Temple Israel (Dayton, Ohio)
Encyclopedia
Temple Israel is a Reform
congregation located at 130 Riverside Drive in Dayton, Ohio
. Formed in 1850, it incorporated as "Kehillah Kodesh B'nai Yeshurun" in 1854. After meeting in rented quarters, the congregation purchased its first synagogue
building, a former Baptist church at 4th and Jefferson, in 1863. Strongly influenced by Rabbi
Isaac Mayer Wise
, it rapidly modernized its services, and, in 1873, was a founding member of the Union for Reform Judaism
.
The congregation sold its existing building in 1893, and constructed a larger one at First and Jefferson, later severely damaged by the Great Dayton Flood
of 1913. In 1927, the congregation moved to still larger, multi-purpose premises at Salem and Emerson Avenues, outside downtown Dayton, and began to use the name "Temple Israel", adding a new sanctuary to the building in 1953. Temple Israel moved to its current building in 1994.
Synagogue membership grew steadily for over 100 years, from 12 families in 1850 to 150 in the early 1900s, 200 by 1927, and 500 by 1945, peaking at 1,100 in the 1960s. By 1995, however, membership was down to 800 families.
Temple Israel has had a number of long-tenured rabbi
s who were influential both in the congregation and in the larger Dayton community. These have included David Lefkowitz (1900–1920), Louis Witt (1927–1947), Selwyn Ruslander (1947–1969) and P. Irving Bloom (1973–1997). , the rabbis were David M. Sofian and Karen Bodney-Halasz.
in rented rooms: first above a shop in the old Dayton Bank Building (which was later the Steele High School, and has since been demolished) near Monument and Main Streets, and later in larger quarters in a building next to the Cooper building, a block south on Main Street. It also hired its first Torah reader
, a "Mr. Wendel", and purchased—for $100 (today $)—a small piece of land for a cemetery on what is now Rubicon Street.
The Society incorporated as "Kehillah Kodesh B'nai Yeshurun" in 1854. It moved to larger facilities, first near First and Main Streets in 1860, and then, in 1863, to the northeast corner of 4th and Jefferson Streets. There Kehillah Kodesh B'nai Yeshurun purchased for $1,500 (today $) its first owned premises, the building of a Baptist
church whose congregation was moving to Main Street.
The structure required "extensive remodeling", and Lebensburger, as building chairman, led the campaign to raise the necessary $9,000 (today $). Funds came not only from the membership but also from non-Jewish members of many local societies, including the Odd Fellows
and Masons
. Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise
assisted B'nai Yeshurun's then–religious leader Rev. Mr. Delbanco with the dedication of what became "the seventh congregation-owned Jewish House of Worship in Ohio."
prayer book
. In that same decade they added an organ
, did away with the prayer shawl
, and started a religious school
. In the 1870s the congregation removed yahrzeit candle
s from the sanctuary, and added family pews
and a mixed choir (men and women together). In 1873 B'nai Yeshurun was one of the first thirteen founding members of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC), now Union for Reform Judaism
.
By 1889 B'nai Yeshurun had outgrown its original cemetery, and the congregation purchased 8 acres (3.2 ha) on West Schantz Avenue in Oakwood
. Oakwood was a "restricted community"; Jews were not allowed to reside or own stores there. According to Leonard Spialter, president of the Dayton Jewish Genealogical Society, "if you were dead, you could be buried in Oakwood, but if you were alive, you couldn’t live there". Relatives began moving those buried at the Rubicon cemetery to the new "Riverview Cemetery", including Lebensburger, who had died by this time. This process was not completed until 1967.
In its first forty years the congregation had a series of generally short-tenured religious leaders. These included Delbanco (1862–63), Moses Bauer (1863–64), L. Liebman (1864–67), Abraham Blum (1868–69), Leon Leopold (1870–72), Ben Weil (1872–76), Ephraim Fischer (1876–81), Godfrey/Gottheil Taubenhaus (later rabbi of Congregation Beth Elohim of Brooklyn, New York) (1881–85), and Israel Saenger (1885–89).
During this period the membership also transformed from immigrant-born to native-born. In 1881 the congregation's "language of record" was changed from German to English, and in 1889 the synagogue hired its first American-trained rabbi
, Max Wertheimer.
