Congregation Beth Israel (North Adams, Massachusetts)
Encyclopedia
Congregation Beth Israel is a Jewish
congregation located at 53 Lois Street in North Adams, Massachusetts
. The congregation was founded in the early 1890s as House of Israel by Eastern European Jews
recently immigrated to the United States. The Chevre Chai Odom congregation broke away from House of Israel in 1905, but re-united with it in 1958, and the congregation adopted its current name in 1961.
Originally Orthodox
, it became Conservative
in 1969 and Reform
in 2000. The congregation has had five synagogue
buildings since its founding, and moved to its present location in 2003.
Beth Israel's first rabbi
s were Irving Miller (1925) and Moses Mescheloff
(1936–1937). Rabbis in the 1950s and 1960s included Abraham Halbfinger and Earl Fishhaut. Jeffrey Wolfson Goldwasser joined the congregation as rabbi in 2000. Rachel Barenblat
succeeded him in 2011.
in the early 1890s. Jewish immigrants first arrived in the North Adams area in 1867, and by 1890 comprised twenty-five families in North Adams and five more in Adams
. They met to hold High Holy Days
services as early as 1888, and in subsequent years held regular services in their homes, and rented halls for the High Holy Days. The Jewish origins of the founders were fairly homogeneous; most came from the Minsk Province of Belarus
, and of those, most came from the town of Kletsk
. Because the North Adams region had few of the more assimilated Sephardi Jews
or German Jews of earlier migrations to the United States, there was little conflict over maintaining traditional Orthodox
services.
The congregation purchased a plot of land on Francis Street for $500 (today $), and constructed its first building in between 1892 and 1894, for $4,500 (today $). The building held not only a sanctuary, but also had a ritual bath, rooms for a Talmud Torah
, and quarters for a gabbai
(sexton/beadle). At that time the members also hired Simon Ratner as a cantor
and ritual slaughterer
, but had no rabbi
. This was common for the congregation which, until the 1960s, "although steadily having a cantor-schochet, engaged rabbis only sporadically."
The members formed a burial society
in 1895.
for use as a cemetery, near House of Israel's cemetery. In October of that year they purchased a house on Ashland Street for $2,800 (today $), and converted it for use as a synagogue. The Francis Street synagogue was later converted for use as residential apartments, and was still standing in the 1990s.
By 1918, North Adams' Jewish population was around 500. While it had no rabbi
, House of Israel did have a cantor, and held services daily in Hebrew. Its religious school (which also had classes daily) had 62 students.
In 1920, the congregation purchased the former Bijou Theater on Center Street—which had been a vaudeville
theater and opera
house—for $25,000 (today $), and renovated it for use as a synagogue. The synagogue formally incorporated as United House of Israel in 1922, and the following year paid off its mortgage. In January 1925, the congregation hired its first rabbi, Irving Miller. That year, he and House of Israel's president Harry Abrams brought Clarence Darrow
, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver
and prison warden Lewis Edward Lawes to North Adams as speakers; the talks were so popular that they had to be held in the Drury High School
auditorium. Irving stayed only one year, and United House of Israel did not hire another rabbi until 1936, when they elected Moses Mescheloff
to the pulpit; he stayed until 1937, before becoming the first rabbi in Miami Beach, Florida, at Beth Jacob Congregation.
project that elevated Massachusetts Route 2 and directed it away from North Adams' Main Street. The project prompted the merger of United House of Israel with Chevre Chai Odom. The merged synagogue adopted the name of the larger United House of Israel, and began holding its regular services in Chevre Chai Odom's Ashland Street building. High Holy Days services were held in the Drury High School auditorium in 1959, and in the two following years at the North Adams Masonic Temple
.
