This building was the hub of the Jewish community, with religious, educational and cultural events taking place in the facility.

[8] The origins of this synagogue are tied in with the earliest settlement of Minnesota by Jews fleeing persecutions in Eastern Europe including Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Hungary in the 19th century.

In one published family history, the synagogue's establishment is described as part of the development of Jewish, indeed European, communal life: Other histories record that Adas Israel was formed in the 1890s by members of the Moses Montefiore congregation, an earlier Orthodox congregation composed of Lithuanian Jews.

By the turn of the 20th century, there were close to 1,500 Jews living in Duluth, most of who were Russian or Eastern European.

(1914)[10]...The men are assembled on the bimah (the stage or platform in front of the Ark) containing the Torah scrolls of Adas -- literally, "'congregation' Israel".

Amiot had no permanent address and was reported to suffer from multiple mental health issues.