Temple De Hirsch Sinai
Jewish congregation in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington, U.S.
Temple De Hirsch Sinai is a Reform Jewish congregation with synagogues at campuses in Seattle and nearby Bellevue, Washington, in the United States. The congregation was formed as a 1971 merger between the earlier Temple De Hirsch (Seattle, founded 1899) and Temple Sinai (Bellevue, founded 1961) and is the largest Reform congregation in the Pacific Northwest.
The old Temple De Hirsch building (or Old Sanctuary) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but was demolished in 1993. Part of the façade remains.
Temple De Hirsch
When Seattle's "quasi-Reform" Ohaveth Sholum Congregation, founded 1889, disbanded because of financial hardships after the Panic of 1893, Seattle's liberal Jews were left without a synagogue. Temple De Hirsch was founded as a specifically Reform synagogue in 1899, named after Jewish philanthropist Baron Maurice de Hirsch.
Construction of a synagogue was begun at Boylston Avenue and Marion Street in Seattle. A cornerstone was laid in 1901, and a basement was built; the congregation held services in the vestry, but rapid growth of the congregation led to the construction of a larger building at Union Street and 15th Avenue.
Construction on the new Temple De Hirsch designed by Seattle-based architect Julian F. Everett was begun in 1907, completed in 1908, and dedicated on the congregation's ninth anniversary, May 29, 1908. An adjacent Temple Center opened in 1924, housing a religion school and other organizations; a wing was added in 1951.
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