Congregation Beth Israel (Scottsdale, Arizona)
Congregation Beth Israel | |
---|---|
Hebrew: בית ישראל | |
Religion | |
Affiliation | Reform Judaism |
Ecclesiastical or organisational status | Synagogue |
Leadership |
|
Status | Active |
Location | |
Location | 10460 North 56th Street, Scottsdale, Arizona |
Country | United States |
Location in Arizona | |
Administration | Union for Reform Judaism |
Geographic coordinates | 33°43′53″N 111°57′38″W / 33.731364°N 111.960606°W |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | Lescher, Kibbey, and Mahoney (1922) |
Type | Synagogue architecture |
Style | Mission Revival (1922) |
Date established | 1920 (as a congregation) |
Completed |
|
Capacity |
|
Website | |
cbiaz | |
Temple Beth Israel (1922) | |
Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center
| |
Location | 122 East Culver Street, Downtown Phoenix |
Coordinates | 33°27′47″N 112°04′20″W / 33.462993°N 112.07218°W |
NRHP reference No. | 11000043 |
PHPR No. | 197 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | February 22, 2011 |
Designated PHPR | June 2006 |
[1][2][3] |
Congregation Beth Israel (
Abraham Lincoln Krohn was rabbi of Beth Israel from 1938 to 1953, and during his tenure the congregation grew from under 100 to almost 600 member families.[7] He was succeeded by Albert Plotkin, who served for almost 40 years.[8]
Beth Israel's original building in Downtown Phoenix, constructed in 1921–1922, is listed on both the city's historic property register and the National Register of Historic Places. After being sold in 1949, it housed churches until 2002, when the Jewish community repurchased it.[9] In 2007 the Arizona Jewish Historical Society started a $4 million campaign to restore it and convert it into a museum.[6] The museum opened in 2008 as the Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center.
As of 2018[update], Beth Israel was the oldest synagogue in the Phoenix metropolitan area.[5][10] The senior rabbi was Stephen Kahn, the associate rabbi was Sara Mason-Barkin, and the cantor was Seth Ettinger.[1]
Early years, first building
Jewish settlers in Phoenix began gathering for
Services were held in a number of temporary locations.
That year the congregation raised $14,000 (today $239,000) and hired the architectural firm Lescher, Kibbey and Mahoney to design and construct a synagogue building near Central Avenue and Culver Street, in
At the time the building was constructed, the Phoenix area had only 120 Jewish residents. The synagogue served as a cultural center for the Jewish community, including hosting communal Passover Seders, at a time when Jews faced discrimination at hotels and other places of public gathering.[6]
During the 1920s the synagogue had difficulty keeping rabbis. Most would only stay for a few years, and one in particular was suspected of being a charlatan; "[t]he rabbi college where he claimed he attended had no record of him."[6] A.I. Goldberg served from 1924 to 1925, Adolph Rosenberg from 1926 to 1929.[5]
In 1930, the congregation became divided over the need for the Jewish community to hire a
That year Samuel Dodkin Hurwitz was hired as Beth Israel's rabbi. Born in
Philip W. Jaffa, ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1928,[14] joined as rabbi in 1935.[8] He adopted the Reform Judaism's Union Prayer Book and its religious school curriculum, and added choir music to the services.[8] That year much of the synagogue building was destroyed by a fire, and Jaffa's whole library was lost. The congregation re-built the structure, extensively remodeling the sanctuary, and added a religious school building/classroom annex.[8][15] Jaffa would serve until 1938.[8]
Krohn era
Abraham Lincoln Krohn became Beth Israel's rabbi in 1938, replacing Jaffa, who was not well.
