Antecedents of Temple Sholom in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, date back to 1885 when the Jewish residents of the area first conducted services. Although the congregation has existed since then, it was not until the 1940's that the Temple became active in providing for the religious needs of Jewish families in the Eau Claire area.
Due to its relatively small size -- approximately thirty families -- the Temple acts as the shelter organization of all Jewish institutional life in the Chippewa Valley. Consisting of Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Jews, the congregation decided in 1969 to affiliate with the United Synagogue of America, the national organization of Conservative Judaism. The Temple and its member organizations, which include men and women's B'nai B'rith chapters, Hadassah, and United Synagogue Youth, provide the congregation with educational programs such as speakers, Hebrew lessons, a Sunday School, and study groups. Most of the services are lay-run, with rabbis from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area coming to celebrate the High Holy Days. The small size of the congregation has brought about changes in several of the organizations. In 1974 the women's Hadassah chapter voted to disband and become members at large. The following year the congregation decided to elect one set of officers for the Temple, the Men's B'nai B'rith, and the Women's B'nai B'rith because of difficulty in obtaining three sets of officers for all of the organizations.
In 1972 the Chippewa Valley B'nai B'rith Lodge, Temple Sholom's B'nai B'rith affiliate, received national attention when it voted to drop the “male only” clause of its membership rules.