A graduate of Wise's Hebrew Union College
, Wertheimer had been born in Germany to Orthodox
parents. He was popular with the congregation, and Dayton's Christian community highly respected him. Non-Jews attended his Friday evening sermons, and he in turn was a guest speaker at many Dayton churches.
Wertheimer's wife died young, leaving him with two small children. This tragedy made him question his faith; in 1899 he resigned from the congregation, resigned his membership in the Central Conference of American Rabbis
(CCAR), and, in 1900, converted to Christian Science
; in 1938 David Max Eichhorn
wrote that "Mary Baker Eddy
herself financed Wertheimer's study". Wertheimer later became a Baptist
.
David Lefkowitz was hired as rabbi in 1900, when the congregation comprised around 150 families. Born in Eperies
, Hungary
in 1875, he had emigrated to the United States with his widowed mother and two brothers around 1881. Due to financial difficulties, he and one brother grew up in the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York
, where he later worked to help pay for his schooling. A graduate of both the College of the City of New York
and the University of Cincinnati
, he was ordained
at Hebrew Union College in 1900. Held in "high regard" by the membership, Lefkowitz was also "an active force in Dayton's civic and interfaith activities" and an "ambassador of the Jewish Community to the Dayton area". He was the first president of the Dayton chapter of the Red Cross
and served on its Executive Board, and also served as president of the Humane Society
.
Later president of the CCAR, Lefkowitz was also anti-Zionist
. He was one of the prominent Jewish signatories of a petition presented in 1919 by United States Congress
man Julius Kahn
to President of the United States
Woodrow Wilson
who "asserted their wish not to see Palestine 'either now or at any time in the future' become a Jewish state." In 1942, he was one of the founders of the American Council for Judaism
, "the only American Jewish organization ever formed for the specific purpose of fighting Zionism and opposing the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine."
During Lefkowitz's tenure, the synagogue building was severely damaged by the Great Dayton Flood
of 1913. Lefkowitz was "in charge of one of the districts outside the flooded area". There he assisted around 28,000 refugees in finding shelter, and "established a bread line to feed them". However, his suggestion that the congregation move to a larger building in a new location outside downtown Dayton, while taken seriously, was not acted on.
Membership had grown to 206 families by 1919. The congregational school held classes twice a week, and had 8 classes, 10 teachers, and 140 students. That year the synagogue's total income was $10,000 (today $). In 1920, Lefkowitz moved to Temple Emanu-El, Dallas's largest and oldest synagogue.
moral and police reforms in Dayton". His major goal during his ministry was to acquire larger premises outside downtown Dayton, which was realized in 1927 when the congregation moved to a new building at Salem and Emerson Avenues. Besides the main sanctuary, which had seating for 600 people, the structure included a social hall and kitchen, classrooms, and offices. It was at that time that the congregation began to use the name "Temple Israel". Mayersberg left that year, and became the rabbi of Congregation B'nai Jehudah of Kansas City, Missouri
. During his tenure, membership increased to 200 families.
Louis Witt succeeded Mayersberg in 1927. He worked on fostering interfaith relations, and, like his predecessors, was active in community and civic life. A tall man who sometimes wore a swallow-tail coat when conducting services, he was a strong proponent of "Classical Reform"
principles, and while he was rabbi, following his preference, no one wore a skullcap
in the Temple.
In 1929, at the second UAHC convention, Witt had asserted that America "by its very pleasantness and friendliness lures us away from our ancient loyalties. Its secularism is so delightful, its mutuality so penetrative, its universalism so delightful, that by a sort of sheer spiritual osmosis it incorporates us into itself and makes us look and become more and more like itself". Witt argued that Jews had to resist this pull. Ten years later, however, in a 1939 article in The Christian Century
, he argued that Jews should celebrate Christmas
. In his view, Christians were now more liberal and celebrated "the inherent humanness and universalism
" of Christmas, rather than any specifically Christian doctrine. Stating that his children had been deprived of the holiday's pleasures, Witt asserted that Judaism
was already a syncretic religion, and that celebrating the holiday was an ecumenical act which did not indicate that he was "thereby drawn even by the breadth of a hair nearer to the worship of an ecclesiastical Christ
". He concluded by asking "Is it neither treason of Jew nor triumph of Christian but partnership of Jew and Christian in the making of a better world in which the Christ can have part only by energizing and perpetuating and hallowing the partnership?"
During Witt's tenure, Dayton experienced an influx of Jewish immigration, and the original German-Jewish constituency of the congregation became more diverse. Family membership reached 500 by 1945.