Krohn was heavily involved in the community. According to Ira Morton of the Arizona Jewish Historical Society:
The organizations he served in the capacity of president or board member include B'nai Brith, the
United Way) and the Jewish Family Service (now Jewish Family & Children's Service), which Krohn founded. Krohn also served as president of the Valley of the Sun Symphony Orchestra, which later became the Phoenix Symphony, moderator of a Phoenix town hall lecture series, lecturer in biblical literature at Arizona State University and as a civilian chaplain for neighboring military bases and hospitals during World War II.[7]
During Krohn's tenure the congregation began calling itself "Temple Beth Israel",[17] and under his leadership the synagogue flourished.[6]
During World War II, Beth Israel provided religious services for servicemen stationed at Luke Air Force Base, and hosted dances for the military personnel there.[9] In 1942, the congregation started its Judaica library, which initially consisted of 60 works on one shelf.[18]
By the late 1940s, the congregation had increased in size to approximately 300 families, and had outgrown its original facilities.[8][9] The congregation moved to a more suburban location at Eleventh and Flower in 1949,[19] and formalized its relationship with the Reform movement by joining the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism).[8] The Central Avenue and Culver Street building was sold to the Southern Baptist Convention, and housed the First Chinese Baptist Church until 1981, and then the Iglesia Bautista Central. By 2001 it was on the market again, and the Jewish community raised $540,000 (today $910,000) to purchase it in 2002. The building is listed on both the city's historic property register and the National Register of Historic Places.[9]
When Krohn stepped down as rabbi in 1953
Plotkin and Segel eras
By 1955, Phoenix's Jewish population had grown to over 3,000 families, and the city still had two Jewish congregations, Beth Israel and Beth El.[2] That year, with the support of Krohn, Albert Plotkin joined Beth Israel as rabbi.[7][21] Born in 1920 and raised in South Bend, Indiana, his parents were immigrants from Russia. After getting an undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, he entered Hebrew Union College in 1943 – on academic probation, because he had taken no Hebrew at Notre Dame. He was ordained by Hebrew Union College in 1948, graduating with a Master of Hebrew Letters.[21] Plotkin had started his rabbinic career as assistant rabbi of Temple De Hirsch in Seattle, his first pulpit after ordination. There he met his future wife Sylvia Pincus, whose family were long-time members of Temple De Hirsch. They married a year later, and shortly after moved to Spokane, Washington, where Plotkin became senior rabbi at Temple Emanuel.[22]
During his tenure at Beth Israel, Plotkin was heavily involved in Phoenix's Jewish and non-Jewish communities. He was a strong Zionist at Hebrew Union College, at a time when the movement was unpopular there, and was later a staunch supporter of Israel. He was an advocate for civil rights, and a supporter of the arts. He founded the Jewish Studies program at Arizona State University and taught there, and volunteered for 25 years as a chaplain at Phoenix Veterans Hospital. In 1972, the National Conference of Christians and Jews awarded him the National Award for Brotherhood.[21][23]
Beth Israel added a "cultural and educational wing" to its Flower Street building in 1967, and in it Sylvia Plotkin founded a Jewish museum.[24] The museum had three galleries: one "house[d] artifacts from a Tunisian synagogue, a second [held] a Judaica collection that chronicle[d] the history of Arizona Jewry and a third [was] used for exhibitions."[25] Sylvia Plotkin would direct the museum until her death in 1996, acquiring and mounting many exhibitions there.[22] Renamed the "Sylvia Plotkin Judaica Museum" the day before her death,[22] it was "one of the largest and most respected synagogue museums in the United States."[25] After Plotkin's death, Pamela Levin became the museum's director; she had begun working with Plotkin as a volunteer in 1985, and eventually earned a degree in museum studies.[26]
Albert Plotkin would himself go on to serve as the congregation's rabbi for almost 40 years,[27] retiring in 1992,[8] and becoming rabbi emeritus.[21] He loved opera music, and two years after retiring, he sang professionally with the Arizona Opera.[21][23] The Plotkins' daughter Debra would become the founding artistic director of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival,[28] and their daughter Janis was, for 21 years, one of the main forces behind the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, and its executive director from 1994 to 2002.[25][29]
Plotkin was succeeded by Kenneth Segel in 1992,[8] and the following year Howard Tabaknek joined as cantor.[30] In 1997, the congregation moved to its current location at 10460 North 56th Street and Shea Boulevard.[2][4] The 45,000-square-foot (4,200 m2) building had a main sanctuary that seated 500, and a chapel that seated 300. The Torah ark was decorated with "fused glass surrounded by colored glass".[2]
