The Isaac M. Wise Temple (formerly the Plum Street Temple) is the historic synagogue erected for Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise. Rabbi Wise was the founder of American Reform Judaism. The temple building was designed by prominent Cincinnati architect James Keys Wilson.
The temple is located at 720 Plum Street in Cincinnati, Ohio and was built by members of the Lodge Street Synagogue. The temple and was dedicated on Friday, August 24, 1866 and is among the oldest synagogue buildings still standing in the United States. As a daily paper wrote at the time, “Cincinnati never before had seen so much grandeur pressed into so small a space.” Although originally budgeted at a cost of US$35,000 for the land, and $55,000 for the building, the total cost of the enterprise exceeded $264,000 largely due to post Civil War inflation.. This is the equivalent of approximately $3,654,000 in 2011 dollars. With a membership of approximately 220 families in 1865 this represents an investment of approximately $16,600 in 2011 dollars per family in the new structure.
The temple is across Plum Street from the historic Saint Peter In Chains Cathedral and next to the site of the former St. Paul Episcopal Cathedral, which was torn down in 1937.
In 1972, the Plum Street Temple was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Isaac M. Wise Temple is a Reform congregation in Cincinnati, Ohio. This congregation is unique in offering two distinct physical settings for our members' spiritual fulfillment, Wise Center in Amberley Village and historic Plum Street Temple in downtown Cincinnati.
Read more about Isaac M. Wise Temple: History
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—Isidor Isaac Rabi (20th century)
“Death never takes the wise man by surprise,
He is always ready to go.”
—Jean De La Fontaine (1621–1695)
“One sorry fret,
An anvill Sparke, rose higher,
And in thy Temple falling, almost set
The house on fire.
Such fireballs dropping in the Temple Flame
Burns up the building: Lord, forbid the same.”
—Edward Taylor (1645–1729)