On Aug. 15, people throughout southeastern Wisconsin and beyond are invited to gather at Beth Israel Sinai Congregation, 944 Main St., for a celebration of people and faith.

This year marks 150 years of Jewish presence in Racine, according to members of Beth Israel Sinai, and the congregation is inviting the public to come and celebrate that presence with them during a special service and program.

"We have chosen August 15 for this auspicious celebration because it is just one month before the beginning of the Jewish New Year," said Rabbi Martyn Adelberg of Beth Israel Sinai. "We want people to know about our congregation - that it still alive and well and that we hope it will prosper for another 150 years."

The event, which will be centered around Beth Israel's 9:45 a.m. Saturday service, will feature music by special guests from Chicago's Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken, an Ethiopian Hebrew congregation that has developed a relationships with Beth Israel Sinai in recent years. Religious leaders from throughout the community, as well as political representatives and other special guests, are also expected the attend, Adelberg said. A kiddush (special blessing) lunch will be served following the service.

Visitors can also become familiar with the historic building which has housed Beth Israel Sinai since 1953. The congregation owns the classic structure which was built specifically for Beth Israel Sinai, and today is also home to a Hebrew school.

Deep roots

While it has been 110 years since Racine's first Jewish congregation, B'nai Yeshurin, was formed by 10 Jewish families, the history of Jews in this city can actually be traced back to 1850, according to information compiled by Max Gordon, a lifelong member of Beth Israel Sinai.

A Jewish man named I. Harmon served as the clerk for the City Council that year, and five years later a family named Horowitz came to town, according to Gordon's information. It wasn't long before other Jewish settlers made their way to Racine and opened businesses here ranging from tallow work to clothing and grocery stores.

Once the first congregation was formed, two others followed, but none of them could afford to pay a rabbi until two - Beth Israel and Sinai - merged to form Beth Israel Sinai and share the cost of Racine's first rabbi, Aaron Cohen, in 1925. Through the years, Beth Israel Sinai and Racine's Jewish community have gone through many changes, along with many other congregations - and the world in general.

The city's Jewish population, for example, numbered 300 families at its post-World War II peak. And, by the time Beth Israel Sinai moved into its current location, it had a full-time rabbi and a full-time cantor (who leads the congregation in song), who lived in homes that the congregation owned.

Hoping for growth

Various factors since then - from changes in the mercantile business to young people moving away to larger cities - have shrunk the congregation.

Adelberg, whose position as rabbi is part time, says Beth Israel Sinai currently has about 50 families in its membership, and is working toward doubling that number.

Meanwhile, the congregation is still vibrant and very much alive, Gordon said.

"We may be a small group, but we are all very active," said Gordon, whose grandfather was one of Racine's early Jewish settlers.

"We often find ourselves having very spirited discussions."

And while regular attendance may not be high, the synagogue is often crowded on Jewish holidays throughout the year, as all of its holiday events are open to the public, Gordon said.

"The quantity may be gone, but the quality is still here," Adelberg said.

He and other members are hoping that the Aug. 15 celebration will bring some new faces to their synagogue, and that some of those faces will want to come back again another day.