St. Louis's Oldest Jewish Congregation, Still Going Strong
United Hebrew Congregation sits on a wooded rise along Conway Road in west St. Louis County, a few minutes north of Highway 40. From the outside, it looks like a contemporary suburban congregation. Inside, it carries nearly two centuries of Jewish life: United Hebrew was founded in 1837, the first Jewish congregation in St. Louis and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. At the time of its founding it was only the twentieth synagogue in the United States, and it remains one of thirteen American congregations to have marked a 175th anniversary under its original legal incorporation, never merging with another congregation and never losing members to a breakaway.
Today United Hebrew is a large, multigenerational Reform Jewish congregation that gathers for Shabbat and holidays, runs a preschool and a religious school, supports youth groups from kindergarten through twelfth grade, publishes a digital bulletin, operates a gift shop, and maintains a 20-acre cemetery in nearby University City. Its mission is to create an inclusive, multigenerational Jewish community where every person, at every stage of life, finds a genuine home.
A Minyan Above a Grocery Store, 1837
The congregation began as a single minyan, a Jewish prayer meeting of ten adults required for public worship, on Rosh Hashanah Eve in 1837, in a rented room above a store at Second and Spruce Streets. The chief organizers were Abraham Weigel and Nathan Abeles, who would become the congregation's first president and secretary. Four years later, on October 3, 1841, the group legally organized itself as United Hebrew Congregation, and the preamble to its first constitution pledged members to build a place of worship dedicated to the Most High.
For its first generation the congregation leaned Orthodox. Kippot remained mandatory while reading from the Torah until 1913, and the transition into the Reform movement was deliberate. United Hebrew joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1878, withdrew in 1885, and rejoined in 1904. With the adoption of the Union Prayer Book in 1913, the long move toward Reform was considered complete. The congregation is now affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism.
Six Buildings, One Congregation
Since 1841, six buildings have been dedicated as United Hebrew's home, four specially built and two converted churches. In the 1920s, after several moves through the decades, the congregation bought land on Skinker Boulevard across from Forest Park and built what Rabbi Brigitte Rosenberg's history calls a magnificent architectural gem. Nearby residents sued to keep what they called a church from rising on their street; the case reached the Missouri Supreme Court, which dismissed the lawsuit. That Skinker building served the congregation for more than sixty years and is still a St. Louis landmark, today the home of the Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center.
As the Jewish community migrated west into St. Louis County, United Hebrew built the Gudder Educational Center in 1977 near Conway and Woods Mill Roads as a west campus for religious and Hebrew education. A nursery school opened in 1979 and was renamed the Saul Spielberg Early Childhood Center in 1990. In the late 1980s the congregation began building a sanctuary on that property; the new Millstone Sanctuary and Spielberg Chapel were dedicated in 1989.
Five Senior Rabbis in 188 Years
The early members did not believe they needed a rabbi. As one early congregant, Isidor Bush, put it, each considered himself rabbi. Members took turns conducting services and Nathan Abeles acted as the unpaid shochet. In 1854 the congregation elected the first rabbi ever to serve in St. Louis, the Rev. Dr. Bernard Illowy, one of the foremost Orthodox rabbis in the country.
United Hebrew appointed its first official senior rabbi in 1878, and since then only five have served in that role: Rabbi Henry J. Messing, Rabbi Samuel Thurman, Rabbi Jerome W. Grollman, Rabbi Howard G. Kaplansky, and currently Rabbi Brigitte S. Rosenberg. During the Skinker era, Rabbi Thurman's national prominence grew when President Harry Truman invited him to give a blessing at a presidential inauguration, only the second rabbi to do so since George Washington's time.
