | sect = | district = | prefecture = | province = | region = | deity = | rite = [[Sephardic law and customs|Sephardi]] | festival = <!-- or |festivals= --> | organisational_status = <!-- or |organizational_status= --> | ownership = | governing_body = | leadership = Rabbi Julia Margolis | bhattaraka = | patron = | consecration_year = | status = [[Synagogue]] | functional_status = Active | religious_features_label = | religious_features = | location = 2116 Crystal Gade, [[Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands|Charlotte Amalie]], [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|Saint Thomas]], [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] 00802 | locale = | municipality = | cercle = | state = | country = United States | map_type = USA Virgin Islands | map_size = 250 | map_alt = | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location on the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] | grid_name = | grid_position = | sector = | territory = | administration = | coordinates = {{coord|18|20|41|N|64|55|59|W|region-US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_footnotes = | heritage_designation = | architect = | architecture_type = | architecture_style = {{ubl|[[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival]]|[[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]]}} | founded_by = | creator = | funded_by = | general_contractor = | established = 1796 {{small|(as a congregation)}} | groundbreaking = | year_completed = {{start date|1833}} | construction_cost = | date_demolished = <!-- or |date_destroyed= --> | 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 = Rubblestone | elevation_m = <!-- or |elevation_ft= --> | elevation_footnotes = | nrhp = | designated = | added = | refnum = | delisted1_date = | website = {{url|synagogue.vi}} | module = {{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes | name = St. Thomas Synagogue | nrhp_type = nhl | designated_nrhp_type = September 25, 1997 | added = September 25, 1997 | area = less than one acre | refnum = 97001270 | nrhp_type2 = cp | designated_nrhp_type2 = July 19, 1976 | partof = [[Charlotte Amalie Historic District]] | partof_refnum = 76001860 | nocat = yes | district_map = {{Maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=300|frame-height=300|zoom=12|type=point|marker=|title=St. Thomas Synagogue}} }} | footnotes = <ref name=nhlsum>{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail2.cfm?ResourceId=-535831004&Date=&Ownership=Private&priorityname=&ResourceType=Building|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005061403/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail2.cfm?ResourceId=-535831004&Date=&Ownership=Private&priorityname=&ResourceType=Building|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 5, 2012|title=St. Thomas Synagogue |access-date=June 23, 2008 |work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref><ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> }}
'''St. Thomas Synagogue''', officially '''Congregation Beracha Veshalom Oogemiluth Hasadim''' ({{langx|he|קהילת קודש ברכה ושלום וגמילות חסדים}}) or '''The Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas''', is a historic [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] [[Jewish]] [[synagogue]] located at 2116 Crystal Gade, Queens Quarters, in [[Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands|Charlotte Amalie]] on the island of [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|Saint Thomas]] in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]]. The synagogue building was declared a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1997.<ref name=nhlsum/><ref name=nrhpinv>{{cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=97001270}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination|date=January 1997|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>
==History== The congregation was founded in 1796 by Spanish and Portuguese [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic Jews]] who had come to the [[Caribbean Basin]] to finance trade between [[Europe]] and the [[New World]].<ref name="nhlsum" /> The building was constructed in 1833, and is the second oldest synagogue in the United States (after [[Touro Synagogue]] in [[Newport, Rhode Island]] built in 1763). As a result of Hurricanes [[Hurricane Irma|Irma]] and [[Hurricane Maria|Maria]], Category 5 hurricanes which ravaged much of the Caribbean and St. Thomas in September 2017, the synagogue sustained significant damage, but has remained in continuous operation during this time under the leadership of Rabbi Michael Feshbach.<ref>{{cite web |title=From a Chevy Chase, Md., synagogue to one in the path of Hurricane Irma |date=2017-09-18 |website=[[The Washington Post]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181218034026/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/from-a-chevy-chase-md-synagogue-to-one-in-the-path-of-hurricane-irma/2017/09/18/171b18f2-9c65-11e7-8ea1-ed975285475e_story.html |archive-date=2018-12-18 |url-status=live |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/from-a-chevy-chase-md-synagogue-to-one-in-the-path-of-hurricane-irma/2017/09/18/171b18f2-9c65-11e7-8ea1-ed975285475e_story.html}}</ref>
As of March 2023, the congregation is led by Rabbi Julia Margolis.<ref>{{cite web | last=Abbotts | first=Lori | title=Margolis makes history as St. Thomas Synagogue rabbi | website=The Virgin Islands Daily News | date=March 21, 2023 | url=https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/margolis-makes-history-as-st-thomas-synagogue-rabbi/article_b3ff2937-4058-5c60-b857-7e3dd08b2776.html | access-date=May 17, 2025}}</ref>
==Description== [[File:Sand Floor.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Synagogue interior]] The St. Thomas Synagogue stands north of Charlotte Amalie's central business district, on the north side of Crystal Gade near its junction with Raadets Gade. It is a single-story structure, built out of rubblestone joined by a mortar mix of lime, sand, and [[molasses]], and covered by a shallow pitch hip roof. Its front, separated from the street by an entry courtyard, has a [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival]] temple front, but with [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] arched window openings. The [[façade]] is recessed, with the temple pediment supported by brick pillars with Tuscan styling. On the interior, the Torah ark is located on the east wall, with the ''[[Bema#Judaism|tevah]]'', on a dais against the west wall. The center of the chamber is demarcated by a square of four Ionic columns mounted on pedestals, and there are rows of bench pews on the north and south walls. The seating areas of men and women are separated by movable wooden partitions.<ref name=nrhpinv/>
==See also== * [[List of United States National Historic Landmarks in United States commonwealths and territories, associated states, and foreign states]] * [[National Register of Historic Places listings in the United States Virgin Islands]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|St. Thomas Synagogue}} * {{Official website|http://synagogue.vi/}}
{{NHLs other}} {{NRHP in Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands}} {{Synagogues in the United States}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Thomas Synagogue}} [[Category:Historic district contributing properties in the United States Virgin Islands]] [[Category:National Historic Landmarks in the United States Virgin Islands]] [[Category:Portuguese-Jewish culture in the United States]] [[Category:Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States Virgin Islands]] [[Category:Reform synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1833]] [[Category:Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands]] [[Category:Sephardi Jewish culture in the Caribbean]] [[Category:Sephardi Jewish culture in the United States]] [[Category:Sephardi Reform Judaism]] [[Category:Sephardi synagogues]] [[Category:Spanish-Jewish culture in the United States]] [[Category:Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places]] [[Category:Synagogues in the United States Virgin Islands]] [[Category:1830s establishments in the Caribbean]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1796]] [[Category:1796 establishments in the United States]] [[Category:19th-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:1830s architecture in the United States]]