Congregation Ahaveth Beth Israel, established in 1896 in Boise, is the oldest synagogue in continuous use west of the Mississippi.71 Jews in Idaho have worked as peddlers, traders, and wage earners since territorial days. Many became merchants.72 Moses Alexander, a clothing store founder, was elected governor in 1914, becoming the first Jew in the nation elected to hold a governor’s office. While there were only about 250 Jewish voters in the state, a survey of Boise newspapers revealed that Jewish merchants were regarded as pillars of the community.73

Boise’s Nathan Falk Family /Photo Citation 65

Idaho’s merchant Falk family, who opened their first store in Idaho in 1868, was active in community affairs for many years.

Former Governor Moses Alexander /Photo Citation 64

Hate Crimes Against Jews  

It was not until the white supremacist group called the Aryan Nations movement started in the 1970s that significant organized  anti-Semitic activity occurred within the state. Richard Butler moved to Hayden Lake and declared that the five northwest states were the territorial imperative of white Christians. Although never large in numbers, many of the adherents engaged in criminal activity. In the 1980s, Boise’s Ahavath Israel Synagogue was bombed, as was the home of Bill Wassmuth, a prominent Coeur d’Alene human rights leader.74 Robberies, counterfeiting, and harassment of minorities and Jews were committed by individuals and organizations associated with the Aryan Nations. Legislation outlawing hate crimes was drafted in 1983 with the support of dozens of organizations that formed the Citizens Coalition against Malicious Harassment. Aryan Nation members came to Boise to testify against the proposed legislation, even submitting a bogus letter claimed to be from the national Anti-Defamation League. The bill won overwhelming approval and, together with other statutes passed in subsequent years, provides tools for law enforcement when confronted with acts of domestic terrorism and malicious harassment.75

Days of Remembrance /Photo Citation 68

White power poster  distributed within Idaho  /Photo Citation 67

Since 1982 Idaho has commemorated the Days of Remembrance of the Holocaust in a Statehouse ceremony with the lighting of candles, not only for the six million Jews killed by the Nazis, but also for the five million others, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, Catholics, homosexuals, and disabled, who were exterminated during the Holocaust.76

FOOTNOTES: 71- Minskoff, Alan, Keeping the Faith, Ahavath Beth Israel, 1997, p. 15. 72- Arrington, Vol. II, p. 277. 73- Ibid., p. 279. 74- Alibrandi, Tom with Bill Wassmuth, Hate Is My Neighbor, Stand Together Publishers, October 1999. 75- Gayle, Speizer, Boise, Idaho, scrapbooks and oral interviews. 76- Ibid.