Is there a synagogue in Boise, Idaho?

Yes. Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel (CABI) is Boise's synagogue, formed in 1986 from a merger of a Reform and a Conservative congregation. Its 1896 building is one of the oldest synagogues in continuous use west of the Mississippi River.

Is there a Chabad in Idaho?

Yes. Chabad Lubavitch of Idaho has served Boise since 2004 under Rabbi Mendel Lifshitz, offering synagogue services, a Hebrew school, Idaho's first kosher kitchen, and the state's first mikveh.

How big is the Jewish population in Idaho?

Idaho's Jewish population is estimated at around 3,000 people statewide, with roughly half living in the Boise metro area.

Is Idaho's main synagogue Reform or Conservative?

Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel in Boise is affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism but was formed from a merger of a Reform and a Conservative congregation, and it continues to serve both traditions.

Is there a Jewish community outside Boise in Idaho?

Jewish residents live in smaller numbers across Idaho, including areas like Sun Valley and Coeur d'Alene, but Boise is the only city with an organized synagogue and Chabad center.

Jewish Communities in Idaho: Boise’s Synagogue & Chabad

Quick answer: Idaho’s Jewish community, roughly 3,000 people statewide, is centered in Boise, home to Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel — a merged Reform-and-Conservative synagogue in one of the oldest synagogue buildings west of the Mississippi — and Chabad Lubavitch of Idaho.

How Many Jews Live in Idaho?

Idaho has an estimated Jewish population of around 3,000, or roughly 0.12 percent of the state — one of the smallest Jewish shares of any state’s population, just ahead of South Dakota and behind Mississippi — and roughly half of that community lives in the Boise metro area. Outside Boise, Jewish residents are scattered thinly across the state, from Sun Valley to Coeur d’Alene, largely without local congregations of their own. What Idaho’s Jewish community lacks in numbers, though, it makes up for in a genuinely old and continuous history, and in recent years it has been growing again as new residents relocate to the Boise area.

Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel: Reform and Conservative Together

Boise’s synagogue, Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel (CABI), is the product of a 1986 merger between two older congregations: the Reform Congregation Beth Israel, founded in 1895, and the Conservative Congregation Ahavath Israel. Today CABI is affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism while continuing to serve a mixed Reform and Conservative membership, much like similar merged congregations across the small-town American West. The congregation’s 1896 building is one of the oldest synagogues in continuous use west of the Mississippi River, blending Rundbogenstil and Moorish Revival details with a barrel-vaulted, horseshoe-arched sanctuary. In 2003 the historic building was physically relocated from its original State Street site to its current home on Latah Street. CABI now serves roughly 225 families or individuals, a substantial share of Boise’s Jewish population, and marked its 125th anniversary as one of Idaho’s oldest continuously operating religious institutions.

Chabad Lubavitch of Idaho

Founded in 2004 under Rabbi Mendel Lifshitz, Chabad Lubavitch of Idaho serves as the state’s Chabad headquarters from its center on Maple Grove Road in Boise. The facility includes Idaho’s first kosher kitchen, a children’s library, and the state’s first Jewish ritual immersion pool (mikveh) — infrastructure that didn’t exist in Idaho before Chabad built it. Chabad’s Hebrew School and Camp Gan Israel serve families across the Boise area, and the organization has expanded steadily as Idaho’s Jewish population has grown, breaking ground on a larger Jewish center in recent years to keep pace with demand from new residents moving to the Treasure Valley.

What Jewish Life in Idaho Actually Feels Like

Idaho’s Jewish community operates without a local federation, which means CABI and Chabad function as the two main pillars of communal life — one rooted in over a century of Reform and Conservative practice, the other a newer, fast-growing Chabad presence built from scratch in the 2000s. Members describe a genuinely do-it-yourself Jewish life: no large day school, no kosher supermarket on every corner, but a close-knit community where showing up matters more than which movement you belong to. Boise’s small size means Reform, Conservative, and Chabad-affiliated Jews frequently cross paths at the same handful of communal events, holiday programs, and life-cycle celebrations. It also means the community punches above its weight historically: the Reform congregation that became CABI was organized in 1895, just five years after Idaho achieved statehood, and its members have kept the same sanctuary in continuous use since the 1890s — through a full physical relocation of the building itself in 2003 — a level of institutional continuity many larger, newer congregations elsewhere in the country simply don’t have.

Kosher Life and Practical Realities

Practical Jewish life in Idaho takes some planning. Boise’s Chabad center runs the state’s first and only dedicated kosher kitchen, and most kosher grocery items still have to be special-ordered or brought in rather than bought off a local shelf. That said, both CABI and Chabad host regular communal meals, holiday dinners, and Hebrew school programs that make it far easier to keep a Jewish home in Boise today than it was even a decade ago.

Finding Your Place in Idaho’s Jewish Community

If you’re weighing a move to Boise or already settling in, HeimishMart’s Community Explorer is a useful way to see where Jewish life is concentrated across the metro area, and the Jewish Events calendar covers Shabbat programming and holiday gatherings at both CABI and Chabad. House hunters can browse Real Estate listings within reach of the Latah Street synagogue or Chabad’s Maple Grove Road campus, or check Rentals if you’re not ready to buy. Relocating for work is common in Boise’s growing tech and healthcare sectors, and the Jobs board can help you line up employment before the move. In a community this size, Chessed — HeimishMart’s mutual-aid network — can be a genuine lifeline when formal resources are thin. And if you’re a Jewish-owned business, tutor, or host family in the Boise area, consider a free listing so new arrivals can find you.

By the HeimishMart Community Desk — HeimishMart is the community marketplace for Jewish homes, jobs, and local life across North America.