Buildings and Structures in Niagara Falls, New York - Temple Beth Israel (Niagara Falls, New York) (Paperback)

Chapters: Temple Beth Israel (Niagara Falls, New York). Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 52. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Temple Beth Israel (Niagara Falls, New York) - Founded in Niagara Falls in 1898, Temple Beth Israel formally incorporated in 1905, when it was granted a charter by the State of New York, and purchased land for $1,600 on Cedar Avenue. Construction of a building did not start until 1911, when the cornerstone was laid. At the time the congregation had 33 members. The building was completed in 1912 at a cost of approximately $12,000, of which $6,000 was borrowed as a mortgage. Jacob Schiff, the New York City philanthropist, donated $250 towards the costs. Annual dues averaged around $17 per year. In its early years Beth Israel could not afford a rabbi, Sunday School, or Hebrew school; High Holiday services were run by guest rabbis, and the rabbi of Niagara Falls' Temple Beth El would help out. In 1915 Beth Israel started providing Hebrew school classes, and in 1916 hired its first full-time rabbi, Moses Abramson, who served until 1918. Subsequent rabbis were Abraham Helfman (19191922), Israel Holtzman (19231924), and Alter Abelson (19251926). During Abelson's final year at Beth Israel the congregation opened a permanently organized Sunday School; prior to that classes had not been "on a steady or permanently organized basis." Abelson was followed by Jacob Landy (19271928) and Isser Muskat (19281930). Though the synagogue had always called itself Orthodox, it also had liberal leanings, and in 1931 it affiliated itself with the United Synagogue of America (now United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism). That year Beth Israel hired Samuel I. Porrath as rabbi, a position he would hold until 1935. Porrath subsequently moved away from Niagara Falls, but would eventu...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=18587539