Mount Sinai

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The story of Mount Sinai Temple begins decades before its doors opened. While Jews lived in Sioux City as early as the 1860s, the city's first synagogue, Adas Jeshurun, was an Orthodox congregation built in 1884. In contrast, the Reform community organized a cemetery association in 1869 and worshipped with Unitarians until they established their own congregation in 1898. By World War I, Sioux City hosted nearly 2,500 Jews, making it the second largest Jewish community in Iowa. Between the World Wars, the broader Jewish Community Center hosted 60 to 70 clubs and organizations, ranging from socialist workers to Zionists. In 1944 alone, a single mile of West Seventh Street supported 22 Jewish-owned businesses, illustrating the peak of this thriving local network.

In Their Own Story

By 1956, the Nebraska Street synagogue had been outgrown by the congregation, leading to the construction of a larger facility on 38th Street. The original building then became the home of the United Orthodox Synagogue, formed by several Orthodox congregations facing diminishing numbers. Following World War II, the Jewish population in Sioux City began a steady decline, dropping from its wartime peak to just 700 people by the mid-1980s and further down to 300 by 2001. In a move to preserve their heritage amidst these changing times, local congregations combined their religious schools in 1990. Finally, in 1994, the Conservative Shaare Zion and the Reform Mount Sinai congregations merged into a single dual-affiliation synagogue named Beth Sholom.

Reader's Guide

Visitors to this site encounter a structure that physically embodies the history of Sioux City's Jewish community. The original Queen Anne-style building, constructed with clapboard and shingle siding, offers a glimpse into early 20th-century design, while the 1922 Prairie School addition by William L. Steele marks a distinct architectural shift. As a former house of worship now recognized for its historic value since 1999, the site serves as a tangible record of demographic shifts in Iowa. It stands where Adas Jeshurun once stood as the city's first synagogue, and where the Reform community eventually found its permanent home before merging with Shaare Zion.

Did You Know?

• The Reform Jewish community had been worshipping with the Unitarian Church of Sioux City before establishing their own congregation in 1898.
• Sioux City was home to the second largest Jewish community in Iowa at the time of World War I, with a population nearing 2,500.
• A one-mile section of West Seventh Street featured 22 Jewish-owned businesses in 1944.
• The original Nebraska Street synagogue later became the home of the United Orthodox Synagogue after the congregation moved to 38th Street in 1956.
• In 1994, the Conservative Shaare Zion and Reform Mount Sinai congregations merged to form a dual-affiliation synagogue called Beth Sholom.