Prospective Member BBQ and Tours of Honesdale Congregation

The Congregation is holding a prospective member BBQ and will offer tours of the historic
building on Friday, August 22 at 6:30 PM followed by Shabbat services at 7:30 PM at 615 Court
Street in Honesdale.

Congregation Beth Israel, Honesdale, PA, recently celebrated its 175 th anniversary. In
September of 1849 eleven men met in a small home on Main Street in Honesdale, Pa. In the
kerosene light, they pledged to form a Jewish congregation and to hold services for members of
the Jewish faith. Eight years later, in September 1856, the first services were held in the
congregation’s new building on Court Street.

More than 175 years later, Congregation Beth Israel is the oldest continually operating
synagogue in America still in its original building, and descendants of three of the original 11
families remain involved with the congregation. Today, the sounds of young people talking and
learning fill the pews, as do the songs and prayers of the small Jewish community that has
endured on the site for nearly two centuries.

For information or to RSVP email bethisraelhonesdale@gmail.com or call 570.253.2222.