Congregation Ahavath Chesed

{{for|the synagogue in New York City formerly known as Ahavath Chesed|Central Synagogue (Manhattan)}}

{{Infobox religious building

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| religious_affiliation = Reform Judaism

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| organisational_status = Synagogue

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| leadership = {{ubl|Rabbi Maya Glasser|Rabbi Ashley Englander}}

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| location = 8727 San Jose Boulevard, Jacksonville, Florida 32217

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| established = 1880 {{small|(as a congregation)}}

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| year_completed = {{ubl|1882 {{small|(Laura and Union Sts.)}}|1910 {{small|(Laura and Ashley Sts.)}}|{{circa|1927}} {{small|(in Riverside)}}|1979 {{small|(San Jose Boulevard)}}}}

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| website = {{URL|thetemplejacksonville.org}}

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Congregation Ahavath Chesed, also called The Temple Jacksonville, or simply, The Temple, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 8727 San Jose Boulevard, in Jacksonville, Florida, in the United States. It is one of the oldest Jewish congregation in Florida and one of the first formally incorporated.

History

Although Jews were already living in Florida in the late 18th century, the Jacksonville Hebrew Cemetery was established in 1857, one year after Temple Beth-El in Pensacola, that is the oldest Jewish communal institution in Florida.{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishgen.org/cemetery/northamerica/fla.html |title=Florida |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607065243/http://www.jewishgen.org/cemetery/northamerica/fla.html, |archive-date=2011-06-07 |publisher=International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies |work=Cemetery Project |date=n.d. |access-date=March 26, 2009 }}

In 1867 the “Israelites of Jacksonville” formed a congregation. The congregation was primarily composed of Jews from Prussia and Germany.{{cite web |url=http://www.thetemplejacksonville.org/home/aboutus/history |title=History |work=Temple Beth Israel |date= |access-date=March 26, 2009 }} For a number of years an organization called the Hebrew Benevolent Society also existed.{{cite book |author1-link=Kerry Olitzky |author1=Olitzky, Kerry M. |author2=Raphael, Marc Lee |title=The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook |publisher=Greenwood Press |location= |date=June 30, 1996 |isbn=0-313-28856-9 |page=99 }} Congregation Ahavath Chesed was organized in 1880.{{cite book |title=American Jewish Year Book |publisher=Jewish Publication Society of America, American Jewish Committee |location= |year=1907 |page=150 |isbn= }} This congregation, led by Jacksonville's Jewish Mayor, Morris A. Dzialynski, received a legal charter in 1882.

File:Ahaveth Chesed Synogogue, 723 Laura Street, Jacksonville, Duval County, FL HABS FLA,16-JACK,5- (sheet 3 of 4).png

The congregation hired Rabbi Marx Moses, and dedicated its first synagogue on September 8, 1882. This building was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1901 and replaced by a Neoclassical building, completed in 1910.{{cite news |title=New Temple Dedicated, Ahavath Chesed of Jacksonville (Fla.) Has Impressive Ceremonies |work=American Israelite |date=October 6, 1910 |page= }}{{cite web |url=https://synagoguesofthesouth.cofc.edu/synagogues/jacksonville-fl-congregation-bnai-israel-1909/ |title=Jacksonville, FL ~ Congregation B'nai Israel (1909) |work=Synagogues of the South |publisher=College of Charleston |date=2024 |access-date=January 12, 2024}} This building has subsequently been demolished and the site is occupied as part of the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville and associated school, the First Baptist Academy.{{cite news |author=Davis, Ennis |url=https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/first-baptist-churchs-historic-demolition-derby/ |title=First Baptist Church's historic demolition derby |work=The Jaxson Mag |date=April 6, 2020 |access-date=January 12, 2024 }}

In 1927, the congregation purchased a residential building{{cite news |author= |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/florida-community-absorbed-in-congregation-activities |title=Florida Community Absorbed in Congregation Activities |work=Jewish Telegraph Agency (Archive) |date=February 21, 1928 |access-date=January 12, 2024 }} designed by Henry Klutho in Riverside, at the corner of St. Johns Avenue and Mallory Street. After remodelling as a synagogue, that building was destroyed by a fire in 1940, with the subsequent loss of all of the congregation's records. The congregation rebuilt and eventually moved to its current location on San Jose Boulevard.{{cite news |author=Wanser, Mary |url=https://residentnews.net/2023/07/13/the-temple-celebrates-140-years-of-deep-roots-in-jacksonville/ |title=The Temple celebrates 140 years of deep roots in Jacksonville |work=Resident Community News |date=July 13, 2023 |access-date=January 12, 2024 }}