), and several rabbinic positions, including both pulpit and non-pulpit roles. In 1939 he was appointed Director of Youth Education for the UAHC, and also became the first director of the National Federation of Temple Youth (now North American Federation of Temple Youth
). In 1942, during World War II
, he took a leave of absence from the UAHC to volunteer for the armed forces as a U.S. Navy chaplain
. From 1943 to 1945 he served with the United States Eighth Fleet
in the Mediterranean Sea
, "the first Jewish chaplain in the history of the Navy to serve with a combat fleet", and earned a Combat Star for his participation in Operation Shingle
. He was released from active duty in December 1946, and returned briefly to the UAHC, then went to South Shore Temple in Chicago
, before taking the role at Temple Israel.
Ruslander brought some traditionalism back to the congregation; he reinstated the Bar Mitzvah and inaugurated the Bat Mitzvah celebrations, and re-organized the religious school and added Hebrew to its curriculum. Like his predecessors, he was very active in Dayton's civic life, serving on on the boards of a large number of community organizations. Ruslander was possibly Dayton's then "best known clergyman of any faith", and during his tenure Temple Israel experienced rapid growth. In 1953, Temple Israel constructed a new sanctuary at its Salem and Emerson location, and connected it to the original building. By the end of the 1960s membership increased to 1,100 families, and Temple Israel hired Howard R. Greenstein and Joseph S. Weizenbaum as assistant rabbis. Ruslander died in 1969, and for several years Greenstein and Weisenbaum served as interim spiritual leaders. In 1972, Weizenbaum became rabbi of Temple Emanu-El
of Tucson, Arizona, where he served until 1993. Greenstein joined Jacksonville, Florida's Congregation Ahavath Chesed
as rabbi in 1973, and served there until 1995.
, then rabbi of Congregation Sha'arai Shomayim
in Mobile, Alabama
from 1960 to 1973. Bloom introduced a number of innovations to the synagogue, including joint programs with other Dayton synagogues, a new curriculum for the religious school and Jewish studies classes for adults, and enhanced Friday programs and lay-led services in the summer. Bloom strongly believed that Temple Israel should relocate to a more central location, as the Jewish community of Dayton had by then spread throughout Miami Valley
. His vision was realized in 1994, when the congregation moved to a new building on Riverside Drive, near downtown Dayton. The building at Salem and Emerson was sold to a Baptist church. As noted by Bloom, the congregation had "come full circle"; it purchased its first building from a Baptist church in downtown Dayton, and had sold its most recent building to a Baptist church in order to return to the area. By 1995, however, membership was only eight hundred families.
Bloom retired in 1997, and was succeeded by Marc Gruber. A graduate of Brandeis University
, Gruber attended Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem and New York, and was ordained in 1981. A vegetarian, he also wrote a syndicated vegetarian cooking column from 1990 to 1993. At Temple Israel he reformed the services and introduced Bar and Bat Mitzvah classes for adults. During his tenure, in 2000, the congregation celebrated its Sesquicentennial, with a number of "religious, cultural, social and social action programs" throughout the year. Gruber also served on the Steering Committee for the UAHC Department of Jewish Family Concerns from 1995 to 2002, working on "the inclusion of people with disabilities and special needs". Gruber moved to Central Synagogue of Nassau County in Rockville Centre, New York
in 2002, and Michael Remson served as interim rabbi.
, Sofian had served as assistant rabbi at Temple Emanuel
in Worcester, Massachusetts
, at Temple Shaarai Shomayim in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
, and at Emanuel Congregation in Chicago, before coming to Temple Israel. Karen Bodney-Halasz, a graduate of Northwestern University
, joined as Director of Education in 2005. After her rabbinic ordination in June 2007, she became Rabbi-Educator.
, the rabbis were Sofian and Bodney-Halasz.
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
congregation located at 130 Riverside Drive in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. Formed in 1850, it incorporated as "Kehillah Kodesh B'nai Yeshurun" in 1854. After meeting in rented quarters, the congregation purchased its first 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...
building, a former Baptist church at 4th and Jefferson, in 1863. Strongly influenced by 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...
Isaac Mayer Wise
Isaac Mayer Wise
Isaac Mayer Wise , was an American Reform rabbi, editor, and author.-Early life:...
, it rapidly modernized its services, and, in 1873, was a founding 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...
