#TBT: The state’s oldest synagogue

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Monday December 7 marks the start of Hanukkah for 2015. But did you know Downtown Wilmington was home to the oldest synagogue in North Carolina? The Temple of Israel was built in the late 1800’s.

According to the History of the Temple, the first recorded meeting of the congregation is from December 8, 1872. The Temple of Israel’s cornerstone was laid July 15, 1875, and on May 12, 1876, the temple was dedicated.  In 1878, the Temple joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and by 1880 the congregation had 38 members and 38 children enrolled in Sabbath school.

On May 12, 1876, Wilmington’s Temple of Israel , the first synagogue in North Carolina, was formally dedicated.  One of the men whose hard work helped turn the dream of a synagogue into a reality was Solomon Bear.  Mr. Bear, and two of his brothers, Samuel and Marcus, came to Wilmington from Germany in the early 1850s.  The brothers initially went into business together, as dry goods merchants.  By the 1880s, that first partnership dissolved, and the brothers branched out into a range of business activities.  Members of the family owned and operated a number of mercantile endeavors in Wilmington, including Sol Bear & Company, which got into the wine business.

The Bears were also religious and community leaders.  Solomon Bear was president of the Temple of Israel from 1872 to 1904 and he was active in the efforts that went into raising the funds to build the Temple.   In May, 1876, Solomon received a commemorative cane when the temple opened.

More than one hundred years later, one of Solomon’s grandchildren, Henry Sternberger (1907-1984), left the exquisite cane to the Cape Fear Museum in his will.

**Special thanks to the Cape Fear Museum.**