One of the drawbacks of living in the Bay Area is the cost of living. No, this isn’t going to be a plea to engage in Tikkun Olum (although we should). This is about the fact that so many of our children leave to start their adult lives in a town where they can make ends meet.
So it is that last Shabbat found us in Boise, Idaho visiting our daughter Sarah – and celebrating her new engagement. Why on earth would a young Jewish woman settle in Idaho? As it turns out the oldest continuously operating synagogue west of the Mississippi River is at Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel in Boise.
The first identified Jew to settle in Idaho was J.D. Farmer, who arrived in 1864. BY 1865 there was a Jewish community in Boise and one sprang up in Hailey (near Sun Valley) in 1881. The first Congregation was established in Boise in 1895 by Moses Alexander, who went on to become Mayor and then Governor. The synagogue was built in 1895 and affiliated as Reform. There was no Rabbi in Idaho until 1994, when Dan Fink came to town, and he is still there. In 2004 the building was picked up and moved three miles to the site where it is still in use. It is a beautiful Sephardic style architecture, with internal columns and a curved roof. The interior is illuminated through original stained glass windows. I will share some photos on the TBH listserv.
We are everywhere.
We are what we do.
From the President Sept. 19 2019
September 19, 2019 by tbhrich •
One of the drawbacks of living in the Bay Area is the cost of living. No, this isn’t going to be a plea to engage in Tikkun Olum (although we should). This is about the fact that so many of our children leave to start their adult lives in a town where they can make ends meet.
So it is that last Shabbat found us in Boise, Idaho visiting our daughter Sarah – and celebrating her new engagement. Why on earth would a young Jewish woman settle in Idaho? As it turns out the oldest continuously operating synagogue west of the Mississippi River is at Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel in Boise.
The first identified Jew to settle in Idaho was J.D. Farmer, who arrived in 1864. BY 1865 there was a Jewish community in Boise and one sprang up in Hailey (near Sun Valley) in 1881. The first Congregation was established in Boise in 1895 by Moses Alexander, who went on to become Mayor and then Governor. The synagogue was built in 1895 and affiliated as Reform. There was no Rabbi in Idaho until 1994, when Dan Fink came to town, and he is still there. In 2004 the building was picked up and moved three miles to the site where it is still in use. It is a beautiful Sephardic style architecture, with internal columns and a curved roof. The interior is illuminated through original stained glass windows. I will share some photos on the TBH listserv.
We are everywhere.
We are what we do.
Neil Zarchin