Then-rabbi Abraham Halbfinger accepted a position in Quebec, Canada in 1960. That same year the congregation purchased a mansion at 265 Church Street, and hired the architectural firm of Leon Einhorn of Albany, New York, to design a new building for the location. Construction was delayed when the original contractors went bankrupt in 1961, and new contractors were not hired until April of that year. The synagogue hired Earl Fishhaut, an Orthodox rabbi, as its spiritual leader in June. In October, the congregation adopted its current name, Congregation Beth Israel, and in December, it occupied its new building on Church Street. The Church Street building was sold to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1998 to become the music and performance center of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
(MCLA). However, in an agreement with MCLA, the congregation continued to use the building for its services until 2002.
from its founding, but ended the traditional practice of separate seating for men and women
just before its move to its Church Street building in 1961. It did, however, hire an Orthodox rabbi in 1961, and did not hire a Conservative rabbi in until 1969, when it affiliated with Conservative Judaism
. Beth Israel began counting women towards the minyan
in the late 1970s. In 1995, the congregation disaffiliated from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
and remained unaffiliated for five years. In 2000, the congregation affiliated with the Reform movement and became a member of the Union for Reform Judaism
. That year, following his ordination at Hebrew Union College
in New York City
, Jeffrey Wolfson Goldwasser joined the congregation as its spiritual leader.
has an unusual almond-shaped or eye-shaped design with large, floor-to-ceiling windows in the sanctuary overlooking the mountains and nearby wetlands. Designed by The Office of Michael Rosenfeld of West Acton, Massachusetts, the building has retractable walls that allow the library, social hall, and sanctuary into a single large room that can accommodate 230 people for High Holiday Services, or 150 people sitting at banquet tables. According to the architect, "[t]he building is fully integrated into its surroundings, curving and undulating in response to the surrounding hills", and "[b]virtue of the integration of the building with its site, as well as the use of custom movable partitions, it creates an atmosphere that is at once intimate and awesome". In addition to the Lois Street building, the congregation owns and operates Beth Israel cemetery on Walker Street in Clarksburg, Massachusetts.
Rachel Barenblat
succeeded Goldwasser, becoming the congregation's interim rabbi in 2011, the year she was ordained by ALEPH: The Alliance for Jewish Renewal
. The author of several books, her blog
, Velveteen Rabbi, was named one of the top 25 internet sites by TIME magazine
in 2008.
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
congregation located at 53 Lois Street in North Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,708 as of the 2010 census, making it the least populous city in the state...
. The congregation was founded in the early 1890s as House of Israel by Eastern European Jews
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
recently immigrated to the United States. The Chevre Chai Odom congregation broke away from House of Israel in 1905, but re-united with it in 1958, and the congregation adopted its current name in 1961.
Originally Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
, it became Conservative
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
in 1969 and Reform
Reform Judaism (North America)
Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of American Jews today. With an estimated 1.5 million members, it also accounts for the largest number of Jews affiliated with Progressive Judaism worldwide.- Reform Jewish theology :Rabbi W...
in 2000. The congregation has had five synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
buildings since its founding, and moved to its present location in 2003.
Beth Israel's first rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
s were Irving Miller (1925) and Moses Mescheloff
Moses Mescheloff
Moses Mescheloff was a renowned American Orthodox rabbi and community leader for 75 years, known especially within circles of American Orthodox Judaism, primarily in Miami Beach, Florida, and in Chicago, Illinois....
(1936–1937). Rabbis in the 1950s and 1960s included Abraham Halbfinger and Earl Fishhaut. Jeffrey Wolfson Goldwasser joined the congregation as rabbi in 2000. Rachel Barenblat
Rachel Barenblat
Rachel Barenblat, the "Velveteen Rabbi," is an American poet and blogger who was ordained as a rabbi in January, 2011.Born in San Antonio, Texas in 1975 to Marvin and Liana Barenblat, Rachel moved to New England in 1992 to attend Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts...
succeeded him in 2011.
Early years
Beth Israel was founded as the House of Israel in North Adams, MassachusettsNorth Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,708 as of the 2010 census, making it the least populous city in the state...
in the early 1890s. Jewish immigrants first arrived in the North Adams area in 1867, and by 1890 comprised twenty-five families in North Adams and five more in Adams
Adams, Massachusetts
Adams is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 8,485 at the 2010 census.-History:...
. They met to hold High Holy Days
High Holy Days
The High Holidays or High Holy Days, in Judaism, more properly known as the Yamim Noraim , may mean:#strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur ;...
services as early as 1888, and in subsequent years held regular services in their homes, and rented halls for the High Holy Days. The Jewish origins of the founders were fairly homogeneous; most came from the Minsk Province of Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, and of those, most came from the town of Kletsk
Kletsk
Kletsk is a city in the Minsk voblast of Belarus, located on the Lan river. , it had ca. 10,000 inhabitants.- History :The town was founded in 11th century by the Dregovichs, who erected a large fort and a tribal centre there...
