Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities - Hot Springs, Arkansas
Overview
|
Hot Springs, the seat of Garland County, was founded next to and named for a series of thermal springs in the Zig-Zag Mountains, part of the Ouachita Mountains range. From a population of about 200 individuals in 1860, the town grew into a popular spa destination by 1900. The springs attracted medical tourism as well as recreational travel, and the town also became a haven for illegal gambling and organized crime. Although The tourism economy contracted somewhat by 1970, the area remains a popular retirement destination in the early 21st century.
Jewish settlers, often with ties to Little Rock, made their way to Hot Springs in the 1840s, and a Jewish community formed there following the Civil War. Medical tourism brought a significant number of Jewish visitors to Hot Springs over the years, which allowed the small town to develop a surprising number of Jewish institutions, including a Jewish hospital and kosher restaurants. As the economy changed in the late 20th century, the Jewish population began to decline, however. As of 2024, Hot Springs is home to a small Jewish community centered around a longstanding Reform congregation, House of Israel. |
Rabbi Matt Friedman prepares Rachel Kleinman for her Bat Mitzvah, c. 1990. Photo by Bill Aron.
Early Jewish Settlers
The Jewish community of Hot Springs was closely tied to Little Rock from its inception. The Galicia-born Mitchell brothers—Jacob, Hyman, and Levi—had business interests in Hot Springs by the 1840s. Jacob Mitchell owned a hotel there, which his brother Levi operated as of 1847. Jacob also acquired a land grant for a portion of the springs, at some point. The federal government had claimed the area for itself in 1832, however, and the family spent decades in an unsuccessful attempt to assert their claim of ownership to the land.
The Mitchell family may also have influenced a fellow native of Galicia, Abraham Kempner, to move to Hot Springs sometime before 1840. Records indicate that both Kempner and the Mitchell brothers had been born in Krakow (later part of Poland). The Kempner family ultimately operated businesses in Hot Springs and Little Rock (Abraham moved there with his family in 1864) and at one point ran a stagecoach between the two cities. Adolph Auerbach also came from Krakow and lived in Hot Springs from 1853 until he joined the Confederate Army during the Civil War. After the war, he went into business in Little Rock.
The Mitchell and Kempner families found some success in Hot Springs and Little Rock, as well as a degree of social acceptance in the white, non-Jewish community. Census and newspaper records show that both Jacob Mitchell and Abraham Kempner had the means to purchase enslaved Black workers by 1860, for example. Still, a significant Jewish population did not develop in Hot Springs until after the Civil War, when the town resumed its role as a tourism and health destination.
Emmanuel Burgauer was a typical post-war arrival. Originally from Prussia, he came to the United States in the mid-1840s at approximately eighteen years old. Burgauer made his way to Little Rock and served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. By the late 1860s he had set up shop in Hot Springs, and he remained in business until 1894. Jewish merchants like Burgauer benefited economically from the local tourist economy, but the steady stream of out-of-town visitors also enhanced their social and personal lives. According to family stories, Burgauer met his eventual wife, Bebette Gugenheim of Rock Island, Illinois, when she visited the springs with her family. At the time of the 1870 census, the couple were married and lived in Hot Springs with a young daughter, Matilda, and a young man (possibly a relative) who worked in the store as a clerk.
The Mitchell family may also have influenced a fellow native of Galicia, Abraham Kempner, to move to Hot Springs sometime before 1840. Records indicate that both Kempner and the Mitchell brothers had been born in Krakow (later part of Poland). The Kempner family ultimately operated businesses in Hot Springs and Little Rock (Abraham moved there with his family in 1864) and at one point ran a stagecoach between the two cities. Adolph Auerbach also came from Krakow and lived in Hot Springs from 1853 until he joined the Confederate Army during the Civil War. After the war, he went into business in Little Rock.
The Mitchell and Kempner families found some success in Hot Springs and Little Rock, as well as a degree of social acceptance in the white, non-Jewish community. Census and newspaper records show that both Jacob Mitchell and Abraham Kempner had the means to purchase enslaved Black workers by 1860, for example. Still, a significant Jewish population did not develop in Hot Springs until after the Civil War, when the town resumed its role as a tourism and health destination.
