Last month I posted a picture of the Hebrew inscription above the door of the Santa Fe cathedral and promised to find out “how it got there and why.”
I asked about it at Congregation Beit Tikva in Santa Fe when we attended services there and got a bit of an answer. Beit Tikva is the new temple in Santa Fe and it suited us the best. Later in the SCKML at PJTC I found the book Jewish Pioneers of New Mexico by Tomas Jaehn. According to the excellent book “Elizabeth Nordhaus remembers that …on three different occasions Grandfather loaned money to Bishop Lamy to construct the Church…In gratitude the Bishop put the Hebrew inscription above the door of the Cathedral.”
The Grandfather was Abraham Staab a merchant in Santa Fe from 1859 until his death about 1900. Among other thing he founded the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce.
Another question answered.
That is a great story. Amazing the fun bits of history that are all around us.
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