In 1841, a rift opened within a German Orthodox congregation of a Bavarian Unsleben party that met in a rented room on Prospect Street. Known as the Israelite Congregation, it was formed just two years earlier as Cleveland’s first Jewish congregation. The group split over religious differences, with the departing members forming Anshe Chesed, meaning “the People of Loving-kindness.” The factions reunited in 1845 under the name Israelitic Anshe Chesed Society of Cleveland and soon built a synagogue on Eagle Street. This building was relatively small at 35 by 50 by 28 feet. After some disagreements over religious rituals in 1850, some members left to follow Rabbi Isidor Kalisch and establish Tifereth Israel. The Anshe Chesed then hired Rabbi Bernard L. Fould from Bavaria who headed the congregation from 1850 to 1875.

From 1861 to 1865, Rabbi Fould and chazan Gustava M. Cohen instituted many reforms, introduced an organ, tore down the women’s gallery, and installed pews. They also turned the reader of scripture from the Ark’s direction toward the audience. There were significantly more changes, later helped by Rabbi Michaelis Machol during his leadership from 1876 to 1906, converting Anshe Chesed from traditional to reformed Judaism. After the changes that Rabbi Michaelis Machol made during his leading congregation, they adopted English sermons, more moderate prayer books and services that switched between the Hebrew and English language. Some of these changes would later be reversed by Rabbi Barnett Brickner in the 1920s. Meanwhile, in 1887 the congregation relocated to a bigger building on Scovill Avenue and Henry Street (now East 25th). The 125-foot temple had alternating layers of white and red sandstone with octagonal turrets and three arching entrances. Designed by Lehman and Schmitt, the building could comfortably seat 1,200 people.

Rabbi Louis Wolsey from Little Rock, Arkansas, succeeded Rabbi Machol in 1907. The Anshe Chesed Congregation then announced their move to a location previously owned by Cassie Chadwick, who was known for defrauding banks out of millions by saying that she was an heir of Andrew Carnegie. Located on Euclid Avenue and East 82nd Street, Chadwick’s mansion was in the process of demolition in January of 1910, three years after she died in prison. On the vacant land, the Anshe Chesed planned to erect a synagogue designed by Lehman and Schmitt, the same architects who designed their previous home, and set aside $200,000 for construction. Rabbi Wolsey was said to favor an oriental style of architecture with tall columns and porticos for the new building. They cut some of the costs by choosing red brick instead of Indiana limestone, allowing them to spend the saved $50,000 on different amenities that included a new organ and pews.

In 1912, the congregation dedicated its new Euclid Avenue Temple. To commemorate the opening, they lit the eternal fire before the marble Ark representing God’s eternal presence. Within the Ark, there is a scroll of the Jewish law made of satin and gold. A sermon preached by Rabbi Wolsey gave thanks to God, who they believed allowed the building to be erected by His will and for His worship . The temple could seat 1,500 attendants and had one of Cleveland's largest organs at the time with 4,000 pipes. The temple had eight stained glass windows made by Tiffany and Company that each depicted moments of Jewish history as told in the Torah. The woodwork and pews had a silver-gray finish while the carpets and seating upholstery were a deep red. The Ark was made of French marble with two candelabras standing on each side made of bronze. Behind the choir lofts, a glass mosaic was imprinted with a verse from the book of Psalms, completing the synagogue. With all these extra expenses, the cost rose to $250,000.

Beginning in 1925, the Euclid Avenue Temple entered a new three-decade era in which it would become inseparable from the imprint of a new Rabbi. Born in New York City to Russian Jewish immigrants, Rabbi Barnett Brickner was a staunch Zionist and brought a new vision to Anshe Chesed. Rabbi Brickner moved away from many of the classical Reform practices of Anshe Chesed's prior years and reinstated many older Jewish traditions in services. So thoroughly did he shape Anshe Chesed that the synagogue became commonly known as "Brickner's Temple."

In 1956, Anshe Chesed, numbering 2,300 families, sold the building to a local African American congregation, Liberty Hill Baptist Church, which became the second Black church on Euclid Avenue, Anshe Chesed moved to Fairmount Boulevard in the eastern suburb of Beachwood. There they were known as the Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple. At this new location, the congregation pushed for more civil and political rights for all Americans, even helping Soviet Jews relocate to America to flee persecution. The congregation also welcomed lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Jews and their families, and they tasked Chevrei Tikva Chavurah in 2005 with undertaking outreach to the LGBT community. As a result of these actions, the Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple received the Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign Cleveland.