A Congregation With Its Own Cantor
United Hebrew has long taken music seriously. In 1967, Cantor Murray W. Hochberg became the first cantor ever to serve a Reform congregation in St. Louis, building the adult choir and educating generations of religious school students over thirty-two years. Cantor Hochberg became emeritus in 1999 and remains an active participant. He was followed by Cantor Ronald D. Eichaker, who served as cantor for twenty-five years before becoming cantor emeritus in August of 2024; in 2018 he also received rabbinic ordination, expanding what the congregation calls his Whole Life approach to Jewish living and learning.
Today's music is led by Greta Rosenstock Kramer, Director of Congregational Music and Cantorial Soloist. A St. Louis native and longtime United Hebrew congregant, she has worked as a ritual leader, choral director, and educator, including work with Lab/Shul in New York City and presentations on Jewish repertoire at state and international conferences. She is completing a Master of Music in Choral Conducting at TU Dublin Conservatoire. Supporting her are Organist and Assistant Music Director David Cohen and Religious School Music Specialist Hannah Dubman. Rick Recht, the contemporary Jewish artist, has served as artist-in-residence, and the Helen C. Millstone Music Fund underwrites ongoing musical programming.
Shabbat at United Hebrew
Shabbat is the weekly center of life at the synagogue. The Friday evening service is held in the Millstone Sanctuary and features familiar rituals and melodies along with a sermon or presentation by one of the rabbis or a special guest. From late May through early September the service begins at 6 p.m., and from mid-September it shifts to 6:30 p.m. On the first Friday of each month the service includes birthday blessings for adults and children followed by a Dessert Oneg; on the third Friday it includes anniversary blessings and a Shabbat Nosh before the service. Kaddish is offered at every Shabbat service, except for Tot Shabbat, for anyone wishing to commemorate a loved one.
Tot Shabbat is a half-hour service designed for children from birth through age six and their grown-ups. It is held during the school year in the Spielberg Chapel at 5:30 p.m. on designated Fridays. Kulanu Shabbat, which means all of us, is a more intimate and musical alternative service accompanied by an all-string folk band, with drinks, dessert, and time to connect afterward.
Saturday mornings begin with Torah Study from 9 to 10 a.m., led by clergy in the Spielberg Chapel and on Zoom. No prior experience with Torah is necessary; participants arrive as they are. The main Shabbat morning service follows at 10 a.m. in the Millstone Sanctuary, often including a Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebration, the reading of Torah and Haftarah, and life-cycle moments. When two B'nai Mitzvah fall on the same day, services are generally held at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Family Shabbat mornings are run camp style: religious school students participate with their class, and the service begins at 10 a.m. in the main sanctuary.
Services use the prayer book Mishkan T'filah for Shabbat and Mishkan HaNefesh for the High Holy Days. Both books are available in the UH gift shop or on Amazon Kindle.
The High Holy Days and the Year's Cycle
The High Holy Day journey at United Hebrew begins with Selichot on the Saturday evening before Rosh Hashanah, a service of prayer, music, and intention-setting during which the Torah scrolls are changed into their white covers and the shofar is sounded for the first time. Selichot at United Hebrew has been paired with hands-on programming, including a recent Paper Midrash workshop in which husband-and-wife team Isaac and Rabbi Shawna Brynjegard-Bialik led participants in paper-cutting artwork inspired by texts on introspection.
Rosh Hashanah brings an Erev Rosh Hashanah service on the first evening, a children's service in the school hallway on the morning of the first day, a main morning service in the Millstone Sanctuary, and a new K-4 High Holy Day Experience for younger children with a short kids' service, shofar, honey tasting, and crafts. The second day adds a slightly more traditional morning service without instrumental accompaniment, followed by Tashlich at a lake on Ladue Road. Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur the clergy lead a remembrance service at the United Hebrew Cemetery. Yom Kippur opens with Kol Nidrei, with its cello melody and dimmed lights, and closes with afternoon, memorial, and Neilah services and a final shofar blast.
The High Holy Days are also a season of giving. The High Holy Day Appeal funds the gap between membership revenue and the cost of sustaining the congregation; the appeal is offered online and by check, PayPal, and Venmo. A Memorial Book gathers the names of loved ones for Yizkor readings, and a holiday food drive supports the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry.
