Temple House of Israel

Edit links
Coordinates: 38°09′17″N 79°04′16″W / 38.154709°N 79.071198°W / 38.154709; -79.071198
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Temple House of Israel
T.J. Collins & Sons
TypeSynagogue
StyleMoorish Revival
FounderMajor Alexander Hart
Date established1876 (as a congregation)
Completed1925
MaterialsMercer tiles
Website
thoi.org
NRHP reference No.85000299
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 14, 1985
Designated CPGospel Hill Historic District
[1][2]

Temple House of Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 15 North Market Street, in Staunton, Virginia, in the United States.[3] Founded in 1876 by Major Alexander Hart,[4] it originally held services in members' homes, then moved to a building on Kalorama street in 1885, the year it joined the Union for Reform Judaism.[2]

In 1925 the congregation constructed its current building at 115 North Market Street,

Charles Connick of Boston.[1]

As of 2019[update], Rabbi Randi Nagel served Temple House of Israel as rabbi.[6]

Early history

Temple House of Israel was founded in 1876 in Staunton, Virginia by Major Alexander Hart,[4] who had fought for the Confederate States of America in the American Civil War.[7] Hart served as the congregation's president and minister until at least 1893.[7][8]

Services were held in members' homes for more than eight years. In 1884 the congregation acquired the Hoover School building at 200 Kalorama Street,[2] at the corner of Market Street,[9] and in February 1885 began holding services there.[2] The building still stands, diagonally opposite the Hotel 24 South. That same year the synagogue joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism).[2]

The congregation purchased land north of Staunton for a cemetery in 1886, and held its first burial there in 1887. The cemetery, on North Augusta Street between Woodland Drive and Lee Street, is still used for burials today.[2][10]

At the turn of the 20th century, House of Israel had no rabbi, but held services twice a week, Friday nights from 8:00 to 9:00 pm, and Saturday from 10:30 to 11:30 am. The congregation also ran a religious school.[11] By 1907 Staunton's Jewish population was an estimated 40 people. House of Israel had fifteen member families, and still held services twice a week. However, the congregation still had no rabbi, and the religious school no longer functioned.[12]

Fannie Barth Strauss, instructor and later assistant professor of Latin and German at

Mary Baldwin College from 1918 to 1954, re-established the Hebrew school at House of Israel in 1916.[13] In 1919, though the synagogue still had no rabbi, the school held classes once a week, and had two teachers and twelve students.[14] Strauss would serve as the school's principal from its re-establishment until at least 1964, and also served as the synagogue's treasurer from 1946 until at least 1964.[13]

Move to Market Street

By 1924 the congregation had outgrown its Kalorama Street building, and it purchased a lot at 115 North Market Street from

Moorish Revival building there,[1][2] constructed at a cost of $17,000 (today $295,000).[2]

The one-story

Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City.[5] The windows (sixteen in total) and screen cost $700 (today $12,000), and featured fruits or plants grown in the Land of Israel, including "olives, grapes, citron, pomegranate, and others".[2]

In 1947, a kitchen and small social hall were constructed at the back of the building, and a south bay was added to the sanctuary; Sam Collins was again the architect.[2] To provide more room for the religious school, the social hall was expanded in 1965.[2] The building was a contributing property to the successful 1984 National Register of Historic Places nomination of Gospel Hill as a historic district.[5]

During the early 1970s, Frank M. Waldorf was the congregation's rabbi. He went on to serve for 30 years as rabbi at Temple Sinai in Brookline, Massachusetts.[15] After Waldorf, Temple House of Israel entered into a "joint rabbi" arrangement with Congregation Beth El of Harrisonburg, Virginia, where rabbis would serve for two-thirds of their time at Beth El, and the rest at House of Israel.[16] The first rabbi hired under this arrangement was Robert Kraus (also in the early 1970s).[16]

