Known as BMH-BJ, Denver’s largest modern Orthodox congregation.

Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol-Beth Joseph, known in the Denver area as BMH-BJ, came from the 1996 merger of two congregations: Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol $#40;the Great House of Study) originated as a modern Orthodox synagogue in 1897 and Beth Joseph, an Orthodox synagogue founded in 1922.

In 1965 Denver Architect Hans Kahn was engaged to design a new building for BMH where he was a member of the congregation. The building was ultimately completed in 1969. He also designed a sanctuary addition to the synagogue in 2001. Kahn immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1938 when he was 9 years of age, just after the anti-Semitic violence of Kristalnacht.

According to Wikipedia “As of 2005, it was the only synagogue in the country affiliated with the Orthodox Union without a mechitza, thus allowing men and women to sit together. It is the only surviving example of a seating style that had previously been present in a substantial number of Orthodox Union affiliated synagogues.”

BMH-BJ is the largest modern Orthodox synagogue in Denver and the second oldest congregation in the area.