The first meetings of the Moses Montefiore Congregation were held in 1890 at the North Lawe Street home of Mr. and Mrs. Ressman, who were pioneers of traditional Judaism in Appleton. Ressman continued leading the religious services of the Congregation until circa 1900 when David Belzer, a newly arrived immigrant, began conductiong them at his home. In 1901, Belzer was elected the first president of the Congregation, and two years later the group organized formally as the Moses Montefiore Congregation. They took the name of Sir Moses Montefiore, a philanthropist born in Italy in 1784, who became a London stockbroker.
In 1908, the Congregation secured a synagogue charter, and by the next year a synagogue and schoolhouse had been constructed. Abe Shulewitz was the first teacher at the school; the synagogue's first cantor was Aaron Zussman, who was appointed to this position shortly after his arrival in Appleton in 1910.
A new synagogue was built in 1922 and a Sunday School facility added in 1946. The original building had been outgrown by the Congregation, but continued in use as a religious center for youth. Increasing membership again forced the Congregation to plan for a new worship center, which was begun in October 1967 and opened for services on 21 September 1969.
The Congregation was without rabbinical leadership from 1890 to 1930 when Rabbi Glick was appointed as its spiritual mentor. Rabbi Bender also served the Congregation for a short time around this period, but because the records are fragmentary, it is uncertain whether he preceded or succeeded Rabbi Glick.
In May 1965 the Congregation voted to join the United Synagogues of America, which made the Congregation part of the conservative Jewish movement.
In 1874, sixteen years before the first meetings of the Moses Montefiore Congregation, the Fox River Lodge No. 209 of the International Order of B'nai B'rith was formed in Appleton. B'nai B'rith is the oldest and largest national Jewish fraternal organization. The records of the Appleton lodge have been maintained with those of the Moses Montefiore Congregation, as have the records of the Appleton Chapter of Hadassah, a women's Zionist society. The Appleton chapter was organized in January 1936; its meetings are held at the Moses Montefiore synagogue.
