Temple Archives

Congregation B’nai Israel is very proud of our archives and historical significance in Jewish Arkansas. The archives are housed in a climate controlled modern space which is part of the Tenenbaum Center addition. The collection includes minutes of every Temple board meeting including leather-bound handwritten minutes of the first organizational meeting in September 1866.

Items found cataloged in the Temple Archives are some of the following: Temple chronicles, cemetery records, rabbi’s papers and writings, Sisterhood organization records, and many other documents dating back to the congregation’s inception.

New and growing collections include family history files, B’nai Mitzvah programs, religious school items, and is continuing to grow. The collection extends to historical religious artifacts including a rare handwritten circumcision book by Jacob Menkus, an early community Mohel. The Temple archives are organized by subject by looking at the catalogue. For more information on the Archives and temple history email Jim Pfeifer jimpfei6@aol.com or Phillip Spivey, pspivey@uca.edu.