The yearly cycle continues with Sukkot, including Pizza in the Hut, an outdoor Erev Sukkot service in the UH parking lot, and visits from Fredbird of the St. Louis Cardinals and Louie of the St. Louis Blues, who help the children shake the lulav. Simchat Torah brings the unrolling of the Torah and the consecration of new religious school students. Chanukah, Tu B'Shevat, Purim, Passover, and Shavuot each have their own celebrations, along with life-cycle moments woven through the year.
The 2026 - 27 Theme: Eitz Chayim Hi
Each year United Hebrew chooses a theme to organize its education and engagement. The 5787/2026-27 theme is Eitz Chayim Hi: Holding Fast to Torah. Drawing on the words It is a Tree of Life to those who hold fast to it, the year centers on the Torah scroll itself, its sacred words, and the wisdom that emerges whenever the community encounters the text. Programs invite members to hold Torah in their hands, wrestle with its teachings, and discover that while we hold Torah, Torah also holds us.
The congregation already has a special relationship with Torah. In 2007 it commissioned a new Sefer Torah, and nearly one-third of its members participated by inscribing their own letters. The scroll, believed to be the first in the world written by a woman scribe, serves future generations of the community. In commemoration of its commission, one of the congregation's older Torah scrolls was donated to the Abraham Geiger College in Potsdam, Germany, to support the regrowth of Judaism in a country whose leaders once endeavored to destroy all Torahs.
Learning From Infancy Through Adulthood
United Hebrew runs three formal learning programs: the Saul Spielberg Early Childhood Center, the K-12 Religious and Hebrew School, and Adult Education. Together they give the congregation one of the broadest continuous Jewish learning arcs in the region.
The Saul Spielberg Early Childhood Center welcomes children from six weeks through six years of age. The center is open year round, Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and provides preschool education, full-day child care, and summer day camp. The center's curriculum is literacy-based and integrates developmentally appropriate Judaic and secular experiences. Children in the older classes welcome Shabbat each Friday at Kabbalat Shabbat in the chapel, sing with a music teacher, do yoga, and visit the library. Each Tov through Shalom child is assigned to be Shabbat King or Queen during the year. The inclusion statement commits the center to early intervention and inclusive programming for children with special needs, working with families and specialists to provide proper care and education.
The K-12 program is organized as the Louis and Mary Millstone Religious School and the Rabbi Jerome W. Grollman Hebrew School. The Religious School meets on Sundays: Kindergarten through 7th grade from 9 to 11:25 a.m. (with 6th-grade Hebrew instruction embedded within the Sunday session), and 8th through 10th grade from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The 11th and 12th grade Beren Scholars gather about twice a month. The curriculum is built on seven pillars: God, Torah, Life Cycle, Holidays, Holocaust, History, and Israel. Hebrew for 3rd through 7th graders is taught in small-group sessions or in optional individual thirty-minute weekly sessions, with a virtual option.
Throughout the year, Family Shabbat services and Oneg activities are designed for K-6 families, and Shabbat in Action sessions invite families to participate together with an emphasis on practical home observance. The annual Consecration on the eve of Simchat Torah welcomes new religious school students onto the bimah, where they recite the Shema, receive a blessing, and are given their own miniature Torah scroll. In tenth grade, students prepare for Confirmation, celebrated on a Saturday morning in May as a public affirmation of their Judaism.
Adult Education includes the weekly Shabbat morning Torah Study, Whiskey and Wisdom with Rabbi Reinhart on one Wednesday a month, the Amateurs of the Great Assembly on Thursdays with Jason Marks, Scholars-in-Residence weekends, the Adult B'nai Mitzvah program, and special interest classes that range from Spinoza to Jewish traditions in death and mourning.
