Our History

The roots of Kehilath Israel can be traced back to 1910 when Melech and Ida Brown held services in their home and founded Tifereth Sforad along with Bennett and Rebecca Tranin. Both the Brown and Tranin families still maintain ties with K.I.

The congregation, comprised of five different Orthodox communities, became known as Kehilath Israel in 1945 and had a combined membership of 425 families, with 368 children in the religious school. Though the congregation owned two buildings, none were large enough to accommodate the needs of the new congregation. KI leadership eventually chose a new site for the Synagogue at Meyer and Rockhill in Kansas City, which served the congregation from 1951 to 1983.

Welcoming The Immigrant Community

At the same time K.I. was raising funds to build its new building, Holocaust survivors were moving to Kansas City. The congregation became the religious home of many survivors, and to this day KI maintains the tradition of being a welcoming community to all who wish to participate. Originally founded as Orthodox, Kehilath Israel is now considered to be a Traditional congregation, and allows families to worship together.

The move to Johnson County, Kansas

The synagogue remained at Meyer and Rockhill till 1983, when the move to Johnson County was finalized. After three years at a temporary location, KI moved to the current location on 105th & Conser in Feb. 1986.

For more than 100 years, Kehilath Israel has strived to be a warm and welcoming congregation, proud of its traditional values of learning Torah, engaging in meaningful and inspirational prayer and practices and performing acts of loving kindness.