Anshei Israel Synagogue is a historic synagogue located in Lisbon, Connecticut, United States. The Orthodox congregation was founded with 15 families and constructed the synagogue in 1936. It was built by George Allen & Sons. The interior is a single room that is lined with five benches before an altar which held the sacred ark. The congregation's membership dwindled throughout the 1940s and 1950s, limiting the services to holidays before finally closing in the early 1980s. Rules in the congregation were not as strictly enforced as in the Old World, as there was no curtain to separate the sexes and distant members were allowed to drive part of the way to its services. The Town of Lisbon took ownership of the property in the 1980s. The synagogue is currently maintained by the Lisbon Historical Society. The synagogue was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.ConstructionIn the early 1800s of Connecticut, people of the Jewish faith were few, with just twelve persons in the whole of Connecticut. In 1843, Jewish public worship was first permitted after a petition to the Connecticut General Assembly. Early Jewish services were held in private homes or in rented halls and later in the first synagogues, which were usually adapted from churches. Rural synagogues like the Anshei Israel Synagogue were modest structures and "reflect the need of Jewish farming and summer congregations for buildings suitable for worship that were within their limited financial and geographic boundaries."The land upon which the synagogue was built was donated by Harry Rothenberg around 1936. The congregation, pooled their money to construct the synagogue. Constructed by George Allen & Sons in 1836, the Anshei Israel Synagogue is a 20ft by 30ft gable-roofed clapboarded building with a 5ft by 9ft central projecting tower with a Magen David at its top. Flanking the tower on each side is a pair of 2-over-2 windows. Paint remnants show that the sash was previously painted a bright blue.
