Jews in Bristol

Rhode Islanders often think that only Newport and Providence are significant to Jewish history in Rhode Island, because they were established early in our state’s history, but this is not true.  Bristol’s Jewish community is equally important. 

The story of Jewish Bristol begins in the 1890s, when a small number of Jewish families from Eastern Europe arrived.  These new arrivals included small business owners, professionals, and laborers, drawn by economic opportunity especially at the National Rubber Company which was founded in Bristol in 1864 by Augustus O. Bourn.  The National Rubber Company played a key role in the development of the domestic rubber industry, but went bankrupt in 1887. Samuel P. Colt was appointed receiver, and the company was reorganized as the National India Rubber Company. The revitalized company brought new vigor to rubber production at the Bristol facility, producing rubber boots, shoes, garments, hoses and other items. This drew many Jewish workers to Bristol, and provided a ladder for advancement for those with talent, who started work in the plant but quickly moved up to the offices, and then left to start businesses of their own. 

Since they were somewhat distant from Providence, then the main center of Jewish life in Rhode Island, Jews living in Bristol decided to form organizations of their own. In 1896, they founded the Young Men’s Hebrew Association (YMHA). As you can see from the map, there were many places in Bristol where Jews originally worshiped, usually in the home of one of the communal founders.  Within a few years, they found the need for a permanent place to worship. In 1900, they chartered the United Brothers Synagogue, under the Hebrew name Chevra Agudas Achim.  

The YMHA and Chevra Agudas Achim soon joined together, and in 1908 they began to worship in a house on John Street. Later, the combined congregation moved to Richmond Street, which became the first home of Chevra Agudas Achim. Construction of a permanent synagogue, at 205 High St., began in 1916.  

New arrivals to the community in Bristol came from New York, and brought with them a certain cosmopolitan spirit. The congregation soon became open to considering different forms of Jewish practice. At first the women sat upstairs in the Orthodox synagogue. But very soon the women moved to the main floor. The congregation had no rabbi; instead, a gabbai, or lay leader, ran the services.

Relations with the broader community were very good, and the new building received help from both Protestant and Catholic churches in the town. In addition to helping with construction, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, on Wood Street, and St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, on Hope Street, donated pews. 

The early 1930s brought the Zionist movement to Bristol in the form of Young Judea, a peer-led Jewish educational movement that was embraced by second- and third-generation Jews. With the idea of building Jewish identity, Young Judea offered a Sunday School with religious and cultural programming for children and young adults. At the same time, the synagogue formed a bowling league which soon became known as the Bristol Jewish Community Center. After World War II, the community experienced a change in membership as many resident Jews left to pursue greater opportunities elsewhere and new families arrived. New families brought new ideas, and the post-war shift in social attitudes created a divide between the synagogue, which increasingly focused solely on religious life, and the community center, which encapsulated the social, cultural and educational needs of the community. The same change in social behavior led to a shift in ritual behavior, with the synagogue moving away from Orthodox toward Conservative ritual practices –  a not-uncommon change for the time. Ultimately, declining membership led to closure of the synagogue building for the decade from 1966 to 1975.

In 1975, with growing interest from Jewish families newly arrived in Bristol, the synagogue reopened – again, without a rabbi – offering one service per month. This synagogue schedule has continued to the present day, with Cantor Dr. Joel Gluck as spiritual leader. Thus, we see how a building and a Jewish community can be born and reborn.