Youth Groups Across the Grades
Every K-12 youth member of United Hebrew is automatically part of the congregation's youth engagement community. Primary grade students enjoy themed Lounge Days after religious school. Upper elementary students add joint field trips with B'nai Amoona, ranging from bowling to SkyZone. Middle schoolers have monthly on-site and off-site events, plus shared trips with B'nai Amoona to places like City Museum and mini-golf. High schoolers find monthly social hangouts, social justice and leadership programming, and pathways into BBYO, NFTY, Student to Student, the Jewish Student Union, and LEAD STL. The director of Youth Education and Family Engagement, Samantha Fomera, oversees this work, and Brian Vail serves as the youth group advisor.
Life Cycle Events
Jewish ritual at United Hebrew gathers the community around key moments of transition. Baby naming ceremonies welcome a newborn into the covenant of Judaism, with a Hebrew name given either through a Brit Milah for boys or a designed naming ceremony for girls. Consecration begins the religious school journey. The B'nai Mitzvah program celebrates a young person taking responsibility for his or her own Jewish identity, with detailed preparation through clergy and tutors. An Adult B'nai Mitzvah program is offered for those who did not have the opportunity as a child, have converted to Judaism, or now feel called to the moment.
United Hebrew clergy officiate at marriages of two Jews, interfaith couples, and same-gender couples, and the synagogue honors couples at a Shabbat service prior to the wedding with an Aufruf blessing. Significant wedding anniversaries can be celebrated in the synagogue or another appropriate setting. Conversion to Judaism is welcomed, and clergy offer short-term counseling and referrals for those in need.
At the time of illness, the congregation offers a misheberach prayer for healing at every Friday evening service. At the time of death, clergy help families arrange funeral services and observe shiva with services in the home, with Kaddish read at services throughout the shiva and sh'loshim periods. Stone dedications, Yahrzeit memorial readings, Yizkor services four times a year, and memorial plaques on the wall of the Rabbi Samuel Thurman Memorial Hall all help keep the memory of loved ones present in congregational prayer.
Music in the Life of the Congregation
Music is a thread that runs through worship, learning, and community at United Hebrew. Cantor Murray Hochberg established the adult choir and shaped two generations of singers. Cantor Ron Eichaker expanded the cantorate's reach with world music, ethnic gastronomy, and original compositions. The Artist-in-Residence program has brought figures like Rick Recht to United Hebrew for residencies and concerts. Most recently, the congregation welcomed Dan Nichols for a Sukkot celebration honoring Rabbi Rosenberg's Honorary Doctor of Divinity, awarded in recognition of her twenty-five years in the rabbinate, with a concert and sing-along in the UH sukkah.
Current music leadership is provided by Greta Rosenstock Kramer, David Cohen, and Hannah Dubman. The Helen C. Millstone Music Fund sustains music programs and residencies, and the UH Music page, Sounds of Us, gathers recordings and ongoing work.
Mahj Mondays, Crochet, and the Book Club
Beyond services and classes, the congregation stays connected through a wide range of ongoing groups. Mahj Mondays gathers players of every level on the first and third Monday of each month, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Kaplansky Center. Newcomers can join a mini crash course before play begins. The Stitch and a Prayer Crochet and Knitting Group meets on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. in the Kaplansky Center; members crochet or knit Blessing Blankets for congregants in need of healing, scarves for the homeless, and other charitable projects. The Susan Kaplansky Book Club meets on the first Thursday of each month at 1:30 p.m. in the Millstone Library, with a published list of upcoming books ranging from The Frozen River to The Lion Women of Tehran.
For older members, UH Prime Timers is an active group for single seniors aged 65 and over who want to socialize and make new friends. The UH Women's Group, for women aged 45 to 65, meets monthly with social gatherings and volunteer opportunities. The UH Men's Group brings men aged 50 and older together monthly to talk through retirement, finances, health, and caring for aging parents, with topical and social meetings. The congregation also hosts joint senior programs in partnership with Congregation Shaare Emeth, Congregation Temple Israel, and Temple Emanuel, featuring lunch at noon followed by a speaker or entertainer. Transportation for seniors to Temple activities is provided through the Betty and Eugene Wolff Transportation Fund.
