History: When Ohioans came to watch the synagogues rise

By: Austin Albanese

Outlets: Ohio Capital Journal

Published: October 15, 2026

Words: 1,254

Last Updated: 2 days, 22 hours ago

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In 1836, Cincinnati’s small Jewish community dedicated a synagogue.

It was reported to be the first building erected as a synagogue in the western United States. The congregation behind it, B’nai Israel, had been organized twelve years earlier. When it received a charter from Ohio in 1830, it counted 32 adult men and 20 adult women.

The synagogue did not rise through the congregation’s efforts alone.

According to an account published several years later in …

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