Temple Beth El (Detroit)
| Temple Beth-El | |
|---|---|
Modernist (1973) | |
| Date established | 1850 (as a congregation) |
| Completed |
|
| Website | |
| tbeonline | |
Temple Beth-El (1902) | |
Religious Structures of Woodward Ave. TR | |
| NRHP reference No. | 82002911 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | August 3, 1982 |
| Designated CP | November 26, 2008 |
Temple Beth-El (1922) | |
| NRHP reference No. | 82002912 |
| Added to NRHP | August 3, 1982 |
| [1] | |
Temple Beth El is a
In 1982, its two former buildings in
Early years
In 1850, Sarah and Isaac Cozens arrived in Detroit and moved into a house near the corner of Congress and St. Antoine streets. At the time, there were only 60 Jews in Detroit (out of a population of over 21,000) and no synagogues.[2] Sarah urged her co-religionists to establish a congregation, and on September 22, 1850, twelve Jewish families came together at the Cozens's home to found the "Beth El Society",[2] commemorated by a Michigan Historical Marker at this site.[3] The congregation engaged the services of Rabbi Samuel Marcus of New York.[2]
Rabbi Marcus conducted services in the Orthodox mode, first in the Cozens's home and later in a room above a store on Jefferson Avenue.[2] In 1851, the congregation legally incorporated, and adopted its first constitution the following year. In 1854, Rabbi Marcus died of cholera, and the congregation chose Rabbi Leibman Adler, the father of Chicago School architect, Dankmar Adler, as his successor.[4] Rabbi Adler fostered the temple's involvement the Underground Railroad. Fanny Butzel Heineman, Emil S. Heineman, and Mark Sloman were among the people who helped freedom seekers who crossed the Detroit River into Windsor, Ontario from 1854 to 1861.[5]
In 1856, the congregation adopted a new set of by-laws including a number of innovations from the then-emerging Reform Judaism. Although the congregation was slowly growing, due in part to the influx of Jews to Detroit, some members of the congregation were unhappy with the reforms. In 1860, the new by-laws were debated and re-affirmed. However, the introduction of music into the worship service in 1861 caused a split, with 17 of the more Orthodox members of the congregation leaving to form Congregation Shaarey Zedek.[2] The remaining congregants adopted another set of by-laws in 1862, introducing greater reforms.
Temple Beth El was one of the thirty-four congregations involved in the founding of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1873, and immediately became officially affiliated with the organization.[2] In 1889, Beth El hosted the Eleventh Council of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, at which the Central Conference of American Rabbis was founded.[2]
In 1861, the congregation moved into a new temple on Rivard Street.
Leo M. Franklin years
Rabbi Grossmann resigned in 1898, and the congregation hired
Under Franklin's leadership, Temple Beth El grew rapidly. In 1902, the congregation authorized a new building on Woodward Avenue near Eliot Street. The building was designed by the young (and then relatively unknown) Beth El congregant Albert Kahn.[4] Beth El used this building until 1922 when it was sold for use as a theater and remodeled by architect C. Howard Crane. It currently houses Wayne State University's Bonstelle Theatre. In 1922, the congregation of over 800 families[2] moved to another Albert Kahn structure at Woodward and Gladstone.[4] The building currently houses the Bethel Community Transformation Center.
Later years
Rabbi Franklin retired in 1941 and was replaced by B. Benedict Glazer. After Glazer's untimely death in 1952, the congregation elected Richard C. Hertz as leader who served until 1982.[2]
Once again, in 1973, the membership outgrew its facilities. With the movement of many of the congregants to the northern suburbs, Beth El built a new temple in
Present day
Temple Beth El currently has a membership of approximately 1,000 families and is led by Senior Rabbi Mark Miller, Associate Rabbi Megan Brudney, and Cantor Rachel Gottlieb Kalmowitz. The Temple remains at the forefront of current trends in Jewish worship and program, innovative lifelong education, and a commitment to interfaith relations and active work in the broader community.[6]
Architecture
Temple Beth El has been the congregation for two well-known architects. The first is Albert Kahn, who designed both the 1902 and 1922 temple buildings.
Notable members
- Dankmar Adler, architect and co-principal of Adler & Sullivan, a Chicago architectural firm
- Albert Kahn, architect who designed the 1902 and 1922 synagogues
See also
- Bethel Community Transformation Center, 1922 former synagogue, now community center
- Bonstelle Theatre, 1902 former synagogue, now theater
- History of the Jews in Metro Detroit
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Katz, Irving I.; Katz, Jacob R. Marcus (1955). The Beth El Story, with a History of the Jews in Michigan before 1850. Wayne State University Press.
- ^ Michigan Historical Marker Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine: First Jewish Religious Services Informational Designation.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-28856-2. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-7656-8093-8.
- ^ a b "History". Temple Beth El. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ ISBN 0814341209.
External links
- Official website
- Photographs from the Rabbi Leo M. Franklin archives: these include period photographs of the buildings used by Temple Beth El throughout its history.