Dawn of Evansville's Jewish Community
There has been a Jewish community in Evansville, Indiana for almost 200 years. Jews have lived in Evansville since the arrival of the Gumberts family in 1837, they were joined in town the following year by Isaac Heimann. The community quickly grew from here. Just 13 years after the arrival of the Gumberts, Evansville already had enough Jews to form a minyan (ten adult Jewish men). Given that, by 1850, most Jewish communities in Indiana only had three or four families, Evansville's growth was remarkable. What propelled this rapid growth was the city's large German-speaking population. Immigrating Jews found it easier to conduct business in a city where the majority of people spoke their native language, eliminating a crucial barrier to success.
Evansville's first synagogue, B'nai Israel, chartered in 1857. Initially, services took place in homes or rented rooms in businesses. For example, a common place to hold services in the early years was in the second floor of Keller's Gun Store. Services at B'nai Israel were very liberal, with mixed seating and liturgies spoken in English and German. Very little Hebrew was spoken at early services.. The Evansville Daily Journal reported on the congregation’s first worship services: “Approximately forty male adults 'who form an enterprising, industrious, and wealthy class' participated in the first service.” The following year, Evansville's city directory listed “J. Wechsler, as Minister," and services as taking place "Fridays at early gas lighting; Saturdays at 8 am and Sundays at early gas lighting.”
Early Merchants
Many of the early Jewish residents in Evansville were merchants. For example, the Gumberts and the Anspachers owned clothing stores; the Heimann family ran a grocery store; William Loewenthal and Abraham Lowenstine were dry goods merchants; and Solomon Kahn had a livery stable. Simon Gumberts was a doctor in Evansville beginning in the 1850s and Moses Weil was admitted to the Indiana State Bar in 1869.
The ads for these merchant families dotted the pages of the local newspapers, speaking to the level of connection Jewish immigrants had to the wider community.
Humanitarian Efforts
Throughout the 19th century, Jewish community life in Evansville flourished. The first burial society founded in the 1850s and in 1879 the city's first Jewish cemetery opened. In 1860 a local chapter of B'nai B'rith chartered, the first in Indiana and fourth west of the Allegheny mountains. The same month as B'nai B'rith chartered, the Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society founded. Given the political climate of southern Indiana in 1860, it is unsurprising that the women's group's initial fundraising efforts focused on supporting escaped slaves crossing the Ohio River from Kentucky. In 1864, the Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society raised $400 for freed slaves at their annual fundraising ball. The Evansville Daily Journal reported the evening as the “most handsome, eloquent, affair held in the history of the hall.”
New Temples, New Congregations
At the height of the Civil War, in 1863, Evansville's Jews got a bit of bright news when B'nai Israel announced the building of a synagogue at Sixth and Division (now Court) Streets (pictured above). The new building, which housed 600 people in the sanctuary opened in August of 1865, less than four months after the end of the Civil War. Congregants joyously celebrated the buildings dedication with a brass band playing and a large choir coming up from Memphis to perform. All of Evansville's prominent officials attended the gathering and Reform founder Isaac Mayer Wise came down from Cincinnati to attend the temple's dedication.
Evansville's Jewish community continued to grow in the latter half of the 20th century, with Eastern European immigrants flocking to the city. These new immigrants were more traditional in their Jewish practices than their German predecessors had been. As a result, they wanted traditionally observant congregations that suited their backgrounds better than the American Reform Judaism of B'nai Israel. A second synagogue, B'nai Moshe, chartered in 1870s. B'nai Moshe was an Orthodox temple founded by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. A physical temple opened up in 1880 on Ingle Street between 6th and 7th Streets. By 1889, 25 families were members of B'nai Moshe.
A third temple opened in Evansville in 1883. The founders of Adath Israel were originally members of B'nai Moshe but broke off to form their own congregation. Twenty years on from their founding, Adath Israel had 23 members and opened their first temple at the corner of 6th and Vine Streets. By the end Adath Israel of 1905, there were 39 members of Adath Israel. A combination rabbi, shochet, and teacher was kept on hand at all times and the first strictly kosher butcher shop opened in 1907. Friday night services were added in 1925 and membership continued to grow. In 1952 Adath Israel finally set a firm denominational affiliation, joining the Conservative movement. When the congregation moved into their new building in 1960, the temple boasted a membership of 175.