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B'nai Abraham Synagogue, Virginia

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B'nai Abraham Synagogue, Virginia

B'nai Abraham Synagogue in Virginia, Minnesota (328 S. 5th Street). Photo by Wikimedia Commons user McGhiever, May 25, 2014. CC BY-SA 3.0

Dedicated in 1909, the red brick synagogue of Virginia's B'nai Abraham congregation was called the most beautiful religious building on the Iron Range. In the early twentieth century, the synagogue was the heart of Virginia's Jewish community. A declining congregation forced the synagogue to close its doors in the mid-1990s. However, community support and renovations have made B'nai Abraham a center of Virginia's cultural life once again.

Virginia became a hub of lumber and mining industries in the 1890s. Jewish merchants and clerks soon settled in the newly established town. In 1894, Jews from Virginia and nearby communities began to hold religious services in Virginia's old North Pole Hall. Most of Virginia's Jewish population were immigrants from the Russian Empire (an area that is now Lithuania).

As the town boomed, so too did its Jewish population. Members of Virginia's growing Jewish community founded the congregation of B'nai Abraham in 1905. They held their first meeting in Virginia's Socialist Opera House on November 20. Their first goal was the construction of a synagogue. Other Iron Range synagogues in Hibbing and Eveleth were converted churches. B'nai Abraham was the first synagogue to be built on the Range.

The women of the congregation formed the B'nai Abraham Ladies' Aid Society in 1908. They began to raise funds for the construction of a synagogue and were very successful. Among their contributions to the building effort was the donation of $700 to purchase one of B'nai Abraham's thirteen stained glass windows. The Ladies' Aid Society continued long after the synagogue's construction was complete. The group of women called themselves the Sunshine Club. They visited sick members of the congregation, hosted community events, and assisted new Jewish immigrants in the area.

The synagogue served as the heart of Virginia's tightly interwoven Jewish community. Visiting rabbis conducted services. Holidays and Bar Mitzvahs were celebrated in the synagogue. B'nai Abraham was also used as a gathering place for weddings, birthdays, and retirements. The synagogue served as a meeting place for the Virginia chapters of several Jewish organizations including B'nai Brith and Hadassah.

The synagogue's distinctive stone foundation, beautiful windows, Romanesque style, and red brick exterior make B'nai Abraham one of Virginia's most recognizable landmarks. In 1980 B'nai Abraham was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was the first Minnesota synagogue to be listed.

During the second half of the twentieth century, the Jewish population on the Iron Range declined. Falling membership had the forced the closure of synagogues in Hibbing, Chisholm and Eveleth. By 1990 B'nai Abraham was the last synagogue on the Iron Range. In the mid-1990s B'nai Abraham also closed its doors. By 2002 the congregation had declined to two members. That year the building was listed as one of the most threatened historic structures in Minnesota.

In 2004 a non-profit group, the Friends of B'nai Abraham, formed to save the building. They acquired it from its previous owners and began to restore the historic building with the help of state and local grants as well as donations. Through their efforts, the B'nai Abraham synagogue in Virginia has been transformed into a museum and cultural center.

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M450
B'nai Abraham Society (Virginia, Minnesota), Organizational Records, 1905–1954
Microfilm Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Organizational papers include two books of meeting minutes and an account book as well as the incorporation documents for congregation B'nai Abraham.

B'nai Abraham Synagogue, National Register of Historic Places Nomination File, State Historic Preservation Office, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.

"B'nai Abraham Synagogue: Exterior Restoration and Occupancy Code Requirements." Minnesota History: Building a Legacy .
http://legacy.mnhs.org/projects/646

Brown, Curt. "Temple is Lone Relic of Jewish Life on the Range." Minneapolis Star Tribune, June 2, 2002.

Friends of B'nai Abraham.
http://www.ironrangejewishheritage.org/

Mack, Linda. "New life Planned for Iron Range synagogue." Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 1, 2006.

Schloff, Linda Mack. "Kosher with a Modern Tinge: Two Generations of Jewish Women in Virginia, Minnesota." In The State We're In: Reflections on Minnesota History, edited by Annette Atkins and Deborah L. Miller, 102-117. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2010.

Related Audio

MN90: At home on the Iron Range – Restoring a Jewish legacy in Virginia, MN | Details

Related Images

B'nai Abraham Synagogue, Virginia
B'nai Abraham Synagogue, Virginia
1909 Photograph showing the B'nai Abraham Synagogue under construction
1909 Photograph showing the B'nai Abraham Synagogue under construction
B'nai Abraham Synagogue, Virginia
B'nai Abraham Synagogue, Virginia

Turning Point

The B'nai Abraham synagogue in Virginia, the first purpose-built synagogue on the Iron Range, is dedicated in 1909 after four years of fund-raising by its congregation.

Chronology

1894

Jewish religious services in Virginia, Minnesota are held in old North Pole Hall.

1905

B'nai Abraham congregation incorporates and begin plans to construct a synagogue in Virginia.

1909

B'nai Abraham synagogue is dedicated.

1980

The synagogue is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. B'nai Abraham is the first synagogue in Minnesota to be listed.

2004

The synagogue building is purchased by the Friends of B'nai Abraham, a group that includes former synagogue members and their descendants, who plan to restore and preserve the historic structure.

c. 2008

B'nai Abraham reopens as The B'nai Abraham Museum and Cultural Center.