B'nai Israel Synagogue and Montefiore Cemetery


B'nai Israel Synagogue and Montefiore Cemetery in Grand Forks, North Dakota consists of historic B'nai Israel Synagogue built in 1937 at 601 Cottonwood Street and its related historic Montefiore Cemetery at 1450 North Columbia Road which dates from 1888. B'Nai Israel Synagogue was designed by noted Grand Forks architect Joseph Bell DeRemer in the Art Deco style of architecture and built by local builders Skarsbro and Thorwaldson at a cost of $14,000. It replaced the earlier wooden Congregation of the Children of Israel synagogue built in 1891 at 2nd Avenue, South & 7th Street. Montefiore Cemetery in Grand Forks is one of many institutions named for Sir Moses Montefiore. On October 13, 2011, B'nai Israel Synagogue and Montefiore Cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places
The congregation was first chartered on August 26, 1891. It was founded by Eastern European Jews, including Jews fleeing pogroms in Russia and Lithuanian Jews. In the early 1990s, B'nai Israel joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.