Emmanuel Burgauer was a typical post-war arrival. Originally from Prussia, he came to the United States in the mid-1840s at approximately eighteen years old. Burgauer made his way to Little Rock and served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. By the late 1860s he had set up shop in Hot Springs, and he remained in business until 1894. Jewish merchants like Burgauer benefited economically from the local tourist economy, but the steady stream of out-of-town visitors also enhanced their social and personal lives. According to family stories, Burgauer met his eventual wife, Bebette Gugenheim of Rock Island, Illinois, when she visited the springs with her family. At the time of the 1870 census, the couple were married and lived in Hot Springs with a young daughter, Matilda, and a young man (possibly a relative) who worked in the store as a clerk.
An Organized Jewish Community
By 1872 enough Jews lived in Hot Springs to hold regular prayer services in a rented room. In 1875 the city’s ten Jewish families organized a congregation in time for the High Holidays. According to The American Israelite two members “revolted,” however. The newspaper provides no details as to the nature of the incident, but the two dissidents apparently used vulgar slang and faced expulsion from the nascent congregation. The conflict did not derail the congregation’s founding, however, and the group took the name House of Israel.
In 1876 the congregation established the Jewish Rest cemetery, and a local B’nai B’rith lodge followed in 1877, claiming twenty charter members. The congregation also organized a religious school, initially held in the home of Carl and Rosalie Gersman. The quick development of Jewish communal institutions matched trends elsewhere in the Reconstruction South but also resulted from specific local conditions. In 1875 rail travel made Hot Springs more accessible to tourists and the construction of the Arlington Hotel—then the largest in the state—reflected the city’s growing reputation as a spa destination.
In 1876 the congregation established the Jewish Rest cemetery, and a local B’nai B’rith lodge followed in 1877, claiming twenty charter members. The congregation also organized a religious school, initially held in the home of Carl and Rosalie Gersman. The quick development of Jewish communal institutions matched trends elsewhere in the Reconstruction South but also resulted from specific local conditions. In 1875 rail travel made Hot Springs more accessible to tourists and the construction of the Arlington Hotel—then the largest in the state—reflected the city’s growing reputation as a spa destination.
Jewish Rest Cemetery, May 2023. Photo by Emily Williams.
The young congregation continued to grow in the late 19th century and, like many other small town Jewish communities, joined the Reform movement. In 1885 they constructed their first synagogue at a cost of $550. That building burned in an 1896 fire, and the congregation held services at the First Methodist Church while a new building was under construction. The second synagogue burned in the Hot Springs Fire of 1905, which consumed nearly 400 structures across 33 city blocks. (Congregants Moses Mendel and Bernard Gross reportedly lost “beautiful,” “recently built” homes, as well.) The congregation rebuilt once again, this time at the corner of Quapaw and Market Streets, but a 1913 fire destroyed that building. These fires, and a 1924 flood, destroyed a number of congregational records and items of Judaica. According to a 1956 congregational history, however, congregant Billy Gross “rushed into the flames” to rescue the congregation’s Torah scroll in 1913.
Rabbi A.B. Rhine and his wife Annette Rhine. Carolyn LeMaster Collection, Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Central Arkansas Library System.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the women of House of Israel contributed to congregational life and community welfare through the Ladies Aid Society. Among other activities, the group offered material support to needy Jewish families, supervised the religious school and helped to furnish the synagogues, a task that was all the more important given the repeated fires. In 1912 the group became known as the Temple Sisterhood and joined the Reform movement’s National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods. Fannie Fellheimer (1854-1941) stands out among local Jewish women for her 25 years of service as president of the Ladies Aid Society.