. Because the North Adams region had few of the more assimilated Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
or German Jews of earlier migrations to the United States, there was little conflict over maintaining traditional Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
services.
The congregation purchased a plot of land on Francis Street for $500 (today $), and constructed its first building in between 1892 and 1894, for $4,500 (today $). The building held not only a sanctuary, but also had a ritual bath, rooms for a Talmud Torah
Talmud Torah
Talmud Torah schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of public primary school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary education in Hebrew, the Scriptures , and the Talmud...
, and quarters for a gabbai
Gabbai
A Gabbai is a person who assists in the running of a synagogue and ensures that the needs are met, for example the Jewish prayer services run smoothly, or an assistant to a rabbi...
(sexton/beadle). At that time the members also hired Simon Ratner as a cantor
Hazzan
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources...
and ritual slaughterer
Shechita
Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws...
, but had no rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
. This was common for the congregation which, until the 1960s, "although steadily having a cantor-schochet, engaged rabbis only sporadically."
The members formed a burial society
Chevra Kadisha
A chevra kadisha is a loosely structured but generally closed organization of Jewish men and women who see to it that the bodies of Jews are prepared for burial according to Halacha and are protected from desecration, willful or not, until burial...
in 1895.
First half of the 20th century
In 1904, annual dues were $8 (today $) per year. The following year, a number of members seceded from House of Israel to form a new North Adams synagogue called Chevre Chai Odom. In February 1909, the members of Chevre Chai Odom purchased ½ acre of land in ClarksburgClarksburg, Massachusetts
Clarksburg is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area...
for use as a cemetery, near House of Israel's cemetery. In October of that year they purchased a house on Ashland Street for $2,800 (today $), and converted it for use as a synagogue. The Francis Street synagogue was later converted for use as residential apartments, and was still standing in the 1990s.
By 1918, North Adams' Jewish population was around 500. While it had no rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, House of Israel did have a cantor, and held services daily in Hebrew. Its religious school (which also had classes daily) had 62 students.
In 1920, the congregation purchased the former Bijou Theater on Center Street—which had been a vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
theater and opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
house—for $25,000 (today $), and renovated it for use as a synagogue. The synagogue formally incorporated as United House of Israel in 1922, and the following year paid off its mortgage. In January 1925, the congregation hired its first rabbi, Irving Miller. That year, he and House of Israel's president Harry Abrams brought Clarence Darrow
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks and defending John T...
, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver
Abba Hillel Silver
Abba Hillel Silver was a U.S. Rabbi and Zionist leader. He was a key figure in the mobilization of American support for the founding of the State of Israel.-Biography:...
and prison warden Lewis Edward Lawes to North Adams as speakers; the talks were so popular that they had to be held in the Drury High School
Drury High School
Drury High SchoolDrury High School is a school located in North Adams, Massachusetts. It serves the towns of North Adams, Florida, Clarksburg, Monroe, Readsboro, Vermont, and Stamford, Vermont.-History:...
auditorium. Irving stayed only one year, and United House of Israel did not hire another rabbi until 1936, when they elected Moses Mescheloff
Moses Mescheloff
Moses Mescheloff was a renowned American Orthodox rabbi and community leader for 75 years, known especially within circles of American Orthodox Judaism, primarily in Miami Beach, Florida, and in Chicago, Illinois....
to the pulpit; he stayed until 1937, before becoming the first rabbi in Miami Beach, Florida, at Beth Jacob Congregation.
Second half of the 20th century
The Center Street synagogue was condemned in 1958 for an urban renewalUrban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
project that elevated Massachusetts Route 2 and directed it away from North Adams' Main Street. The project prompted the merger of United House of Israel with Chevre Chai Odom. The merged synagogue adopted the name of the larger United House of Israel, and began holding its regular services in Chevre Chai Odom's Ashland Street building. High Holy Days services were held in the Drury High School auditorium in 1959, and in the two following years at the North Adams Masonic Temple
Masonic Temple
Masonic Temple is a term commonly used in Freemasonry with multiple but related meanings. It is used to describe an abstract spiritual goal, the conceptual ritualistic space formed when a Masonic Lodge meets, and the physical rooms and structures in which a Lodge meets...