Shabbat @ Home
Shabbat @ Home is the congregation's Friday evening dinner initiative. Members open their homes to host small Shabbat gatherings every six to eight weeks, with the synagogue office matching hosts and guests based on household makeup, ages of children, dietary needs, allergies, accessibility considerations, and location. Hosts set the timing and tone, provide the main dish, and contact their guests in advance. UH provides a Shabbat kit with candles, challah, a special challah cover, blessings, and conversation starters. Shabbat @ Home is designed to complement, not replace, communal worship.
Israel at the Heart of the Congregation
Israel is woven through worship, learning, and travel. The annual theme of Eitz Chayim Hi centers on Torah, but the community also marked the 75th anniversary of the State of Israel with a year of exploring Kolot Yisrael, the many voices of Israel. The Focus Israel UH committee plans Israel programs, brings in speakers and films, and sponsors an annual Israel Shabbat. The congregation partners with the Megido Regional Community in Israel through the DOMIM-aLike project of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, fostering Reform-Progressive partnerships between Israeli and diaspora congregations.
Teen Israel experiences are supported through partnerships with Israel Bound, the Reform Jewish Israel Trip, and Heller High School. The Henrietta and Eli Spielberg Israel Scholarship Foundation Fund helps worthy UH students with study and travel in Israel. Adult trips are coordinated through the Adult Travel program, including a multi-generational L'Dor V'Dor Israel trip in partnership with Jewish Federation of St. Louis and a Portugal and Spain trip led by Rabbi Rosenberg in 2027, with an optional Barcelona extension.
Community Action and Caring for One Another
United Hebrew lives its value of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, through several ongoing efforts. Shabbat in Action is a designated Shabbat each month, when there is no B'nai Mitzvah or Family Shabbat, dedicated to a hands-on mitzvah project for all ages. The congregation is a longtime supporter of the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry, run by Jewish Family Service, providing at least seven to ten days of food per month to families and seniors in need, including kosher options. Members donate tuna and chicken, peanut butter and jelly, soup, canned fruits and vegetables, and pasta and sauce, and also volunteer at the pantry. Misheberach Blankets, made by the crochet and knitting group, are sent to or delivered to congregants in need of healing.
The Thuner Chesed Fund helps members with basic needs, including food, shelter, medicine, and bill payment, during times of great financial need, and is administered by the Senior Rabbi. Door-to-door taxi service for senior members is provided through the Eugene and Betty Wolff Transportation Fund. Clergy are available for short-term counseling and referrals, and the Bereavement and Healing pages collect prayers, rituals, and support for those in mourning.
The United Hebrew Cemetery
United Hebrew Cemetery in University City has served the St. Louis Jewish community for more than 180 years. Established in 1840, the cemetery was first thought to have been located at 2700 Pratte Avenue in the City of St. Louis. In 1866 Mount Olive Cemetery was purchased at the corner of North and South Road and Canton Avenue; in 1960 it was renamed United Hebrew Cemetery. What was once land surrounded by farms is now twenty acres, four times the original tract, with enough space to accommodate many burials for years to come.
The cemetery is open to both members and non-members of United Hebrew, with traditional burial and interment of cremated remains both available. Jewish and non-Jewish family members may be buried next to one another in all areas. Options include flat stones in the Memorial Garden, four-or-more-grave Traditional Family Sections with one large family monument, and individual or paired gravesites. Pre-planning is encouraged to relieve families of last-minute decisions. In 1999 the United Cemetery Association was established to manage the United Hebrew, B'nai Amoona, and Chevra Kadisha cemeteries, all located within one mile of each other on North and South Roads. The cemetery is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is closed on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
Gift Shop, Bulletin, and the Unique Treasures Store
The Unique Treasures of United Hebrew Congregation gift shop is located inside the Rabbi Howard G. Kaplansky Center and carries a carefully curated collection of Judaica, kippot, tallit, ketubahs, mezuzot, kiddush cups, menorahs, seder plates, jewelry, children's books, and Bar and Bat Mitzvah and wedding registries, plus hostess gifts, graduation gifts, teacher appreciation gifts, and gifts for the home. Gift wrapping is free and the shop ships anywhere in the continental United States. Hours are Mondays from 12 to 3 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. when religious school is in session.