Congregation House of Israel initially relied on lay leaders to hold worship services. It was not until 1891, sixteen years after its founding, that the congregation hired its first rabbi, Frank Rosenthal. Although Rabbi Rosenthal served the congregation from approximately 1893 to 1901, he did not make his living solely as a rabbi and apparently supplemented that income with part-time work as a clerk in a local jewelry store. When Rabbi Rosenthal left Hot Springs for a pulpit in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1901, Congregation House of Israel hired Rabbi Louis Schreiber, who only stayed for a year. A long period of rabbinical stability followed, however, with the hiring of Rabbi A.B. Rhine, who served the congregation from 1902 until 1941 and became a major force behind the statewide Arkansas Jewish Assembly, organized in 1931.
Congregation House of Israel initially relied on lay leaders to hold worship services. It was not until 1891, sixteen years after its founding, that the congregation hired its first rabbi, Frank Rosenthal. Although Rabbi Rosenthal served the congregation from approximately 1893 to 1901, he did not make his living solely as a rabbi and apparently supplemented that income with part-time work as a clerk in a local jewelry store. When Rabbi Rosenthal left Hot Springs for a pulpit in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1901, Congregation House of Israel hired Rabbi Louis Schreiber, who only stayed for a year. A long period of rabbinical stability followed, however, with the hiring of Rabbi A.B. Rhine, who served the congregation from 1902 until 1941 and became a major force behind the statewide Arkansas Jewish Assembly, organized in 1931.
The Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries
From early on, Jewish residents of Hot Springs played visible roles in the economic and civic life of the growing town. A host of new Jewish businesses—some long lasting and others more ephemeral—joined older shops such as the Kempner and Burgauer stores. The 1903 city directory includes a range of Jewish-owned firms in retail and wholesale. Simon Blumsteil sold cigars and tobacco, and Adolph Marx operated a confectionery. Henry Fellheimer became prominent as a furniture retailer, while a number of Jewish families ran clothing stores large and small. Jewish newcomers also operated modest groceries and tailor shops.
As in other locales, the most successful Jewish business people found their way into prominent positions of civic leadership. Bernard Gross, for example, arrived in Hot Springs in 1881 and opened a dry goods store. He later opened a very successful mortuary. Gross was instrumental in the creation of the local volunteer fire department and served as its longtime chief (presumably before the 1905 fire). He also served on the city council, as did J.C. Wolf. Ernst Klein, a pharmacist who owned his own drug store, served on the Hot Springs School Board.
While the Jewish families of the 1870s and 1880s often traced their roots back to German or Prussian territories, later arrivals often hailed from the Russian Empire or elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Morris Moscowitz, for example, came from Hungary and spoke Yiddish. His wife, Bertha Moscowitz, was born in New York City to Jewish immigrants. The pair arrived in Hot Springs in 1895 where Morris opened a men’s clothing store. (Their son Grover eventually became a federal judge.) Peter Gartenberg arrived a few years prior to the Moscowitz family; his small dry goods store eventually grew into a large department store under the leadership of his son Leo and grandson Robert.
By 1907 the contingent of Eastern European Jewish immigrants had grown large enough to organize a second congregation, and thirty families established an Orthodox congregation, Shearith Israel (Remnant of Israel). An S. Zidman served as cantor and led weekly Shabbat services. The newly founded congregation enrolled ten children in religious school during its first year. Although Shearith Israel never grew into a large congregation, it managed to stay active until 1930 or so due to the participation of Orthodox Jewish tourists who visited Hot Springs for medical treatments.
As in other locales, the most successful Jewish business people found their way into prominent positions of civic leadership. Bernard Gross, for example, arrived in Hot Springs in 1881 and opened a dry goods store. He later opened a very successful mortuary. Gross was instrumental in the creation of the local volunteer fire department and served as its longtime chief (presumably before the 1905 fire). He also served on the city council, as did J.C. Wolf. Ernst Klein, a pharmacist who owned his own drug store, served on the Hot Springs School Board.
While the Jewish families of the 1870s and 1880s often traced their roots back to German or Prussian territories, later arrivals often hailed from the Russian Empire or elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Morris Moscowitz, for example, came from Hungary and spoke Yiddish. His wife, Bertha Moscowitz, was born in New York City to Jewish immigrants. The pair arrived in Hot Springs in 1895 where Morris opened a men’s clothing store. (Their son Grover eventually became a federal judge.) Peter Gartenberg arrived a few years prior to the Moscowitz family; his small dry goods store eventually grew into a large department store under the leadership of his son Leo and grandson Robert.
