Temple De Hirsch Sinai

{{short description|Jewish congregation with synagogues in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington, US}} {{for|similarly named synagogues|Temple Sinai (disambiguation){{!}}Temple Sinai}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Temple De Hirsch Sinai | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Seattle-Alhadeff-Sanctuary-3604.jpg | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = The Alhadeff Sanctuary of Temple De Hirsch Sinai, in Seattle. | religious_affiliation = Reform Judaism | tradition = | sect = | district = | prefecture = | province = | region = | deity = | rite = | festival =  | organisational_status =  | ownership = | governing_body = | leadership = Rabbi Daniel Weiner | bhattaraka = | patron = | consecration_year = | status = Synagogue | functional_status = Active | religious_features_label = | religious_features = | location = {{bulleted list|1441 16th Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98122|3850 156th Ave SE, Bellevue, Washington 98006}} | locale = | municipality = | cercle = | state = | country = | map_type = | map_size = | map_alt = | map_relief = | map_caption = | grid_name = | grid_position = | sector = | territory = | administration = | coordinates = {{ubl|{{coords|47.613803|-122.3120304|region:US-WA_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}} {{small|(Seattle)}}|{{coords|47.5749114|-122.1327086|region:US-WA_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline}} {{small|(Bellevue)}}}} | coordinates_footnotes = | heritage_designation = | architect = | architecture_type = | architecture_style = | founded_by = | creator = | funded_by = | general_contractor = | established = {{ubl|1899 {{small|(initial congregation)}}|1971 {{small|(merged congregations)}}}} | groundbreaking = | year_completed = {{ubl|1960 {{small|(Seattle)}}|2001 {{small|(Bellevue)}}}} | 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|templedehirschsinai.org}} | module = {{Location map many | Washington | embed = yes | width = 300 | relief= yeah | float = right | label = Seattle | pos = left | marksize = 8 | coordinates = {{coord|47.613803|-122.3120304}} | label2 = Bellevue | pos2 = right | bg2 = #fff8 | mark2size = 8 | coordinates2 = {{coord|47.5749114|-122.1327086}} }} | footnotes = }} '''Temple De Hirsch Sinai''' is a Reform Jewish congregation with synagogues at campuses in Seattle and nearby Bellevue, Washington, in the United States. The congregation was formed as a 1971 merger between the earlier '''Temple De Hirsch''' (Seattle, founded 1899) and '''Temple Sinai''' (Bellevue, founded 1961)<ref>{{cite book |title=The Jewish Experience in Washington State: A Chronology 1845–2005 |publisher=Washington State Jewish Historical Society |year=2006 |pages=21–23 |isbn= }}</ref> and is the largest Reform congregation in the Pacific Northwest.<ref name=Micklin>{{cite web |author=Micklin, Lee |url=http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=89 |title=Temple de Hirsch - Sinai |work=HistoryLink |date=October 30, 1998 |access-date=2009-10-08 }}</ref>

The old Temple De Hirsch building (or Old Sanctuary) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but was demolished in 1993. Part of the façade remains.<ref name=McKnight>{{cite web |author=McKinght, Reuben |url=http://www.historicseattle.org/preservationseattle/techniques/defaultnovember.htm |title=Town Hall: A Case Study |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805031515/http://www.historicseattle.org/preservationseattle/techniques/defaultnovember.htm |archive-date=2009-08-05 |work=Preservation Seattle |publisher=Historic Seattle |date=November 2002 |access-date=2009-10-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Temple_de_Hirsch |title=Temple De Hirsch |work=Archiplanet |date= |access-date=2009-10-11 }}</ref>

==Temple De Hirsch== When Seattle's "quasi-Reform" Ohaveth Sholum Congregation, founded 1889, disbanded because of financial hardships after the Panic of 1893,<ref>''The Jewish Experience in Washington State: A Chronology 1845–2005'', Washington State Jewish Historical Society, 2006. p. 10–11.</ref> Seattle's liberal Jews were left without a synagogue.<ref name=Micklin /> Temple De Hirsch was founded as a specifically Reform synagogue in 1899, named after Jewish philanthropist Baron Maurice de Hirsch.<ref name=UW-lib>[http://www.lib.washington.edu/specialcoll/findaids/docs/papersrecords/TempleDeHirschSinai2370.xml Guide to the Temple De Hirsch Sinai Records: 1883-2001], University of Washington Library Special Collections. Accessed online 2009-10-08.</ref>

