Affiliation Reform Judaism Completed 1979 Phone +1 904-733-7078 | Status Active Opened 1979 Architectural type Synagogue | |
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Location Jacksonville, Florida, United States Website www.thetemplejacksonville.org Address 8727 San Jose Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32217, USA Similar Community Hospice of Northeast, Union for Reform Judaism, Bolles School, Hebrew Union College, Edward Waters College | ||
The temple congregation ahavath chesed linda testimonial 11
Congregation Ahavath Chesed is a Reform Jewish synagogue in Jacksonville, Florida. It is the oldest Jewish congregation in Florida and one of the first formally incorporated.
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History
Although Jews were already living in Florida in the late 18th century, Jacksonville probably was the first Jewish community organized in Florida. The Jacksonville Hebrew Cemetery was established in 1857. It is the oldest Jewish communal institution in Florida of which a record has been found.
In 1867 the “Israelites of Jacksonville” formed a congregation. The congregation was primarily composed of Jews from Prussia and Germany. For a number of years an organization called the Hebrew Benevolent Society also existed. Congregation Ahavath Chesed was organized in 1880. This congregation, led by Jacksonville's Jewish Mayor, Morris A. Dzialynski, received a legal charter in 1882. The congregation hired Rabbi Marx Moses, and dedicated, on September 8, 1882, a synagogue building.