Beth David Synagogue, West Hartford (1943 - present, Teferes Israel of Bloomfield merges 1993)

Beth David Synagogue began in 1943 when a group of parents in West Hartford met to establish a religious school for their children and to conduct High Holiday services. They incorporated as Young Israel of West Hartford. (This is not the same as the current Young Israel of West Hartford.) The following year, the congregation purchased a house at the corner of Farmington Avenue and Dover Road. In 1945, the congregation changed its name to the West Hartford Jewish Center and enlarged the house. The building was formally dedicated that year.

In 1946, Rabbi William Cohen was hired. Cohen officiated for more than four decades. Rabbi Cohen joined with other local Orthodox rabbis to form the Hartford Institute for Jewish Studies.

The congregation eventually outgrew its building, and the current synagogue (without a sanctuary), built on the site of the original house, was dedicated in 1954. A sanctuary was added and dedicated in 1968. In 1993, Teferes Israel of Bloomfield merged with Beth David.

Website: Beth David Synagogue is the largest orthodox synagogue in the greater Hartford metropolitan area. During our more than seventy years in existence, we have been a center of Jewish cultural and spiritual activity for hundreds of families, thousands of people, and untold numbers of visitors and friends. Our open doors and our communal sense of caring bring sincerity to the motto that Beth David is "where coming to shul is like coming home."