By 1907 the contingent of Eastern European Jewish immigrants had grown large enough to organize a second congregation, and thirty families established an Orthodox congregation, Shearith Israel (Remnant of Israel). An S. Zidman served as cantor and led weekly Shabbat services. The newly founded congregation enrolled ten children in religious school during its first year. Although Shearith Israel never grew into a large congregation, it managed to stay active until 1930 or so due to the participation of Orthodox Jewish tourists who visited Hot Springs for medical treatments.
Health Tourism and Jewish Hot Springs
Ads for the Jerwich Hotel and the Darch Hotel, Sentinel Record (Hot Springs), 18 Dec. 1917.
Just as the tourism industry enriched the local economy, it allowed for the development of a greater Jewish presence than a small town like Hot Springs would usually attract. As early as 1892 Adolph Hollander advertised the Hollander Hotel as “the only Jewish Hotel in Hot Springs” in the American Israelite—a national Jewish newspaper published in Cincinnati. Newspaper items from the late 19th and early 20th centuries regularly noted that Jewish residents of midwestern and southern cities had traveled to Hot Springs either for health reasons or simply for leisure.
By the 1910s a number of boarding houses, hotels, and restaurants catered specifically to Jewish visitors. One local newspaper from 1917 includes four ads with Yiddish text, seeking to entice visitors to the Jerwick Hotel, Darch Hotel, Spinat’s Hotel, and Narin’s Hotel. Other Jewish-oriented establishments included the Knickerbocker Hotel, the Metropolitan Hotel, and the Balfour Hotel, which was named after the British foreign minister who had approved Jewish settlement in Palestine after World War I. The Balfour was founded in the 1920s by Isadore Schulman and Clara Zach, and had a chapel so that observant visitors would not have to ride on the Sabbath to pray.
The thermal springs also led to the creation of the Leo N. Levi Hospital. Rabbi Rosenthal recognized the need for a public hospital that could serve the many poor Jews (and others) who came to Hot Springs for medical treatment, and the cause gained the support of regional and national B’nai B’rith bodies in 1900. It took a decade for the project to germinate, however, and another four years to complete the hospital. In 1910 the Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital Association took shape, and the body began to raise money in earnest the following year. An act of congress provided a portion of the hospital’s land, as well as the right to use the thermal waters. The hospital opened in 1914 as a state-of-the-art facility with an initial capacity of 60 beds. Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital, named for a beloved past national president of B’nai B’rith who had died in 1904, served indigent patients and was the first national Jewish hospital specializing in rheumatism and blood diseases. Although it was funded by B’nai B’rith and had a kosher kitchen, it accepted patients of all faiths; a majority of its patients over the years have not been Jewish.
The hospital attracted many Jewish visitors to Hot Springs and also employed a handful of Jewish workers. Memphis native Regina Kaplan became the hospital’s administrator in 1916 and stayed in the position for 35 years. She established a nursing school at the hospital and oversaw the facility’s growth to 125 beds. Besides her distinguished career in nursing and hospital leadership, where was active in a number of local civic organizations, including Hadassah and the B’nai B’rith women’s auxiliary. In addition to his work at the synagogue, Rabbi A.B. Rhine offered pastoral care at the hospital, as did his successor, Rabbi Martin Perley, who served House of Israel from 1941 to 1943.
The Jewish community of Hot Springs thrived during the first half of the 20th century as tourists and medical patients provided the critical mass necessary to support Jewish institutions and businesses. An out-of-town visitor could stay at a kosher hotel, receive treatment at the hotel, and attend synagogue all within a few downtown blocks. The town offered a miniature, southern version of Catskills resort life, and a number of Jewish visitors decided to stay permanently to enjoy the thermal waters and temperate climate. As a result, the Jewish population rose from 325 individuals in 1937 to an estimated 600 in 1968.