1980s to present

The congregation remained small; in 1983, membership was only 28 families.[17] That year Douglas D. Weber was hired as rabbi of both Temple House of Israel and Beth El, and the "joint rabbi" arrangement became "permanent".[18][16] From 1984 to 1988 Lynne Landsberg filled that role.[19][20] The 30th female rabbinic graduate of the Union for Reform Judaism,[19][20] she had previously served as student rabbi at Temple House of Israel from 1979 to 1981, then as associate rabbi of Manhattan's Central Synagogue until 1984.[21] She subsequently took on a number of roles at the Union for Reform Judaism, and, after a serious and disabling accident in 1999, became the senior adviser on disability issues at the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism.[19][20][21]

Rabbis Daniel Fink and Laura Rappaport jointly led Temple House of Israel and Beth El from 1988 to 1992.[16] During the 1990s the two congregations were served by Jonathan Biatch, then Jacqueline Romm Satlow,[16][22] followed, from 1997 to 2003, by Ariel J. Friedlander as rabbi.[16]

Rita Dove and Eduardo Montes-Bradley in the Temple House of Israel sanctuary for the filming of Rita Dove: An American Poet

In 2003, Joe Blair became the rabbi of Temple House of Israel and Beth El;

Jewish.com.[29] In 2008 Blair was one of 18 rabbis chosen nationally to participate in the Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal elite training program.[24][30] Blair left Temple House of Israel in 2018, to become the rabbi of Temple Israel of Charleston, West Virginia.[31]

Peter Grumbacher joined as part-time interim rabbi in 2018.

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1972, he served as full-time rabbi of Congregation Beth Emeth in Wilmington, Delaware until his retirement in 2009, and subsequently as interim rabbi of Beth El Congregation in Winchester, Virginia.[33] Rabbi Randi Nagel was elected as Rabbi of the congregation in 2019.[6]

On film

Temple House of Israel served as a location for the documentary film Rita Dove: An American Poet produced by Heritage Film Project. Filming took place in December 2013.[34]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Troubetzkoy (2004), p. 112.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Our History, Temple House of Israel website.
  3. ^ a b Temple House of Israel website.
  4. ^ a b Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 16, p. 164.
  5. ^ a b c d Gospel Hill Historic District Nomination Form, National Register of Historic Places, p. 26.
  6. ^ a b "RABBI NAGEL". THOI. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  7. ^ a b Rosen (2000), p. 362.
  8. ^ Ginsberg (1969), p. 85.
  9. ^ American Jewish Year Book, Vol. 1, p. 267.
  10. ^ Staunton: Augusta County, International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies website.
  11. ^ American Jewish Year Book, Vol. 2, p. 482.
  12. ^ American Jewish Year Book, Vol. 9, p. 422.
  13. ^ a b Morton (1964), p. 965.
  14. ^ American Jewish Year Book, Vol. 21, p. 576.
  15. ^ Rabbi Emeritus Frank M. Waldorf, Temple Sinai Brookline website.
  16. ^ a b c d e f Harrisonburg, Virginia, Institute of Southern Jewish Life (2017).
  17. ^ Rosen (1983), p. 419.
  18. ^ Central Conference of American Rabbis Ninety-Third Annual Convention (1984), p. 410.
  19. ^ a b c Amann (2005).
  20. ^ a b c Rabbi Lynn F. Landsberg, St. James Episcopal Church of Richmond Virginia website.
  21. ^ a b Calello (2017)
  22. ^ Clergy, Temple Beth El Madison website.
  23. ^ Meet the Rabbi, Beth El Congregation website.
  24. ^ a b Mitchell (2008-07-19).
  25. ^ About us, Temple House of Israel website.
  26. ^ a b MBC news, October 12, 2004.
  27. ^ Meet Rabbi Joe Blair, Temple House of Israel website.
  28. ^ Bowman (2006).
  29. ^ Trent (2008).
  30. ^ Graham (2008-07-03).
  31. ^ Kersey (2018).
  32. ^ Calello (2018).
  33. ^ Rabbi Grumbacher, Temple House of Israel website.
  34. ^ Montes-Bradley.

References

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Temple_House_of_Israel&oldid=1227306515"