The oldest Ashkenazic congregation in the Western Hemisphere.

In 1795, shortly after the United States gained its independence from England, a group of Orthodox Jews from Germany founded a minyan of ten in Philadelphia. The group adopted its first Articles of Association in 1802 and was the first synagogue in Pennsylvania to receive a corporate charter in 1812.

The Congregation’s records were kept in Yiddish until 1810 and in German until 1830. It attracted many recent immigrants by offering those of Northern European origin membership at reduced rates and in cases of hardship, membership was free of charge. Services were held in a variety of locations for the first seventy years.

Quoting from Rodeph Shalom&39;s website “Rabbi Louis Wolsey, who served at Rodeph Shalom from 1925 until 1947, was of the generation of great rabbi orators” who dominated congregational Judaism in the first half of the twentieth century. In 1928, Rabbi Wolsely directed the building of the new synagogue building, which is our current home. This magnificent structure combined the synagogue house with the religious school house for the first time.”

The interior design including the star-burst skylight, stained glass windows, Aron Kodesh bronze and enamel doors, wall, ceiling and dome decorations and carpet are by the D’Ascenzo Studio. The noted Philadelphia architectural firm of Simon and Simon designed the building.