Anshe Chesed had a long history tied to the roots of Cleveland, but like most Jewish organizations, the congregation left the city of Cleveland as its members moved farther eastward into the suburbs. It cannot be understated that this congregation (which more recently merged with Temple Tifereth-Israel to form Mishkan Or) had a lasting impact on Jewish culture in Cleveland, including leaving a wonderful architectural legacy that continues to serve members of Liberty Hill Baptist Church.

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The Fairmount Temple in Beachwood was the last home of Anshe Chesed, a Reform congregation of more than 1,500 families, prior to its 2024 merger with Temple Tifereth Israel to form Mishkan Or. Fairmount Temple, bearing the name of the street on which it was located, followed the tradition of Cleveland's original Jewish congregation of German immigrants. Percival Goodman, a New York architect was assisted by Clevelander Sigmund Braverman to design the facility following World War II when congregation members were moving eastward from their downtown neighborhoods. In 1948, 32 acres of land was purchased along Fairmount Boulevard for a new synagogue location. Following a long zoning battle which ended in the Ohio Supreme Court, the City of Beachwood issued a building permit in 1954 to erect the Fairmount Temple. The expansive facility served the congregation's mission of "lifelong learning, worship, social action, and deeds of loving kindness."

Fairmount Temple was the last of four temples providing a home for the congregation since 1842. In 1837, Simon Thorman was the first German from Bavaria of Jewish faith to settle in Cleveland. Gathering fellow Jews, he formed a minyan and initiated the organization of a congregation of worshipers. By 1845, the cornerstone of Cleveland's first Jewish house of worship was laid. It was supported by Leonard Case, a non-Jewish Cleveland philanthropist. The Eagle Street Temple was built and dedicated in 1846 on the site now occupied by Progressive Field. The congregation experienced significant growth and splits during the next forty years before the reformed congregation moved to a new site on Scovill Avenue and Henry Street (near East 25th). Dedicated in 1887, the Scovill Avenue Temple served the congregation until further expansion fostered another move to the Euclid Avenue Temple at East 82nd Street in 1912.

The Anshe Chesed congregation continued to thrive at this location for more than forty years into the mid-20th century. The Euclid Avenue building is the home of eight Tiffany windows. When the congregation moved, however, the windows were deemed too old-fashioned for the newer Temple. Families moving to the eastern suburbs, combined with limited access and parking, prompted the congregation leaders to build a new facility in Cleveland's eastern suburbs. The Euclid Avenue Temple has been occupied by the Liberty Hill Baptist Church since 1956, when it became the first Black church on Euclid Avenue.

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The Tifereth Israel congregation was established in 1850, after several members left the Anshe Chesed congregation. It moved to its synagogue in University Circle in 1924, vacating its Wilson Avenue (East 55th Street) Temple dedicated in 1894. Designed by architect Charles R. Greco, the East 105th Street Temple provided sanctuary seating for 2,000, a reflection of the congregation's large size. In 1969, Tifereth Israel also opened a branch in the eastern suburb of Beachwood. This branch later became the congregation's primary home. In 2010 Case Western Reserve University partnered with the Temple to form the Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center in the historic structure, which opened five years later.

The Tifereth-Israel congregation, whose name was derived from the Hebrew phrase meaning "glory to Israel," had a rich history within several national and international movements of the Jewish faith, shown most markedly in the congregation's early adoption of Reform Judaism and its embrace of Zionism in the early twentieth century. Temple-Tifereth Israel's notable rabbis include Moses J. Gries (rabbi from 1892-1917), a major proponent of Reform Judaism, and Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver (rabbi from 1917-1963) who became an international figure in the Zionist movement. Rabbi Silver's stature is memorialized in the decision to name the Maltz Performing Arts Center's repurposed sanctuary Silver Hall.

In 2024, following an eighteen-month period of discussion, members of Temple Tifereth-Israel and Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple voted to merge and form Mishkan Or, whose name means "place of light." The historic merger reunified two large, thriving congregations 175 years after they split.

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