.
Then-rabbi Abraham Halbfinger accepted a position in Quebec, Canada in 1960. That same year the congregation purchased a mansion at 265 Church Street, and hired the architectural firm of Leon Einhorn of Albany, New York, to design a new building for the location. Construction was delayed when the original contractors went bankrupt in 1961, and new contractors were not hired until April of that year. The synagogue hired Earl Fishhaut, an Orthodox rabbi, as its spiritual leader in June. In October, the congregation adopted its current name, Congregation Beth Israel, and in December, it occupied its new building on Church Street. The Church Street building was sold to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1998 to become the music and performance center of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts is a public, residential, liberal arts college that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. Located in North Adams, Massachusetts, it is part of the state university system of Massachusetts. It is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts...
(MCLA). However, in an agreement with MCLA, the congregation continued to use the building for its services until 2002.
Denominational affiliation
Beth Israel was OrthodoxOrthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
from its founding, but ended the traditional practice of separate seating for men and women
Mechitza
A mechitza in Jewish Halakha is a partition, particularly one that is used to separate men and women....
just before its move to its Church Street building in 1961. It did, however, hire an Orthodox rabbi in 1961, and did not hire a Conservative rabbi in until 1969, when it affiliated with Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
. Beth Israel began counting women towards the minyan
Minyan
A minyan in Judaism refers to the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain religious obligations. According to many non-Orthodox streams of Judaism adult females count in the minyan....
in the late 1970s. In 1995, the congregation disaffiliated from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism is the primary organization of synagogues practicing Conservative Judaism in North America...
and remained unaffiliated for five years. In 2000, the congregation affiliated with the Reform movement and became a member of the Union for Reform Judaism
Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism , formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations , is an organization which supports Reform Jewish congregations in North America. The current President is Rabbi Eric H...
. That year, following his ordination at Hebrew Union College
Hebrew Union College
The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism.HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem.The Jerusalem...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Jeffrey Wolfson Goldwasser joined the congregation as its spiritual leader.
Events since 2000
The current synagogue building at 53 Lois Street was completed in 2003. The 6000 square feet (557.4 m²) building at the foot of Mount Williams and Mount GreylockMount Greylock
Mount Greylock is the highest natural point in Massachusetts at . Its peak is located in the northwest corner of the state in the western part of the town of Adams in Berkshire County. Although geologically part of the Taconic Mountains, Mount Greylock is commonly associated with the abutting...
has an unusual almond-shaped or eye-shaped design with large, floor-to-ceiling windows in the sanctuary overlooking the mountains and nearby wetlands. Designed by The Office of Michael Rosenfeld of West Acton, Massachusetts, the building has retractable walls that allow the library, social hall, and sanctuary into a single large room that can accommodate 230 people for High Holiday Services, or 150 people sitting at banquet tables. According to the architect, "[t]he building is fully integrated into its surroundings, curving and undulating in response to the surrounding hills", and "[b]virtue of the integration of the building with its site, as well as the use of custom movable partitions, it creates an atmosphere that is at once intimate and awesome". In addition to the Lois Street building, the congregation owns and operates Beth Israel cemetery on Walker Street in Clarksburg, Massachusetts.
Rachel Barenblat
Rachel Barenblat
Rachel Barenblat, the "Velveteen Rabbi," is an American poet and blogger who was ordained as a rabbi in January, 2011.Born in San Antonio, Texas in 1975 to Marvin and Liana Barenblat, Rachel moved to New England in 1992 to attend Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts...
succeeded Goldwasser, becoming the congregation's interim rabbi in 2011, the year she was ordained by ALEPH: The Alliance for Jewish Renewal
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Renewal , is a recent movement in Judaism which endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with mystical, Hasidic, musical and meditative practices...
. The author of several books, her blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, Velveteen Rabbi, was named one of the top 25 internet sites by TIME magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
in 2008.