Congregation Beth Jacob

Story

Congregation Beth Jacob is a Conservative Jewish synagogue located in Galveston, Texas. The present synagogue was built by Austrian, Russian and Hungarian immigrants in 1931.The congregation is small, but still very active in the Galveston Community. It is currently led Rabbi Todd Doctor. Rabbi Jimmy Kessler, of Galveston's reform synagogue Congregation B'nai Israel, previously assisted the congregation with religious functions such as marriages and funerals.HistoryBeth Jacob's roots date back to 1888 when a group of orthodox Russian Jews came together to form the Hebrew Orthodox Benevolent Association. Around the same time a group of Orthodox Jews from the Austro-Hungarian Empire immigrated to Galveston and began looking for a synagogue to join. Since the only Orthodox synagogue in Galveston at the time followed Russian tradition, they chose to form their own synagogue organization, the Young Men’s Hebrew Association.During the early part of the 20th century there was a great influx of Jews from Russia and eastern Europe under the Galveston Movement program. Therefore in an effort to unite the growing Orthodox community, on February 15, 1931, the two Orthodox congregations voted to merge and form Congregation Beth Jacob. Despite being in the middle of the Great Depression, Rabbi Louis Feigon and members raised funds to build a new synagogue on the site of the old Hebrew Orthodox Benevolent Association.