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Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia/Beth Sadeh Synagogue

Coordinates: 35°35′51″N 80°25′34″W / 35.5976°N 80.4260°W / 35.5976; -80.4260
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Beth Sadeh
File:Beth Sadeh Sanctuary.jpg
(Original image showed the interior of a church with dark wooden pews, a hanging chandelier, a tall wooden piece of furniture, many windows, and a tile floor. Sunlight comes in from the right and a large blue object is seated on a tablecloth.)
Religion
AffiliationOrthodox Judaism
RiteSephardic
StatusInactive
Location
LocationSalisbury, North Carolina
 United States
Architecture
StyleColonial Revival/Greek Revival
Completed1947
Specifications
Capacity100
MaterialsBrick

Beth Sadeh Synagogue (House of the Field) or "The Cruse Synagogue" is a small, family synagogue constructed by members of the Cruse family on the grounds of the Old Stone Vineyard and Winery located outside of Salisbury, NC. Built by the family in 1947, it is the second-oldest Orthodox synagogue in continuous existence in North Carolina.

History

Jean and Jacob Cohen were French Jews who fled Bordeaux, France in 1940 to avoid the Nazi occupation. Relocating to the Piedmont region of North Carolina in 1943, the Cohens purchased 30 acres (12 ha) of land, which they subsequently converted into a vineyard and winery, naming it "Colline Verte Winery" (today Old Stone Vineyard and Winery) after a grass-covered hill on the property.

After several years, the family had grown to more than twenty members. With the nearest synagogue more than an hour away in Charlotte, North Carolina, the family decided to build their own private synagogue on the estate.

The synagogue was constructed in a unique dual-architectural style. The exterior, built to appear plain and without identifiable Jewish symbols, is constructed of white brick in a Greek Revival style. The interior is elaborately designed in a classical Sephardic style with the tebah placed in the center of the sanctuary and pews facing one another. It can seat approximately 100 people with a small balcony containing 20 seats, which was formerly the "women's gallery."

Services were held on a weekly basis for several decades with Jews from nearby Salisbury, NC often visiting. The liturgy was conducted according to the Spanish and Portuguese Sephardic rite. Following an immigration of Cuban Jews to Charlotte, NC in the early 1960s, Adat Yeshurun in uptown Charlotte, NC was established in 1961. Following the merger of this congregation with Sephardic Temple Beth David, which had been established in the 1920s, the two congregations formed Sephardic Temple Adat David in 1978. Beth Sadeh agreed to merge with this new congregation in 1987 in order to facilitate dwindling numbers and to preserve the Judaica of the synagogue.

As a result of this merger, most of the synagogue's Judaica and Torah scrolls were donated to Sephardic Temple Adat David with a few scrolls being donated to Temple Israel (Charlotte, North Carolina) in 2006.

35°35′51″N 80°25′34″W / 35.5976°N 80.4260°W / 35.5976; -80.4260

[[Category:Religious buildings completed in 1947]]
[[Category:20th-century synagogues]]
[[Category:Synagogues in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Rowan County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Orthodox synagogues in the United States]]
[[Category:Spanish and Portuguese Jews]]