HaMakor, the congregation's digital bulletin, is published monthly with a back catalog stretching back at least to 2025. The bulletin carries congregational news, program announcements, and tributes. Advertising in HaMakor and in the weekly emails supports United Hebrew's programming.
Leadership and Staff
The clergy team is led by Senior Rabbi Brigitte S. Rosenberg, who has served United Hebrew since 2004 and became the fifth senior rabbi in 2011. Rabbi Rosenberg chairs the Israel and Overseas Committee of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, is a past president of the St. Louis Rabbinical Association, serves on the St. Louis Hillel Foundation, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and is a founding board member of the Missouri Alliance Network. She co-chairs the Parkway Schools Faith Leaders Council and is active in the West County Interfaith Alliance. Associate Rabbi David Reinhart joined the congregation in July of 2022; his rabbinic thesis focused on the life and philosophy of Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan.
Rabbi Howard G. Kaplansky serves as Rabbi Emeritus after more than thirty years of service, including his tenure as Senior Rabbi from 1990 to 2011. Cantor Ronald D. Eichaker serves as Cantor Emeritus after twenty-five years in the cantorate, and Cantor Murray W. Hochberg serves as Cantor Emeritus after thirty-two years. The Executive Director is Cori Neidenberg, who joined the UH staff more than a decade ago and assumed the executive director role in 2023. Other senior staff include Director of Early Childhood Engagement Lauren Lourie, Director of Youth Education and Family Engagement Samantha Fomera, Director of Congregational Music and Cantorial Soloist Greta Rosenstock Kramer, Membership Engagement Manager Mindy Woolf, Communication Manager Jen Newmark, Development Manager Galit Lev-Harir, Facilities Manager Jeff Schwartz, Organist and Assistant Music Director David Cohen, Religious School Music Specialist Hannah Dubman, Youth Group Advisor Brian Vail, and Gift Shop Manager Iris DeWoskin.
The Board of Trustees is led by President David Kaiser, with Vice Presidents Leslie Kittredge, Rob Levinson, and David Wallace, Treasurer Ted Kraizer, Assistant Treasurer Sally Lang, and Secretary Cheryl Banashek, along with trustees, active life members, and a long line of past presidents stretching back to the early 1900s. The first known president was Abraham Weigel, beginning in 1841.
Giving and the Future of the Congregation
United Hebrew is supported by the annual Partnership Commitment of its members. Rates for adults 39 and under start low and increase gradually each year, with special rates for single adults and single-parent families. No one is turned away: if cost is a barrier, the staff will work to make Partnership affordable. The Scroll of Honor recognizes giving at levels from Leader/Manhigim through Angel/Malachim, with benefits including recognition, gala tickets, gift shop discounts, complimentary Religious School tuition, and small-group gatherings hosted by the Senior Rabbi. Legacy giving through bequests, beneficiary designations, gifts of real estate, and charitable annuities and trusts builds a permanent foundation for the congregation. The endowment funds include named funds for education, building maintenance, music, youth, the library, camping scholarships, the Rabbinic Chair, safety and security, transportation for seniors, and more.
Special events like the Chai Society Gala bring the congregation together to celebrate and to support what comes next. Membership covers about 59 percent of what it takes to sustain all the congregation offers; the High Holy Day Appeal and the Scroll of Honor fill the rest, keeping United Hebrew a place that welcomes them not just for the holidays but for the long arc of Jewish life.