Congregation Beth Israel

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Congregation Beth Israel is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located in Louisiana. Founded in 1903 or 1904, though tracing its roots back to 1857, it is the oldest Orthodox congregation in the New Orleans region. Originally located on Carondelet Street in New Orleans' Central City, it constructed and moved to a building at 7000 Canal Boulevard in Lakeview, New Orleans, in 1971.At one time the largest Orthodox congregation in the Southern United States, its membership was over 500 families in the 1960s, but fell to under 200 by 2005. That year its Canal Boulevard building was severely flooded by the 2005 New Orleans levee failure disaster during Hurricane Katrina. Despite attempts to save them, all seven of its Torah scrolls were destroyed, as were over 3,000 prayer books. The building suffered further flooding damage caused by the theft of copper air-conditioning tubing in 2007.In the wake of Katrina another 50 member families left New Orleans, including the rabbi's. The congregation began sharing space with Gates of Prayer, a Reform synagogue in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans. In 2009, the congregation purchased land from Gates of Prayer, and by 2012 had built a new synagogue next to it at 4000 West Esplanade Avenue. the rabbi was Gabriel Greenberg.