Construction of a synagogue was begun at Boylston Avenue and Marion Street in Seattle.<ref name=Micklin /><ref name=UW-lib /> A cornerstone was laid in 1901,<ref name=Micklin /><ref name=UW-lib /> and a basement was built; the congregation held services in the vestry,<ref name=Micklin /> but rapid growth of the congregation led to the construction of a larger building at Union Street and 15th Avenue.<ref name=Micklin /><ref name=UW-lib />

Construction on the new Temple De Hirsch designed by Seattle-based architect Julian F. Everett was begun in 1907, completed in 1908, and dedicated on the congregation's ninth anniversary, May 29, 1908.<ref name=Micklin/> An adjacent Temple Center opened in 1924, housing a religion school and other organizations; a wing was added in 1951.<ref name=UW-lib />

This temple building was demolished in 1993<ref name=UW-lib /> after an unsuccessful attempt to work out a way to repurpose it as an arts venue. That effort did, however, end up salvaging a different former religious building: Seattle's Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist, now Town Hall Seattle.<ref name=McKnight />

The current sanctuary at 16th Avenue and Pike Street—the opposite corner of the same block as the old temple—was completed in 1960.<ref name=UW-lib /> That current building was designed by B. Marcus Priteca, John Detlie, and John Peck.<ref name=Micklin /> Priteca was a noted theater architect: he designed all of Alexander Pantages' theaters between 1910 and 1929, as well as the landmark Seattle synagogue, Chevra Bikur Cholim (1912), now the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pstos.org/history/priteca.htm |title=B. Marcus Priteca (1889-1971) |work=Puget Sound Theater Organ Society |date= |access-date=2009-10-08 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Crowley, Walt |author2=Dorpat, Paul |title=National Trust Guide to Seattle |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |year=1998 |isbn=0-471-18044-0 |page=144 }}</ref>

A Ladies Auxiliary (now the Women of Reform Judaism) was formed within months of the congregation's founding; a Temple Men's Club (now the Men of Reform Judaism) followed in 1920.<ref name=UW-lib />

The first rabbi of Temple De Hirsch was Theodore Joseph from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His successor, Samuel Koch, was senior rabbi from 1906 to 1942. During Koch's time, Temple De Hirsch solidified its position as an important and steadily expanding congregation, with a religion school attended not only by children of the congregation but by some whose parents were not Reform Jews. In 1909, Koch established a newsletter, ''Temple Tidings'', initially a weekly and later a monthly (currently bi-monthly) publication.<ref name=UW-lib />

Upon Koch's retirement, he was succeeded by Raphael H. Levine, who served as senior rabbi from 1942 to 1970. Levine was a devoted ecumenicist, co-hosting a television program called ''Challenge'' with a Catholic priest and a Protestant minister. ''Challenge'' aired for 14 years, first on KOMO-TV and later on KING-TV, both in Seattle. Rabbi Levine also founded the Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis, the ecumenical Camp Brotherhood, a religious, educational, and cultural center for Christians and Jews, and co-founded Camp Swig, an educational and recreational camp for Jewish youth,<ref name=UW-lib /> and played a significant role in the expansion of Children's Orthopedic Hospital, now Seattle Children's.<ref name=Micklin />

Rabbi Levine's successor, Earl S. Starr, was senior rabbi from 1970. He saw through the merger of congregations and remained senior rabbi of Temple De Hirsch Sinai until 2001. Like all of his predecessors at Temple De Hirsch, he carried on a long tradition of community service and outreach.<ref name=UW-lib />

