Temple Beth Zion (Buffalo, New York)

Temple Beth Zion is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 805 Delaware Avenue, in Buffalo, Erie County, New York, in the United States. Founded in 1850, Temple Beth Zion is the largest Jewish congregation in Western New York and one of the oldest and largest Reform congregations in the nation. Originally an Orthodox congregation, TBZ reorganized as a Reform congregation in 1863.

The Max Abramovitz-designed scalloped oval Modernist building features ten scallop walls, each a symbol of the 10 commandments, and two 30 ft commandment tablets. The synagogue walls rise 45 ft from the entrance, flaring outward at 15 degrees, firmly anchored to a pedestal 50 ft below ground level. Ben Shahn, an artist, painter and calligrapher, designed the sanctuary's stained windows, the Commandment Tablets, and the menorah. The synagogue contains a Casavant Frères 48-rank, 4000-pipe organ. The synagogue was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018, located within the Delaware Avenue Historic District.

The Benjamin and Dr. Edgar R. Cofeld Judaic Museum, co-located adjacent to the synagogue, features a rotating collection of Judaica.

The congregation was beset by sexual harassment allegations in 2020, allegedly perpetrated by Rabbi Jonathan Freirich.

Previous buildings
Before building their current synagogue, the congregation worshiped in two previous buildings. The first building was the old Niagara Street Methodist Church (between Pearl Street and Franklin Street). The church was renovated, rededicated, and used as the home of Temple Beth Zion until 1886. The second building was a Byzantine-styled, copper-domed temple built in 1890, designed by Edward Austin Kent, and located at 599 Delaware Avenue (now the site of the Clinical Research Center). That building was destroyed in a fire in 1961.