Beth Israel Congregation (Greeley, Colo.) Records

Most of Greeley's early Jews were Orthodox and services were held in private homes until 1925 when Beth Israel Congregation was formed in Greeley, Colorado and houses were rented for services. In 1952 Beth Israel had it's first synagogue when it purchased a former church in 1952 and incorporated in June 1953. The first trustees in 1953 were Louis Dinner, Sam Gold, and Abe Winnograd. In the 1970s the congregation helped resettle Russian Jews in Greeley and formed a local chapter of the Colorado Committee of Concern for Soviet Jewry. Among the leaders of the Congregation were members of the Winograd family. Abe Winograd was born in Poland in 1885 and came to the United States in 1909. He settled in Greeley in 1916. His daughter Eleanor Winograd Judd and her husband Morris also helped to lead the Congregation. In 1974, a pre-fabricated synagogue building was erected at 1625 Reservoir Road.