The History of Congregation Shalom Aleichem

Congregation Shalom Aleichem is the only Reform Temple in Osceola County. It began its long journey in the late 1800’s when Mr. Katz opened a store. Even as late as 1960 there were only three (3) Jewish families in Kissimmee and they attended services in Orlando. Today, of the original founders, only Harry and Carol Lowenstein and Pat Wolfe remain as  current members of the Congregation. In the 1980’s,  a movement began to organize the Jewish families in the Kissimmee area. Under the banner of “The Kissimmee Jewish Community” the families conducted services at various places in the St. Cloud and Kissimmee area. Efforts early on to build a Temple failed due to a lack of capital. The Kissimmee Jewish Community hired various Rabbis to conduct services and when not available they were conducted by a lay leader, Harry Lowenstein. A Torah was purchased and an Alabama Congregation donated Prayer Books.

In 1990 the Kissimmee Jewish community changed its name to Congregation Shalom Aleichem and became a member of the The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ). The Congregation continued to hire Rabbis to conduct their services and search for a permanent place of worship. A major part of the growth was the securing of a second Torah in 1993. This Torah is over 200 years old and is a “Holocaust Torah” one that was restored in England after they were discovered after the war in basements. These are the Torahs confiscated by the Germans in World War II. Harry and Carol Lowenstein sponsored the restoration costs. In 1991, Mr. and Mrs. Sandor Salmagne offered to build a Temple as a permanent memorial to the 32 members of the Kywi and Salmagne families who perished in the concentration camps during the Holocaust. On March 6, 1994 the Temple was dedicated in a special ceremony attended by local dignitaries and local Pastors.