.
The congregation sold its existing building in 1893, and constructed a larger one at First and Jefferson, later severely damaged by the Great Dayton Flood
Great Dayton Flood
The Great Dayton Flood of 1913 flooded Dayton, Ohio, and the surrounding area with water from the Great Miami River, causing the greatest natural disaster in Ohio history...
of 1913. In 1927, the congregation moved to still larger, multi-purpose premises at Salem and Emerson Avenues, outside downtown Dayton, and began to use the name "Temple Israel", adding a new sanctuary to the building in 1953. Temple Israel moved to its current building in 1994.
Synagogue membership grew steadily for over 100 years, from 12 families in 1850 to 150 in the early 1900s, 200 by 1927, and 500 by 1945, peaking at 1,100 in the 1960s. By 1995, however, membership was down to 800 families.
Temple Israel has had a number of long-tenured 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 who were influential both in the congregation and in the larger Dayton community. These have included David Lefkowitz (1900–1920), Louis Witt (1927–1947), Selwyn Ruslander (1947–1969) and P. Irving Bloom (1973–1997). , the rabbis were David M. Sofian and Karen Bodney-Halasz.
The early years, at 4th and Jefferson
What was later to become Temple Israel was originally formed as a Hebrew Society in 1850 by twelve Jewish men under the leadership of Joseph Lebensburger, a German Jew and first permanent Jewish resident of Dayton. The Society met daily for prayersMinyan
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 rented rooms: first above a shop in the old Dayton Bank Building (which was later the Steele High School, and has since been demolished) near Monument and Main Streets, and later in larger quarters in a building next to the Cooper building, a block south on Main Street. It also hired its first Torah reader
Torah reading
Torah reading is a Jewish religious ritual that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the Torah scroll from the ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation, and returning the scroll to...
, a "Mr. Wendel", and purchased—for $100 (today $)—a small piece of land for a cemetery on what is now Rubicon Street.
The Society incorporated as "Kehillah Kodesh B'nai Yeshurun" in 1854. It moved to larger facilities, first near First and Main Streets in 1860, and then, in 1863, to the northeast corner of 4th and Jefferson Streets. There Kehillah Kodesh B'nai Yeshurun purchased for $1,500 (today $) its first owned premises, the building of a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
church whose congregation was moving to Main Street.
The structure required "extensive remodeling", and Lebensburger, as building chairman, led the campaign to raise the necessary $9,000 (today $). Funds came not only from the membership but also from non-Jewish members of many local societies, including the Odd Fellows
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows , also known as the Three Link Fraternity, is an altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the similar British Oddfellows service organizations which came into being during the 18th century, at a time when altruistic and charitable acts were...
and Masons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
. Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise
Isaac Mayer Wise
Isaac Mayer Wise , was an American Reform rabbi, editor, and author.-Early life:...
assisted B'nai Yeshurun's then–religious leader Rev. Mr. Delbanco with the dedication of what became "the seventh congregation-owned Jewish House of Worship in Ohio."
Move to Reform, and early rabbis
Influenced by Wise, the congregation implemented many reforms in its services. In 1861 they adopted Wise's Minhag AmericaMinhag America
Minhag America is a siddur created in 1857 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise that was intended to address conflict between sides supporting and opposing traditionalism in early Reform Judaism in the United States...
prayer book
Siddur
A siddur is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as it is known today has developed...
. In that same decade they added an organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
, did away with the prayer shawl
Tallit
A tallit pl. tallitot is a Jewish prayer shawl. The tallit is worn over the outer clothes during the morning prayers on weekdays, Shabbat and holidays...
, and started a religious school
Hebrew school
Hebrew school can be either the Jewish equivalent of Sunday school - an educational regimen separate from secular education, focusing on topics of Jewish history and learning the Hebrew language, or a primary, secondary or college level educational institution where some or all of the classes are...
. In the 1870s the congregation removed yahrzeit candle
Yahrzeit candle
A yahrzeit candle also spelled yahrtzeit candle or called a memorial candle is a type of candle that is lit in memory of the dead in Judaism....
s from the sanctuary, and added family pews
Mechitza
A mechitza in Jewish Halakha is a partition, particularly one that is used to separate men and women....
and a mixed choir (men and women together). In 1873 B'nai Yeshurun was one of the first thirteen founding members of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC), now 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...
