History of the Alberta Shul:

Tifereth Israel, an Orthodox Jewish congregation, bought the Alberta Shul building at NE 20th and Going in 1914, & stayed until they outgrew the space in 1952, when they put it up for sale.

Mt. Sinai, a local Christian congregation that still thrives in NE Portland, made an offer - then neighbors and the Realtor found out that this was a Black church & urged the synagogue not to sell.

This is an excerpt from Tifereth Israel's response to the backlash:

"We regard such [racist] pressures as being violative of the principles of Americanism, of Judaism, of Christianity, and of common decency."

Tifereth Israel and Mt. Sinai worked together to "consummate the moral agreement" they had entered into. The building has been home to communities of faith for many years, & more recently, a religious experimental arts space.

In 2017, a group of Jewish community members got together to try to buy the historic building when it went up for sale. This team learned about the history of the building, organized events, wrote for grants and organized fundraisers to raise enough to complete the purchase. Along the way, they formed tight friendships and found more people on Portland’s east side who were hungry for this kind of grassroots Jewish community. Though ultimately unsuccessful in the purchase, the social justice values of our predecessors infuse our work.

Since 2017, the Alberta Shul has been a grass-roots, community-led project of east-side Jews trying to make Judaism and Jewishness a vibrant part of our lives by participating in city-wide events with our Barbra Streisand Pedalpalooza, celebrating holidays with Rosh Hashanah in the Park and the annual Hanukkah Rager, or learning about culture, history and the natural world with a herbalism collective, Bark Mitzvah, Swifts Shabbat and zine making events, and more. Alberta Shul events often center LGBTQ+ Jews, Secular Jews and Jews who like being outdoors: Afterall, without a building, the city of Portland is our Shul; we meet in parks, in backyards, in the street.