Congregation Emanu-El (San Francisco)

Congregation Emanu-El began in eighteen forty-nine when a small group of homesick Bavarian immigrants gathered in a tent to hold the first Jewish service on the West Coast. These pioneers had arrived in San Francisco to chase the wealth of the Gold Rush, but they quickly established this institution as a permanent symbol of their intention to put down roots in the new city. Today it stands as one of the oldest Jewish congregations west of the Mississippi and remains a central pillar of the Bay Area community.