# @sachistorymuseum on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DSRHSWOEWMz
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/37882765-sachistorymuseum-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/b760cb6ec8.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-12-15T02:30:33.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Sacramento History Museum (@sachistorymuseum) — https://gondola.cc/sachistorymuseum

## Caption

Tonight marks the first night of Hanukkah, known as the “Festival of Lights.” The first observance of Hanukkah and other Jewish holidays in Sacramento was in 1849. Moses Hyman held services above his jewelry store on Front Street and helped to establish the B’nai Israel Congregation with Albert Priest. Albert Priest was a partner in the mercantile firm, Priest, Lee, and Company, who sold mining goods at Sutter’s Fort from the summer of 1848 until the company relocated their store to the corner of 2nd and J Streets in the spring of 1849. 

On June 4, 1852, Alexander Myer, Charles Friedman, Joseph Levison, and Albert Priest, the officers of the Association of the Children of Israel, purchased the Methodist Episcopal Church on 7th Street between M (today Capitol Ave.) and L Streets. 

On September 3, 1852, the building was dedicated by the B’nai Israel Congregation making it the first congregational owned synagogue in California. 

The first service at the synagogue in September 1852 was delivered by Joseph Shannon. The building, however, was severely damaged on November 2, 1852 during the Great Conflagration when 80 percent of Sacramento was burned. After the fire, the congregation moved to a building on J Street. The B’nai Israel Congregation moved several times between 1852 and 1954. In 1954, the congregation moved to where it is located today on Riverside Boulevard. A plaque for California State Landmark No. 654 marks the site of the original synagogue on 7th Street. 

Wishing all those that celebrate Hanukkah over the next eight days a safe and joyous occasion. 

Illustration of the Methodist Church in 1851, which was later purchased by the congregation in 1852, published in the Sacramento Union newspaper November 28, 1909. 

#Hanukkah #sacramento #sacramentohistory #goldrush #suttersfort #sachistorymuseum

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## Tags

goldrush, sacramentohistory, sacramento, hanukkah, suttersfort, sachistorymuseum

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