Tabaknek left to join Temple Shalom in
Segel would serve as rabbi until 2002, moving to Temple Beth Or in Montgomery, Alabama.[31]
Recent events
Stephen Kahn became Beth Israel's rabbi in July 2003.[26] By then, membership was approximately 1,000 families, the largest Jewish congregation in Arizona.[2] The congregational library, which was open to the public, had grown to over 20,000 volumes, making it one of the largest Judaica libraries in the Southwestern United States.[18]
For financial reasons, Levin's job as museum director was reduced from 25 to 12 hours per week in 2004, and the position made volunteer in 2005. By then, the museum had 8,000 visitors a year, regular traveling exhibits, and the number of artifacts in it had grown to over 1,000.[26]
In 2005, the congregation purchased a 1.25-acre (0.51 ha) lot across the street from its building, and the house on it, to accommodate future growth. At that time the synagogue had over 900 member families.[17]
That year the congregation also reverted to its original name of "Congregation Beth Israel". In Kahn's view, "To me, a 'congregation' represents people and community while the word "temple" represents a place or building. I would like us to be about the people."[17]
The Arizona Jewish Historical Society undertook a $4 million campaign in 2007 to raise the funds needed to restore the original synagogue building and other related structures to create the
In 2007, Beth Israel opened the Phoenix metropolitan area's first mikvah (ritual bath). It was, according to local Modern Orthodox rabbi Darren Kleinberg, "the first time in Jewish history that a mikvah has been built and approved under the auspices of Reform, Conservative and Orthodox rabbis."[32]
The congregation also hired Jaime Shpall as cantor that year, replacing Bruce Benson, who left in 2006. Shpall, who graduated as a cantor from the Hebrew Union College in 1997, had previously served as cantor of Congregation Beth Israel in Austin, Texas.[33] Plotkin died in February 2010.[21]
As of 2014[update], Beth Israel was the oldest congregation in the Phoenix metropolitan area.[10] The senior rabbi was Stephen Kahn, the associate rabbi was Rony Keller, and the cantor was Jaime Shpall.[1] The congregation also owned and operated Camp Daisy and Harry Stein, a Jewish overnight camp in Prescott National Forest near Prescott, Arizona, the only Jewish camp in the area.[18][34]
Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center
Located in the historic former synagogue building at 122 East Culver Street, Phoenix, the Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center was named in honor of both Rabbi Emeritus Albert Plotkin who had served as rabbi for nearly forty years, and Lawrence Cutler, a major donor to the synagogue.[35] The building was designed in 1920 by architects Lescher, Kibbey, and Mahoney in the style of a Spanish mission. Although Jewish houses of worship are usually aligned on an east–west axis, the former Temple Beth Israel axis is north–south.[36][37]
The congregation sold the property in 1949 to a Chinese-language Baptist Church, and later the building was occupied by a Spanish-language Baptist Church. In 2002, the property was purchased by the Arizona Jewish Historical Society. Following its restoration, the former synagogue site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011 and was listed as one of the Phoenix Points of Pride.
See also
- List of historic properties in Phoenix
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Phoenix, Arizona
- Phoenix Historic Property Register
Notes
- ^ a b c "Clergy Bios". Congregation Beth Israel. Archived from the original on May 4, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f Ettenborough 2003, p. 25.
- ^ "Temple Beth Israel". National Register of Historic Places. National Parks Service. February 22, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
- ^ a b Contact Us Archived 2008-06-05 at the Wayback Machine, Synagogue website.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Olitzky & Raphael 1996, p. 36.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Griffiths 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g Morton 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Olitzky & Raphael 1996, p. 37.
- ^ a b c d e f g Steckner 2008, p. 58.
- ^ a b "History of CBI". Congregation Beth Israel. Archived from the original on June 22, 2008.
- ^ a b Roth & Wigoder 1971, p. 482.
- ^ American Jewish Yearbook, Vol. 21. p. 339.
- ^ Schwartz 1939, p. 465.
- ^ de Haas 1934, p. 204.
- ^ a b Shapiro 2008.
- ^ According to Morton 2007 Beth Israel had 60 member families. According to Olitzky & Raphael 1996, p. 37, Beth Israel had 100 member families.
- ^ a b c Gorden 2005.
- ^ a b c Ettenborough 2003, p. 26.
- ^ According to Olitzky & Raphael 1996, p. 37, Steckner 2008, p. 58, and the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, November 7, 2008. According to Morton 2007 the move was in 1948.
- ^ According to Olitzky & Raphael 1996, p. 37, and Morton 2007. According to Gorden 2005 he served until 1955.
- ^ a b c d e f Sussman Susser 2010.
- ^ a b c Morton 2006.
- ^ a b Cone Sexton 2010.
- ^ According to Morton 2006. According to Pearl 1996 the museum was founded in 1966.
