Welcome
Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish Regional Center serving Western Kentucky, Southern Illinois, Northwestern Tennessee, and Southeastern Missouri. We are an inclusive congregation with members who are Jewish by birth or by choice committed to preserving our heritage and educating the community about our history dating back to the 1860s. Together we worship, celebrate and socialize as well as collaborate with other religious organizations to promote connectedness through tolerance and tzedakah.
Sisterhood
Almost every house of worship depends on the ladies to set the religious and cultural atmosphere of the physical plant. So it was in Paducah within the Jewish community.
History
By 1859, there were eleven Jewish-owned businesses in Paducah, several of which were partnerships of two or more Jews. Many ran clothing stores; of the eight clothing businesses in Paducah in 1859, six were Jewish-owned. One of these included a store owned by Solomon Greenbaum and Cesar Kaskel. Kaskel, a native of Prussia, had moved to Paducah in 1858. In 1859, twenty Paducah Jews founded the Chevra Yeshurun burial society and bought land for a cemetery.