Temple B'rith Kodesh is a Reform synagogue in Rochester, New York

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

. It is the oldest synagogue

Oldest synagogues in the United States

The designation of the oldest synagogue in the United States requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest congregation...

  and the largest Reform congregation in the greater Rochester area.

History

Temple B'rith Kodesh was founded in 1848 as an Orthodox congregation with 12 members. The congregation maintains a section in the historic Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester

Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester

Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York, founded in 1838, is the United States' first municipal rural cemetery. Situated on 196 acres of land adjacent to the University of Rochester on Mount Hope Avenue, the cemetery is the permanent resting place of over 350,000 people...

.

Architecture

The Temple's current building was designed by architect Pietro Belluschi

Pietro Belluschi

Pietro Belluschi was an American architect, a leader of the Modern Movement in architecture, and was responsible for the design of over one thousand buildings....

. The sanctuary is roofed with a domed wooden drum intended to evoke the Wooden synagogues of Poland.

Art collection

The Temple has a noted collection of menorahs by contemporary artists including Salvador Dali

Salvador Dalí

Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....

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