Beth El Synagogue Celebrates 125th Anniversary

Durham's Beth El Synagogue will celebrate its 125th anniversary this weekend as the oldest synagogue in Durham. In 1892, the Durham Hebrew Congregation formally chartered the congregation and hired its first rabbi to lead the Jewish community in a rental hall on Main Street. In 1905, the congregation purchased a small church on Liberty Street, which became Durham’s first synagogue. Beth El broke ground on its current location at Watts and Markham streets in 1957.