Henry Barnstein

Henry Barnston (August 23, 1868 – December 11, 1949) was a British-born American rabbi.

Life Barnston was born on August 23, 1868, in Dover, England, the son of Rabbi Isidore Jules Barnstein and Eva Mendelsohn. He was born Henry Barnstein, but he changed his surname to Barnston during World War I to make it sound less German.

Barnston attended private school in Dover. He graduated from the University of London with a B.A. in 1890, Montefiore College in Ramsgate with a B.A. in 1893, and the University of Heidelberg with an M.A. and a Ph.D. in 1896. He preached before the Sephardic Congregation in London and was associated with the Jewish Domestic Training Service. He was ordained a rabbi in London in 1897

Seeking a more conductive atmosphere to practice liberal Judaism, Barnston immigrated to the United States in 1900 and became rabbi of the Reform Congregation Beth Israel in Houston, Texas. Under Barnston, a new temple was built that was described by one source as the finest in the American Southwest and the congregation grew tenfold. He became rabbi emeritus in 1943, serving in that position until his death. He was a founder of the Jewish Welfare Service, the Texas Kallah of Rabbis, the Community Chest, and the Houston Symphony Society (which later became the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He was also president of the local B'nai B'rith and the Texas Association of Rabbis. He didn't take a public stand on civil rights, although he joined with the First Methodist Church in an unprecedented act of ecumenical defiance against the Ku Klux Klan. He was a member and supporter of the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism, although he resisted pressure from his congregation to be more active in the organization. He contributed to The Jewish Quarterly Review, The Menorah Journal, The Jewish Chronicle, The American Hebrew, the Israel, the Reform Advocate,

Barnston was a member of the American Asiatic Society, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Pi Tau Pi, the Ministerial Alliance of Houston, and the Houston Rotary Club. In 1910, he married Ethel Irene Kennard of Kensington, England. Their children were Vivienne Adele and Alfred Jules. Ethel died in 1917. In 1920, he married Ethel's sister Ruth Nina. They had one child, Jack Dudley.