By the 1910s a number of boarding houses, hotels, and restaurants catered specifically to Jewish visitors. One local newspaper from 1917 includes four ads with Yiddish text, seeking to entice visitors to the Jerwick Hotel, Darch Hotel, Spinat’s Hotel, and Narin’s Hotel. Other Jewish-oriented establishments included the Knickerbocker Hotel, the Metropolitan Hotel, and the Balfour Hotel, which was named after the British foreign minister who had approved Jewish settlement in Palestine after World War I. The Balfour was founded in the 1920s by Isadore Schulman and Clara Zach, and had a chapel so that observant visitors would not have to ride on the Sabbath to pray.
The thermal springs also led to the creation of the Leo N. Levi Hospital. Rabbi Rosenthal recognized the need for a public hospital that could serve the many poor Jews (and others) who came to Hot Springs for medical treatment, and the cause gained the support of regional and national B’nai B’rith bodies in 1900. It took a decade for the project to germinate, however, and another four years to complete the hospital. In 1910 the Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital Association took shape, and the body began to raise money in earnest the following year. An act of congress provided a portion of the hospital’s land, as well as the right to use the thermal waters. The hospital opened in 1914 as a state-of-the-art facility with an initial capacity of 60 beds. Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital, named for a beloved past national president of B’nai B’rith who had died in 1904, served indigent patients and was the first national Jewish hospital specializing in rheumatism and blood diseases. Although it was funded by B’nai B’rith and had a kosher kitchen, it accepted patients of all faiths; a majority of its patients over the years have not been Jewish.
The hospital attracted many Jewish visitors to Hot Springs and also employed a handful of Jewish workers. Memphis native Regina Kaplan became the hospital’s administrator in 1916 and stayed in the position for 35 years. She established a nursing school at the hospital and oversaw the facility’s growth to 125 beds. Besides her distinguished career in nursing and hospital leadership, where was active in a number of local civic organizations, including Hadassah and the B’nai B’rith women’s auxiliary. In addition to his work at the synagogue, Rabbi A.B. Rhine offered pastoral care at the hospital, as did his successor, Rabbi Martin Perley, who served House of Israel from 1941 to 1943.
The Jewish community of Hot Springs thrived during the first half of the 20th century as tourists and medical patients provided the critical mass necessary to support Jewish institutions and businesses. An out-of-town visitor could stay at a kosher hotel, receive treatment at the hotel, and attend synagogue all within a few downtown blocks. The town offered a miniature, southern version of Catskills resort life, and a number of Jewish visitors decided to stay permanently to enjoy the thermal waters and temperate climate. As a result, the Jewish population rose from 325 individuals in 1937 to an estimated 600 in 1968.
The Mid-20th Century
The continued growth of Jewish Hot Springs influenced congregational life in the city. Some Jewish residents and visitors continued to hold Orthodox service informally after the dissolution of Shearith Israel. In the 1940s they met regularly in a second floor apartment above a downtown liquor store. They organized a congregation under the name Beth Jacob (House of Jacob) in 1950 and built a small synagogue on Quapaw Street, just once one block from House of Israel. Once again, the Orthodox congregation relied on support and participation from Jewish visitors from out of town, especially the urban North.
While the emergence of Beth Jacob allowed for the continuation of Orthodox customs in Hot Springs, the longstanding Reform congregation, House of Israel, flourished during the postwar tourism boom, enlisting 79 local member households in 1956 with an additional four “associate” membership units in New York and Florida. In 1957 the congregation built an addition to their 1905 synagogue, which included a rabbi’s study, classrooms, and an auditorium named for the Burgauer family. In 1961 they decided to tear down their old sanctuary and build an up-to-date worship space, completed in 1965.
Despite House of Israel’s vibrancy, the small congregation experienced frequent rabbinical turnover from Rabbi Rhine’s retirement in 1941 until the mid-1950s—a fifteen-year period that saw five rabbis come and go. The arrival of Rabbi Albert Michaels in 1956 brought renewed stability, though, as he stayed in the position until 1974.