.
By 1889 B'nai Yeshurun had outgrown its original cemetery, and the congregation purchased 8 acres (3.2 ha) on West Schantz Avenue in Oakwood
Oakwood, Montgomery County, Ohio
Oakwood is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. The population was 9,202 at the 2010 census. Oakwood is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was incorporated in 1908...
. Oakwood was a "restricted community"; Jews were not allowed to reside or own stores there. According to Leonard Spialter, president of the Dayton Jewish Genealogical Society, "if you were dead, you could be buried in Oakwood, but if you were alive, you couldn’t live there". Relatives began moving those buried at the Rubicon cemetery to the new "Riverview Cemetery", including Lebensburger, who had died by this time. This process was not completed until 1967.
In its first forty years the congregation had a series of generally short-tenured religious leaders. These included Delbanco (1862–63), Moses Bauer (1863–64), L. Liebman (1864–67), Abraham Blum (1868–69), Leon Leopold (1870–72), Ben Weil (1872–76), Ephraim Fischer (1876–81), Godfrey/Gottheil Taubenhaus (later rabbi of Congregation Beth Elohim of Brooklyn, New York) (1881–85), and Israel Saenger (1885–89).
During this period the membership also transformed from immigrant-born to native-born. In 1881 the congregation's "language of record" was changed from German to English, and in 1889 the synagogue hired its first American-trained 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...
, Max Wertheimer.
A graduate of Wise's 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...
, Wertheimer had been born in Germany to 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...
parents. He was popular with the congregation, and Dayton's Christian community highly respected him. Non-Jews attended his Friday evening sermons, and he in turn was a guest speaker at many Dayton churches.
First and Jefferson building, and David Lefkowitz as rabbi
In 1893 the congregation sold its building at 4th and Jefferson, and constructed a new one at First and Jefferson. Wise again assisted with the dedication.Wertheimer's wife died young, leaving him with two small children. This tragedy made him question his faith; in 1899 he resigned from the congregation, resigned his membership in the Central Conference of American Rabbis
Central Conference of American Rabbis
The Central Conference of American Rabbis , founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada, the CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world....
(CCAR), and, in 1900, converted to Christian Science
Christian Science
Christian Science is a system of thought and practice derived from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and the Bible. It is practiced by members of The First Church of Christ, Scientist as well as some others who are nonmembers. Its central texts are the Bible and the Christian Science textbook,...
; in 1938 David Max Eichhorn
David Max Eichhorn
David Max Eichhorn was rabbi of Reform Judaism, a director for Hillel, a chaplain in the Army with a long record of service to Jews in the military, an author, and an authority within Reform Judaism on the subjects of interfaith marriage and religious conversion.-Biographic Summary:David Max...
wrote that "Mary Baker Eddy
Mary Baker Eddy
Mary Baker Eddy was the founder of Christian Science , a Protestant American system of religious thought and practice religion adopted by the Church of Christ, Scientist, and others...
herself financed Wertheimer's study". Wertheimer later became a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
.
David Lefkowitz was hired as rabbi in 1900, when the congregation comprised around 150 families. Born in Eperies
Prešov
Prešov Historically, the city has been known in German as Eperies , Eperjes in Hungarian, Fragopolis in Latin, Preszów in Polish, Peryeshis in Romany, Пряшев in Russian and Пряшів in Rusyn and Ukrainian.-Characteristics:The city is a showcase of Baroque, Rococo and Gothic...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
in 1875, he had emigrated to the United States with his widowed mother and two brothers around 1881. Due to financial difficulties, he and one brother grew up in the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York
Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York
The Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York was a Jewish orphanage in New York City. It was founded in 1860 by the Hebrew Benevolent Society. It closed in 1941, after pedagogical research concluded that children thrive better in foster care or small group homes, rather than in large institutions...
, where he later worked to help pay for his schooling. A graduate of both the College of the City of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
and the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
, he was ordained
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
at Hebrew Union College in 1900. Held in "high regard" by the membership, Lefkowitz was also "an active force in Dayton's civic and interfaith activities" and an "ambassador of the Jewish Community to the Dayton area". He was the first president of the Dayton chapter of the Red Cross
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human...
and served on its Executive Board, and also served as president of the Humane Society
Humane Society
A humane society may be a group that aims to stop human or animal suffering due to cruelty or other reasons, although in many countries, it is now used mostly for societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals...
