When the construction of Interstate 90 took the synagogue’s previous site, this new synagogue building was constructed on Spokane’s South Hill.

Spokane’s first Jewish settlement dates back to 1879. Temple Emanu-El, a reform Temple founded by German Jews who had settled in Spokane, was incorporated in 1891. By 1920 there were about 1,500 Jews living in Spokane and Temple Emanu-El’s membership included close to 300 families.

By the mid-20th century there were two Jewish congregations in Spokane, one Conservative and one Reform. In view of the limited size of Spokane’s Jewish community it was a financial challenge to maintain two congregations and two buildings. The solution came 1966 when Interstate Highway 90 was built through Spokane taking the old Conservative synagogue’s site. The community decided to merge the two congregation’s memberships into one liberal Conservative congregation, Temple Beth Shalom.

Quoting from Temple Beth Shalom’s website:

“Today, Temple Beth Shalom (TBS) is a growing congregation serving 255 Jewish households in the greater Spokane area, as well as families from southern British Columbia, northeastern and southeastern Washington State, northern Idaho, and western Montana.

With an enrollment of 140 students, the Temple Beth Shalom Midrasha serves children from pre-school through high school. Gan Rachel preschool (“Rachel’s Garden” named in honor of Rachel Erin Levitt, aleha hashalom, who passed away in 1985) meets once a week for children ages 3-5. Five classes of Hebrew School meet for two hours each week to augment religious training as well as to prepare students for Bar and Bat Mitzva. Midrasha High School classes for post Bar and Bat Mitzva students are held weekly. TBS also sponsors an active schedule of Adult Education classes and workshops. TBS’s newly constructed Cowen Education Center was dedicated in September 1998. Spokane Jewish Youth includes involvement in United Synagogue Youth (U.S.Y.), and Kadima Youth Organization (K.Y.O.) Many of our young people attend Camp Solomon Schechter, a regional Conservative Movement summer camp, in Olympia, Washington.

Every March, the Annual Kosher Dinner brings together the entire TBS membership in a mammoth public relations and fundraising effort to welcome approximately 2,500 people from the larger Spokane community into the synagogue for a traditional Jewish meal and Jewish entertainment.”