Congregation Children of Israel (Augusta, Ga.) Records

Congregation Children of Israel was established in 1846, as the Jewish community within the central Savannah River area had begun to expand. Tisha B’Av and High Holy Day services were held that year in a rented room with a temporary ark, and in 1849, the congregation was granted a corporate charter. The then-small membership of approximately 20 people felt the need to form a religious school. This was the core of what later became Congregation B'nai Israel and then Children of Israel in 1846. In 1879, the Hebrew Ladies Aid Society was founded and in 1919, when the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods was created, the society joined and became the Sisterhood. The Temple Brotherhood was born in the 1920s’. Since then, the Sisterhood and the Brotherhood have been vital components of the social and educational components of the synagogue. Congregation Children of Israel held its 100th anniversary in 1945. At that time, the membership of the temple numbered 90, and it was clear that the Telfair Street location was not large enough. A building fund was started, and in 1946, a site was chosen at the corner of Bransford Road and Walton Way. In September 1949, Rabbi Norman Goldburg, his wife Rose, and their two children were welcomed to Augusta. Jordan M. Parr served as the congregation’s 29th rabbi from 1990 until 2002. Rabbi Parr and his wife Cynthia were instrumental in fostering family involvement, instituting Tot Shabbat, overseeing the renovation of the Judaica shop and initiating many community outreach programs, such as the interfaith Mitzvah Day Project. In January 1995, Congregation Children of Israel commemorated the continuity of their congregation with a sesquicentennial weekend. At the midpoint of its birthday year, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations held a conference in Augusta for the first time, bringing hundreds of people from the U.S. and Canada together. The records of Congregation Children of Israel consist of minutes, correspondence, financial and legal records and general administrative files. Of special interest to researchers is the Sunday school scrapbook, which holds pictures dating as far back as the sixties. The collection also consists of the first check written, which provides official ownership of the congregation.