.
Later president of the CCAR, Lefkowitz was also anti-Zionist
Anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionistic views or opposition to the state of Israel. The term is used to describe various religious, moral and political points of view in opposition to these, but their diversity of motivation and expression is sufficiently different that "anti-Zionism" cannot be...
. He was one of the prominent Jewish signatories of a petition presented in 1919 by United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
man Julius Kahn
Julius Kahn
Julius Kahn was a United States Congressman who was succeeded by his wife Florence Prag Kahn after his death. Kahn was born in Kuppenheim, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, in what would become Germany....
to President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
who "asserted their wish not to see Palestine 'either now or at any time in the future' become a Jewish state." In 1942, he was one of the founders of the American Council for Judaism
American Council for Judaism
The American Council for Judaism is an organization of American Jews committed to the proposition that Jews are not a nationality but merely a religious group, adhering to the original stated principles of Reform Judaism, as articulated in the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform.The ACJ was founded in June...
, "the only American Jewish organization ever formed for the specific purpose of fighting Zionism and opposing the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine."
During Lefkowitz's tenure, the synagogue building was severely damaged by the Great Dayton Flood
Great Dayton Flood
The Great Dayton Flood of 1913 flooded Dayton, Ohio, and the surrounding area with water from the Great Miami River, causing the greatest natural disaster in Ohio history...
of 1913. Lefkowitz was "in charge of one of the districts outside the flooded area". There he assisted around 28,000 refugees in finding shelter, and "established a bread line to feed them". However, his suggestion that the congregation move to a larger building in a new location outside downtown Dayton, while taken seriously, was not acted on.
Membership had grown to 206 families by 1919. The congregational school held classes twice a week, and had 8 classes, 10 teachers, and 140 students. That year the synagogue's total income was $10,000 (today $). In 1920, Lefkowitz moved to Temple Emanu-El, Dallas's largest and oldest synagogue.
Salem and Emerson building
Samuel S. Mayersberg succeeded Lefkowitz as rabbi. He was "known for his oratorical skills and his crusades formoral and police reforms in Dayton". His major goal during his ministry was to acquire larger premises outside downtown Dayton, which was realized in 1927 when the congregation moved to a new building at Salem and Emerson Avenues. Besides the main sanctuary, which had seating for 600 people, the structure included a social hall and kitchen, classrooms, and offices. It was at that time that the congregation began to use the name "Temple Israel". Mayersberg left that year, and became the rabbi of Congregation B'nai Jehudah of Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. During his tenure, membership increased to 200 families.
Louis Witt succeeded Mayersberg in 1927. He worked on fostering interfaith relations, and, like his predecessors, was active in community and civic life. A tall man who sometimes wore a swallow-tail coat when conducting services, he was a strong proponent of "Classical Reform"
Pittsburgh Platform
The Pittsburgh Platform is a pivotal 19th century document in the history of the American Reform Movement in Judaism that called for Jews to adopt a modern approach to the practice of their faith...
principles, and while he was rabbi, following his preference, no one wore a skullcap
Kippah
A kippah or kipa , also known as a yarmulke , kapele , is a hemispherical or platter-shaped head cover, usually made of cloth, often worn by Orthodox Jewish men to fulfill the customary requirement that their head be covered at all times, and sometimes worn by both men and, less frequently, women...
in the Temple.
In 1929, at the second UAHC convention, Witt had asserted that America "by its very pleasantness and friendliness lures us away from our ancient loyalties. Its secularism is so delightful, its mutuality so penetrative, its universalism so delightful, that by a sort of sheer spiritual osmosis it incorporates us into itself and makes us look and become more and more like itself". Witt argued that Jews had to resist this pull. Ten years later, however, in a 1939 article in The Christian Century
The Christian Century
The Christian Century is a Christian magazine based in Chicago, Illinois. Considered the flagship magazine of U.S. mainline Protestantism, the biweekly reports on religious news; comments on theological, moral, and cultural issues; and reviews books, movies, and music...
, he argued that Jews should celebrate Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
. In his view, Christians were now more liberal and celebrated "the inherent humanness and universalism
Universalism
Universalism in its primary meaning refers to religious, theological, and philosophical concepts with universal application or applicability...
