Jazz Shabbat Service and
Guest speaker from
American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
Friday, August 29, 6 p.m.

Click here for more information.

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Come for a year, stay for a lifetime!
Take an audio tour of Temple Israel.

There is a place for everyone to belong to at Temple Israel because Temple Israel belongs to everyone. Temple Israel has a legacy of a strong foundation engaging in our community.

Our members are engaged through life cycle events, Jewish text, and Jewish living. For over 125 years Temple Israel has been a community of innovative worship, continuing education and cultural diversity. Temple Israel is inclusive of all people. At Temple Israel you can experience myriad styles of worship that will speak to you.

If you come for a year, we know you will stay for a lifetime

Temple Israel was originally known as Shaarai Tov, "The Gates of Goodness." Organized in 1878, it was the first Jewish congregation in Minneapolis. The 23 men who were the founding members rented a hall at Nicollet and Washington for Friday night worship services, and taught Sunday School classes in the president's home. By the time they built their first synagogue two years later, a small, Moorish-style wooden building on 5th and Marquette, the Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society, established in 1877, had changed their name to Shaarai Tov Sisterhood. Their original purpose had been to care for the sick, prepare the dead for burial, and help new immigrants and the Jewish poor, but now they also sponsored lectures, recitals, dances, dinners and bazaars to raise money for their new synagogue.

In 1888, the members of Shaarai Tov moved their building to the corner of 10th Street and 5th Avenue South. When it burned down in 1902, the congregation, still less than 100 families, built a new stone synagogue on the site at a cost of $18,000. Click here to read more.