Beth Israel Synagogue

The history of Congregation Beth Israel has been covered extensively in Hartford Jews, 1659-1970, Making a Life, Building a Community and The Way We Were by Beth Israel archivist Marge Rafel. The Temple maintains its own archives. Therefore this portion of the inventory will not go into great detail, and researchers are urged to consult those references.

Congregation Beth Israel is the oldest congregation in Hartford and one of the two oldest congregations in Connecticut. The precise date of founding is unknown and has been celebrated as both 1843, the year that Jews were first allowed to form congregations in this state, and as 1847, the date of the first written evidence of the congregation's existence.

Beth Israel was founded by German Jews, and although formed as an orthodox congregation, it soon adopted Reform movement practices. The congregation used a converted church as its synagogue for many years, but in 1876 erected the first synagogue building in Connecticut built especially for that purpose, designed by architect Arthur Keller. The building is known today as the Charter Oak Cultural Center.

Anticipating the westward movement of the Jewish population in Hartford, the current temple on Farmington Avenue was built in West Hartford and dedicated in 1936.

Special mention should be made of Beth Israel's most distinguished Rabbi, Abraham J. Feldman, who served from his arrival from Cincinnati in 1925 until retirement in 1968. Rabbi Feldman occupied a position of national prominence in the Reform movement and helped to lead changes in the branch, most notably the Reform view of Zionism. See the Rabbi Abraham J. Feldman Collection for more information.

Because Beth Israel was the only substantial congregation in Hartford for several decades, its members are closely tied to early Jewish communal and fraternal activities. Members of the Deborah Society, for example, enjoyed social activities while carrying out a variety of charitable duties for the poor in both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities.

Box 1: A-C

Anniversaries/Congregation's 50th (1897)

Anniversaries/Congregation's 100th (1943)

Anniversaries/Congregation's 125th (1968)

Anniversaries/Congregation's 140th (1983)

Anniversaries/Congregation's 150th (1993)

Anniversaries/Sanctuary’s 70th (2006)

Board of Directors/Members

Board of Directors/Minutes/English Translations, 1870-1920

Board of Directors/Policies

Brotherhood

Buildings/Charter Oak Avenue (1876)

Buildings/701 Farmington Avenue (1935)

Buildings/701 Farmington Avenue (1935) - Guide Book

Buildings/701 Farmington Avenue – Additions

Buildings/701 Farmington Avenue/sanctuary rededication, 2006

Buildings/701 Farmington Avenue/renovations, 2007

Cemetery

Charitable Activities

Conferences

Constitution and By-Laws

Box 2: D-N

Education/Adult Education

Education/School Activities

Education/School Activities/Graduation and Confirmation

Fundraising

Historical Highlights

Holocaust Commemorations

Interfaith Activities

Library

Marrieds Club

Members and Membership

Miscellaneous

Museum

Music, Choir, Cantorial Programs

Newsletters, see separate box

Newspaper clippings

Box 3: O-Z

Rabbis/Berman, Howard A.

Rabbis/Cohen, Jody R.

Rabbis/Deutsch, Solomon

Rabbis/Elkin, Meyer

Rabbis/Elkin, Meyer/letter from Isaac M. Wise

Rabbis/Fuchs, Stephen see newspaper clippings

Rabbis/Feldman, Abraham J

Rabbis/Glaser, Simeon I.

Rabbis/Mayer, Isaac

Rabbis/Miscellaneous

Rabbis/Olitzky, Kerry M.

Rabbis/Silver, Harold S.

Research paper/Author Unknown/From Orthodoxy to Reform:The Religious Evolution of Congregation Beth Israel, 1843-1880, no date

Ritual Matters and Shabbat Events

Ritual Matters/Bar and Bat Mitzvah

Ritual Matters/High Holydays, 1970s

Sisterhood and Deborah Society

Soviet Jews

Staff Members

Staff Members/Strauss, Moses Loeb, Shohet and Hazan, 1847

Tarbuth League

Youth Groups

Box 4: Newsletters, 1900s-2006

Newsletters/Miscellaneous, 1900s-1990s

Newsletters, 1997

Newsletters, 1998

Newsletters, 2000

Newsletters, 2001

Newsletters, 2002

Newsletters, 2003

Newsletters, 2004

Newsletters, 2005

Newsletters, 2006

Box 5: Newsletters, 2007-

Newsletters, 2007

Newsletters, 2008

Newsletters, 2009

Newsletters, 2010

Newsletters, 2011

Photographs: See: Photographs/Synagogues/Beth Israel

Oversized Materials: Oversized documents have been photocopied and stored in the Oversize Documents/Synagogues box; the copies have been incorporated into the main document collection.

This collection consists primarily of photos of the original temple now Charter Oak temple and the current building. One Box 0005 002