" of Christmas, rather than any specifically Christian doctrine. Stating that his children had been deprived of the holiday's pleasures, Witt asserted that Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
was already a syncretic religion, and that celebrating the holiday was an ecumenical act which did not indicate that he was "thereby drawn even by the breadth of a hair nearer to the worship of an ecclesiastical Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
". He concluded by asking "Is it neither treason of Jew nor triumph of Christian but partnership of Jew and Christian in the making of a better world in which the Christ can have part only by energizing and perpetuating and hallowing the partnership?"
During Witt's tenure, Dayton experienced an influx of Jewish immigration, and the original German-Jewish constituency of the congregation became more diverse. Family membership reached 500 by 1945.
New sanctuary during Selwyn Ruslander's tenure
Following Witt's retirement in 1947, Selwyn D. Ruslander succeeded him. Born in Pennsylvania in 1911, Ruslander had graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1931, and was ordained at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati in 1935. He worked at a number of non-rabbinic jobs (including as an Ordinary Seaman in the U.S. Merchant MarineUnited States Merchant Marine
The United States Merchant Marine refers to the fleet of U.S. civilian-owned merchant vessels, operated by either the government or the private sector, that engage in commerce or transportation of goods and services in and out of the navigable waters of the United States. The Merchant Marine is...
), and several rabbinic positions, including both pulpit and non-pulpit roles. In 1939 he was appointed Director of Youth Education for the UAHC, and also became the first director of the National Federation of Temple Youth (now North American Federation of Temple Youth
North American Federation of Temple Youth
The North American Federation of Temple Youth is the organized youth movement of Reform Judaism in North America. Funded and supported by the Union for Reform Judaism, NFTY exists to supplement and support Reform youth groups at the synagogue level...
). In 1942, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he took a leave of absence from the UAHC to volunteer for the armed forces as a U.S. Navy chaplain
United States Navy Chaplain Corps
The Chaplain Corps of the United States Navy consists of ordained clergy who are commissioned naval officers. Their principal purpose is to "promote the spiritual, religious, moral, and personal well-being of the members of the Department of the Navy," which includes the Navy and the United States...
. From 1943 to 1945 he served with the United States Eighth Fleet
United States Eighth Fleet
The United States Eighth Fleet was a fleet of the U.S. Navy established 15 March 1943 from Northwest African Force. It operated in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II with a main mission of amphibious warfare, and then was active in 1946-47 as the heavy striking arm of the United States...
in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, "the first Jewish chaplain in the history of the Navy to serve with a combat fleet", and earned a Combat Star for his participation in Operation Shingle
Operation Shingle
Operation Shingle , during the Italian Campaign of World War II, was an Allied amphibious landing against Axis forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno, Italy. The operation was commanded by Major General John P. Lucas and was intended to outflank German forces of the Winter Line and enable an...
. He was released from active duty in December 1946, and returned briefly to the UAHC, then went to South Shore Temple in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, before taking the role at Temple Israel.
Ruslander brought some traditionalism back to the congregation; he reinstated the Bar Mitzvah and inaugurated the Bat Mitzvah celebrations, and re-organized the religious school and added Hebrew to its curriculum. Like his predecessors, he was very active in Dayton's civic life, serving on on the boards of a large number of community organizations. Ruslander was possibly Dayton's then "best known clergyman of any faith", and during his tenure Temple Israel experienced rapid growth. In 1953, Temple Israel constructed a new sanctuary at its Salem and Emerson location, and connected it to the original building. By the end of the 1960s membership increased to 1,100 families, and Temple Israel hired Howard R. Greenstein and Joseph S. Weizenbaum as assistant rabbis. Ruslander died in 1969, and for several years Greenstein and Weisenbaum served as interim spiritual leaders. In 1972, Weizenbaum became rabbi of Temple Emanu-El
Temple Emanu-El (Tucson)
Temple Emanu-El is a Reform synagogue in Tucson, Arizona. It was the first synagogue in the Arizona Territory and is the oldest congregation in the state; Emanuel's original building, known as the Stone Avenue Temple, is the oldest synagogue building in Arizona.-History:Although the Jewish...
of Tucson, Arizona, where he served until 1993. Greenstein joined Jacksonville, Florida's Congregation Ahavath Chesed
Congregation Ahavath Chesed (Jacksonville, Florida)
Ahavath Chesed is a Reform synagogue in Jacksonville, Florida.-History:Although Jews were already living in Florida in the late 18th century, Jacksonville probably was the first Jewish community organized in Florida. The Jacksonville Hebrew Cemetery was established in 1857...
as rabbi in 1973, and served there until 1995.
