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History
In
1845-46, only ten years after the founding of Albany, three
pioneer Jewish families settled here. The first families in Albany
were from German extraction. They fled to the United States in the
mid 1840’s along with the Irish. Most Jews tried to find out
what certain towns needed in the way of professional talents and
trades. They went to the town that needed their skills. Therefore,
they were usually successful immediately. They seldom met with
animosity, because their services were needed by the community.
Most Jews had urban skills, and therefore, settled in cities or
towns instead of rural farms. In 1896, a new Temple was built
on the corner of Jefferson Street and Oglethorpe Boulevard. When
the tornado hit Albany in 1940, the Temple was badly damaged. A
new building took its place in 1941. In 1995 the Temple on the
corner of Jefferson and Oglethorpe was sold. AGE Federal Credit
Union renovated the building, and it is now houses their mortgage
services, executive offices, and accounting, human resources,
marketing and public relations functions. On March 24, 1996, we
broke ground for the new Temple on the corner of Gillionville Road
and Weymouth Drive. The new Temple, dedicated in May 1999, in
contrast to the beloved downtown Temple, is surrounded by trees
and flowers, birds and squirrels and is far off the busy highway.
Temple B'nai Israel has been a Reform Congregation since its
founding and was a charter member of the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations, now the Union for Reform Judaism.
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