| Congregation Beth Israel | |
|---|---|
Hebrew:חבורת בית ישראל | |
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Reform Judaism |
| Ecclesiastical or organisational status | Synagogue |
| Leadership | RabbiRachel Barenblat |
| Status | Active |
| Location | |
| Location | 53 Lois Street,North Adams,Massachusetts |
| Country | United States |
  Location inMassachusetts | |
| Coordinates | 42°41′55″N73°10′05″W / 42.698491°N 73.168184°W /42.698491; -73.168184 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect | The Office of Michael Rosenfeld |
| Type | Synagogue |
| Established | c. 1890s(as a congregation) |
| Completed |
|
| Specifications | |
| Capacity | 230 worshippers |
| Interior area | 6,000 square feet (560 m2) |
| Dome | One |
| Materials | Concrete, timber |
| Website | |
| cbiweb | |
| [1][2] | |
Congregation Beth Israel (Hebrew:חבורת בית ישראל,lit. 'House of Israel') is aReformJewish congregation andsynagogue located at 53 Lois Street, inNorth Adams,Massachusetts, in the United States. The congregation was founded in the early 1890s as House of Israel byEastern 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.
OriginallyOrthodox, it becameConservative 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 firstrabbis were Irving Miller (1925) andMoses 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.
Beth Israel was founded as the House of Israel inNorth Adams, Massachusetts, in the early 1890s.[3] Jewish immigrants first arrived in the North Adams area in 1867,[4] and by 1890 comprised twenty-five families in North Adams and five more inAdams.[5] They met to holdHigh 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.[6] The Jewish origins of the founders were fairly homogeneous; most came from theMinsk Province ofBelarus, and of those, most came from the town ofKletsk. Because the North Adams region had few of the more assimilatedSephardi Jews orGerman Jews of earlier migrations to the United States, there was little conflict over maintaining traditionalOrthodox services.[7]
The congregation purchased a plot of land on Francis Street for $500 (today $17,000),[6] and constructed its first building between 1892 and 1894,[8] for $4,500 (today $157,000).[7] The building held not only a sanctuary, but also had aritual bath, rooms for aTalmud Torah, and quarters for agabbai (sexton/beadle).[7] At that time the members also hired Simon Ratner as acantor andritual slaughterer, but had norabbi.[6] This was common for the congregation which, until the 1960s, "although steadily having a cantor-schochet, engaged rabbis only sporadically."[9]
The members formed aburial society in 1895.[6][7]
In 1904, annual dues were $8 (today $280) per year.[6] The following year, a number of members seceded from House of Israel to form a new North Adams synagogue called Chevre Chai Odom.[4][6][7] In February 1909, the members of Chevre Chai Odom purchased 0.5 acres (2,000 m2) inClarksburg 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 $98,000), 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.[6]
By 1918, North Adams' Jewish population was around 500. While it had norabbi, House of Israel did have a cantor, and held services daily in Hebrew. Its religious school (which also had classes daily) had 62 students.[10]
In 1920, the congregation purchased the former Bijou Theater, which had been avaudeville theater andopera house, located on Center Street, for $25,000 (today $392,000), and renovated it for use as a synagogue.[6][7] 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.[6] That year, he and House of Israel's president Harry Abrams broughtClarence Darrow, RabbiAbba Hillel Silver and prison wardenLewis Edward Lawes to North Adams as speakers; the talks were so popular that they had to be held in theDrury High School auditorium.[9] Irving stayed only one year, and United House of Israel did not hire another rabbi until 1936,[6] when they electedMoses Mescheloff to the pulpit; he stayed until 1937, before becoming the first rabbi inMiami Beach, Florida, at Beth Jacob Congregation.[11]
The Center Street synagogue was condemned in 1958 for anurban renewal project that elevatedMassachusetts Route 2 and directed it away from North Adams' Main Street.[6] The project prompted the merger of United House of Israel with Chevre Chai Odom.[9] 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 AdamsMasonic Temple.[6]
Then-rabbi Abraham Halbfinger accepted a position in Quebec, Canada in 1960.[6] That same year the congregation purchased a mansion at 265 Church Street,[6] and hired the architectural firm of Leon Einhorn of Albany, New York, to design a new building for the location.[9] 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 theCommonwealth of Massachusetts in 1998 to become the music and performance center of theMassachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA). However, in an agreement with MCLA, the congregation continued to use the building for its services until 2002.[6]
Beth Israel wasOrthodox from its founding,[6][7] but ended the traditional practice ofseparate seating for men and women just before its move to its Church Street building in 1961.[2] It did, however, hire an Orthodox rabbi in 1961, and did not hire a Conservative rabbi in until 1969, when it affiliated withConservative Judaism.[6] Beth Israel began counting women towards theminyan in the late 1970s.[2] In 1995, the congregation disaffiliated from theUnited Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and remained unaffiliated for five years. In 2000, the congregation affiliated with the Reform movement and became a member of theUnion for Reform Judaism.[6] That year, following hisordination atHebrew Union College inNew York City, Jeffrey Wolfson Goldwasser joined the congregation as its spiritual leader.[12]
The current synagogue building at 53 Lois Street was completed in 2003. The 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) building at the foot of Mount Williams andMount Greylock 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.[13][14] 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".[1] In addition to the Lois Street building, the congregation owns and operates Beth Israel cemetery on Walker Street in Clarksburg, Massachusetts.[15]
Rachel Barenblat succeeded Goldwasser, becoming the congregation's rabbi in 2011, the year she was ordained by ALEPH: The Alliance forJewish Renewal. The author of several books, herblog, Velveteen Rabbi, was named one of the top 25 internet sites byTime magazine in 2008.[16]
