This was the first Jewish congregation in Palm Beach County. Eight families founded it as Beth Israel in 1923. The next year, the congregation moved into a synagogue at 2020 Broward, where it remained until 1951 when the congregation, now known as Temple Israel, moved to Flagler Drive, its current location.

Among the founders of Beth Israel was Joseph Mandel, who served as mayor of West Palm Beach in 1923 and 1924. Another founder was Max Sirkin, a produce farmer who arrived in 1896 and became the first Jewish settler in West Palm Beach. The present sanctuary is tent-like with stained glass windows of various shapes, sizes, and depths set into thick walls. The ark doors are a stylized tree of life with frosted and clear glass, allowing worshippers to glimpse the Torahs even with the doors closed. The ark itself has floor-to-ceiling side windows that bathe it in perpetual light.

Information courtesy of Florida Division of Historical Resources, a division of Florida Department of State.

Image courtesy of temple-israel.com