By the 1960s a combination of factors had begun to affect the local tourist economy. First, increasingly advanced treatments for bone and joint problems decreased the flow of medical tourists to the bathhouses of Hot Springs. Most of the kosher hotels and restaurants closed by the mid-1950s, although the Balfour remained open into the following decade. Second, in the late 1960s the state of Arkansas finally cracked down on illegal gambling in Hot Springs—which had bolstered tourism and made the town a popular destination for a number of prominent criminals. The local population continued to grow, however, as Hot Springs became a popular retirement destination.
While the emergence of Beth Jacob allowed for the continuation of Orthodox customs in Hot Springs, the longstanding Reform congregation, House of Israel, flourished during the postwar tourism boom, enlisting 79 local member households in 1956 with an additional four “associate” membership units in New York and Florida. In 1957 the congregation built an addition to their 1905 synagogue, which included a rabbi’s study, classrooms, and an auditorium named for the Burgauer family. In 1961 they decided to tear down their old sanctuary and build an up-to-date worship space, completed in 1965.
Despite House of Israel’s vibrancy, the small congregation experienced frequent rabbinical turnover from Rabbi Rhine’s retirement in 1941 until the mid-1950s—a fifteen-year period that saw five rabbis come and go. The arrival of Rabbi Albert Michaels in 1956 brought renewed stability, though, as he stayed in the position until 1974.
By the 1960s a combination of factors had begun to affect the local tourist economy. First, increasingly advanced treatments for bone and joint problems decreased the flow of medical tourists to the bathhouses of Hot Springs. Most of the kosher hotels and restaurants closed by the mid-1950s, although the Balfour remained open into the following decade. Second, in the late 1960s the state of Arkansas finally cracked down on illegal gambling in Hot Springs—which had bolstered tourism and made the town a popular destination for a number of prominent criminals. The local population continued to grow, however, as Hot Springs became a popular retirement destination.
The Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries
The decrease in Jewish tourism did not immediately lead to a drastic decline for Jewish Hot Springs. House of Israel was able to replace Rabbi Michaels with Rabbi Selvyn Goldberg in 1974. Rabbi Goldberg proved popular in the community, and he spearheaded the construction of Levi Towers, a convalescent home for elderly residents located next to Levi Hospital. Sadly, he died suddenly in 1881, just a few days before Yom Kippur. He had already prepared his sermon, however, and a close friend, the pastor of the First Baptist Church, read Rabbi Goldberg’s words in his stead. House of Israel went extended periods without a full-time rabbi in the subsequent decades, often relying on student rabbis from Hebrew Union College.
Beth Jacob, meanwhile, reduced its activities by the 1980s, only meeting for the high holidays. The congregation never employed a resident rabbi, and in later years they hired an out-of-town cantor for the holidays. Beth Jacob continued under the leadership of Eugene Kirsch until 1993. By that point its members had joined House of Israel, and the Orthodox group transferred their artifacts, funds, and holdings to the Reform congregation.
Beth Jacob, meanwhile, reduced its activities by the 1980s, only meeting for the high holidays. The congregation never employed a resident rabbi, and in later years they hired an out-of-town cantor for the holidays. Beth Jacob continued under the leadership of Eugene Kirsch until 1993. By that point its members had joined House of Israel, and the Orthodox group transferred their artifacts, funds, and holdings to the Reform congregation.
Eugene Kirsch at Beth Jacob c. 1990. Photo by Bill Aron.
Jewish retirees and businesspeople continue to call Hot Springs home in the early 21st century, but the community is not as large or as active as it once was. Around 2007 House of Israel still claimed 68 member families, employed a full-time rabbi, and maintained an active religious school. The number of families with young children fell, however, and the congregation ended its religious school around 2018. As of early 2024, the congregation consists of approximately 30 households. Still, Jewish life continues on in Hot Springs. Sheldon Kleinman, a local resident since his retirement, began providing lay leadership for religious services in 2011. In 2014 he received a rabbinical ordination and afterward became the congregation’s full-time, resident rabbi.
Updated March 2024.