Temple De Hirsch has at least two claims to fame in the history of music. Samuel E. Goldfarb, co-composer of the Hanukkah song "I Have a Little Dreidel" was music director of Temple De Hirsch from 1930 to 1968. Using a farm system that allowed youth to "graduate" from one level of choir to another, he created one of the country's finest temple choirs.<ref name=UW-lib /> Perhaps more unusually, Jimi Hendrix played his first professional gig as a musician in the Temple De Hirsch basement; he was fired mid-performance for his wild playing.<ref>{{cite web |author=Cross, Charles R. |author-link=Charles R. Cross |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw08072005/coverstory.html |title=Beyond a Broken Boyhood |work=Pacific Northwest |publisher=Seattle Times |date=August 7, 2005 |format=Excerpted and condensed from ''Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix'' (Hyperion Books, 2005). |access-date=2009-10-11 }}</ref>

Temple De Hirsch Sinai retained both the Temple De Hirsch facility (its "Seattle Campus") and the Temple Sinai facility (its "Bellevue campus"). The original Bellevue facility was sold in 2001, when a new facility was constructed in the Eastgate area of Bellevue. Rabbi Starr served as senior rabbi until his retirement in July 2001, when he was succeeded by Daniel A. Weiner, who currently holds the position.<ref name=Micklin /> The Seattle building shares facilities with a local private school, the Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Bellevue facility shares facilities with the Emerald Heights Academy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bellevuereporter.com/news/interfaith-reading-days-at-temple-de-hirsch-sinai-use-the-joy-of-hearing-telling-stories/|title=Interfaith reading days at Temple De Hirsch Sinai use the joy of hearing, telling stories|last=Nash|first=Daniel|date=2013-11-12|website=Bellevue Reporter|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-13}}</ref>

==Libraries== The Temple De Hirsch Sinai Libraries were founded in 1908 and continue to provide a wealth of information for the congregation and community. In both Seattle and Bellevue sites, the system contains over 10,000 books, periodicals and CDs, with a specialty in materials on Judaism, history, culture, holiday and the Holocaust.<ref name="ALD">{{cite book |title=American Library Directory |edition=64th |volume=2 |year=2011–2012 |publisher=Information Today, Inc |isbn=978-1-57387-411-3 |pages=2568–2576}}</ref> The Benjamin Zukor Children's Library composes about one third of the total library collection and is spread over both library sites. It contains fiction and non-fiction for children and teens.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://templedehirschsinai.org/libraries/ |title=About the Temple De Hirsch Sinai Libraries |publisher=Temple De Hirsch Sinai |accessdate=2023-06-13}}</ref>

== Gallery == <gallery> Seattle - Old Temple De Hirsch.jpg|This Jewish New Year card, circa 1908, features the original, then-new, Temple De Hirsch. Although listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was demolished in 1993. Seattle - De Hirsch ruins 04.jpg|Remains of the old temple in 2008. Temple De Hirsch Sinai - Moses with the Tablets (stained glass) 01.jpg|This stained glass window depicting Moses with the Tablets, now on the western side of the Schoenfeld-Gardner Chapel of Temple De Hirsch Sinai, Seattle, was salvaged from the 1908 Temple De Hirsch, where it was located on the east end, over the Ark and Torah. The text at the bottom says "In memory of Fred Schwabacher the gift of his mother". Bellevue, WA - Temple De Hirsch Sinai 01.jpg|Temple De Hirsch Sinai Bellevue campus in 2009. Seattle - Home of Peace Mausoleum - interior 01.jpg|Interior, Home of Peace Mausoleum, Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Queen Anne Hill, Seattle, Washington. </gallery>

== References == {{Reflist|35em}}

==External links== {{commons category}} * {{official website|http://www.tdhs-nw.org/}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Hirsch Sinai}} Category:Reform synagogues in Washington (state) Category:Buildings and structures in Bellevue, Washington  Category:Synagogues in Seattle  Category:Queen Anne, Seattle Category:National Register of Historic Places in Seattle  Category:Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Category:Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places Category:Jewish organizations established in 1899  Category:1899 establishments in Washington (state) Category:Jewish organizations established in 1961  Category:Jewish organizations established in 1971 Category:Synagogues completed in 1908 Category:1908 establishments in Washington (state) Category:1960 establishments in Washington (state) Category:Synagogues completed in 1960 Category:1971 establishments in Washington (state) Category:Synagogues completed in 2001 Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States Category:21st-century synagogues in the United States