The move to Riverside Drive, led by P. Irving Bloom
P. (Paul) Irving Bloom joined as rabbi in 1973. He had previously been a U.S. Air Force chaplainUnited States Air Force Chaplain Corps
The Chaplain Corps of the United States Air Force consists of enlisted chaplain assistants and clergy who become commissioned Air Force officers, endorsed and ordained by their particular religious organization...
, then rabbi of Congregation Sha'arai Shomayim
Congregation Sha'arai Shomayim (Mobile, Alabama)
Congregation Sha'arai Shomayim is the oldest Jewish congregation in the state of Alabama and one of the oldest Reform Jewish congregations in the United States. Located in Mobile, the congregation was formally organized in 1844...
in Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
from 1960 to 1973. Bloom introduced a number of innovations to the synagogue, including joint programs with other Dayton synagogues, a new curriculum for the religious school and Jewish studies classes for adults, and enhanced Friday programs and lay-led services in the summer. Bloom strongly believed that Temple Israel should relocate to a more central location, as the Jewish community of Dayton had by then spread throughout Miami Valley
Miami Valley
The Miami Valley, broadly, refers to the land area surrounding the Great Miami River in southwest Ohio, USA, and also includes the Little Miami, Mad, and Stillwater rivers as well...
. His vision was realized in 1994, when the congregation moved to a new building on Riverside Drive, near downtown Dayton. The building at Salem and Emerson was sold to a Baptist church. As noted by Bloom, the congregation had "come full circle"; it purchased its first building from a Baptist church in downtown Dayton, and had sold its most recent building to a Baptist church in order to return to the area. By 1995, however, membership was only eight hundred families.
Bloom retired in 1997, and was succeeded by Marc Gruber. A graduate of Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
, Gruber attended Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem and New York, and was ordained in 1981. A vegetarian, he also wrote a syndicated vegetarian cooking column from 1990 to 1993. At Temple Israel he reformed the services and introduced Bar and Bat Mitzvah classes for adults. During his tenure, in 2000, the congregation celebrated its Sesquicentennial, with a number of "religious, cultural, social and social action programs" throughout the year. Gruber also served on the Steering Committee for the UAHC Department of Jewish Family Concerns from 1995 to 2002, working on "the inclusion of people with disabilities and special needs". Gruber moved to Central Synagogue of Nassau County in Rockville Centre, New York
Rockville Centre, New York
Rockville Centre is a village located in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 24,023. The town is made up of middle to upper middle class residents, most of the wealthier residents residing on the north side of town near the...
in 2002, and Michael Remson served as interim rabbi.
Recent events
David M. Sofian joined as Rabbi in 2003. A graduate of Hebrew Union College and the University of MissouriUniversity of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
, Sofian had served as assistant rabbi at Temple Emanuel
Temple Emanuel (Worcester, Massachusetts)
Temple Emanuel is a leading Reform Jewish synagogue located in Worcester, Massachusetts, affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism. Founded in 1921, it is the oldest and largest Reform congregation in Worcester. The current building was constructed in 1949 and greatly expanded in 1961 when...
in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
, at Temple Shaarai Shomayim in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
, and at Emanuel Congregation in Chicago, before coming to Temple Israel. Karen Bodney-Halasz, a graduate of Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, joined as Director of Education in 2005. After her rabbinic ordination in June 2007, she became Rabbi-Educator.
, the rabbis were Sofian and Bodney-Halasz.
Further reading
- Lubow, Jeffrey Samuel. The early history of Temple Israel of Dayton, Ohio: 1850–1920, Wright State UniversityWright State UniversityWright State University is a comprehensive public university with strong doctoral, research, and undergraduate programs, rated among the 260 Best National Universities listed in the annual "America's Best Colleges" rankings by U.S. News and World Report. Wright State is located in Fairborn, Ohio,...
, 1998. - Lubow, Jeff. Jewish values, internal and eternal: a history of Temple Israel of Dayton between World War I and World War II, 1990.
- Mayerberg, Samuel S. Chronicle of an American Crusader, Bloch Publishing CompanyBloch Publishing CompanyBloch Publishing Company is the oldest Jewish publishing company, and one of the oldest ongoing family businesses, in the United States.-History:...
, 1944. ISBN 978-1-4067-5881-8