- ^ a b c Pearl 1996.
- ^ a b c Sussman Susser 2005.
- ^ "Rabbi Albert Plotkin, 1993" Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine, Arizona Memory Project, Phoenix Jewish News Photographs Collection.
- ^ Eskenazi 2000.
- ^ Eskenazi 2002.
- ^ a b Namm 2000.
- ^ Temple Sinai Our Rabbi, Temple Sinai Las Vegas Nevada website. Archived from the original on April 14, 2008. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
- ^ Woldoff 2007.
- ^ Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, June 1, 2007.
- ^ Camp Daisy and Harry Stein website.
- ^ "Arizona Jewish Historical Society". Jewish Community Foundation. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
- ^ "Cutler Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center". Library Thing. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
- ^ "Cutler Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center". Discover Phoenix Arizona. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
References
- American Jewish Committee. "Directories" (6.06 MB), American Jewish Year Book, Jewish Publication Society, Volume 21 (1919–1920).
- "Rabbi Albert Plotkin, 1993", Arizona Memory Project, Phoenix Jewish News Photographs Collection. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
- Camp Charles Pearlstein website Archived 2008-10-16 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
- Cone Sexton, Connie (February 4, 2010), "Rabbi Albert Plotkin dies of a heart attack at 89", The Arizona Republic
- Congregation Beth Israel website:
- Contact Us, Synagogue website. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
- History of CBI, Synagogue website, Our Community. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
- Clergy Bios, Synagogue website. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
- de Haas, Jacob, ed. (1934), The Encyclopedia of Jewish Knowledge, Behrman
- Eskenazi, Joe (November 17, 2000), "Debra Plotkin, Toronto film fest founder, dies at 45", J. The Jewish News of Northern California
- Eskenazi, Joe (July 26, 2002), "Film fest director, Janis Plotkin, calls it a wrap after 21 years", J. The Jewish News of Northern California
- Ettenborough, Kelly (2003), Arizona's Sanctuaries, Retreats, and Sacred Places, Big Earth Publishing, ISBN 978-1-56579-438-2
- Gorden, Kathleen (August 24, 2005), "Scottsdale Congregation changes its name and purchases adjacent property", East Valley Living, archived from the original on October 3, 2011, retrieved November 2, 2009
- Griffiths, Lawn (November 24, 2007), "Oldest synagogue in Phoenix to be restored", East Valley Tribune
- Morton, Ira (June 2, 2006), "Rebbitzin's museum legacy spans nearly four decades", Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, vol. 58, no. 36
- Morton, Ira (February 16, 2007), "A name to remember", Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, vol. 59, no. 22
- Namm, Leisah (June 30, 2000), "Beth Israel hires two cantors", Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, vol. 52, no. 43, archived from the original on October 16, 2008
- No byline (June 1, 2007), "Beth Israel hires cantor", Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, vol. 59, no. 1
- No byline (November 7, 2008), "Valley View", Jewish News of Greater Phoenix 61 (6)
- ISBN 978-0-313-28856-2
- Pearl, Lesley (May 3, 1996), "Jewish film fest director's mother dies in Phoenix; museum founder", J. The Jewish News of Northern California
- Schwartz, Julius; Kaye, Solomon Aaron; Simons, John (1939), Who's Who in American Jewry, Volume 3, Jewish Biographical Bureau
- Shapiro, Beth (August 22, 2008), ""Construction zone"" (PDF). Jewish News of Greater Phoenix. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 9, 2011. (250 KB),
- Roth, Cecil; Wigoder, Geoffery, eds. (1971), "Phoenix", Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 13 (P-Rec), Keter Publishing House
- Steckner, Susie (July 2008), "The Lost Synagogue", Phoenix Magazine, archived from the original on July 15, 2011, retrieved November 30, 2008
- Sussman Susser, Deborah (August 5, 2005), "Cultural controversy. Plotkin museum's future in jeopardy, advocates say", Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, vol. 57, no. 49
- Sussman Susser, Deborah (February 12, 2010), "'Our' rabbi: Albert Plotkin", Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, vol. 62, no. 21
- Temple Sinai Our Rabbi, Temple Sinai Las Vegas Nevada website. Archived from the original on April 14, 2008. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
- Woldoff, Leisah (September 14, 2007), "Mikvah to open at Beth Israel", Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, vol. 60, no. 1
External links