Emanuel Synagogue records

Emanuel Synagogue, located in West Hartford, was founded in February 1919 as B'nai Israel and was the first Conservative congregation in Connecticut.

Rabbi Leon Spitz conducted the first service. Spitz was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary and sent to communities along the eastern seaboard to help organize new Conservative congregations.

Within a year Abraham Nowak was selected as official Rabbi, and the congregation purchased a former church on Windsor Avenue for use as its synagogue. Educator Annie Fisher and a group of women started the Sisterhood.

In 1922, Rabbi Nowak moved to Cleveland and was replaced in 1923 by the energetic young Rabbi Morris Silverman who became a nationally known leader in the Conservative movement during his 38 years at Emanuel. (See the Rabbi Morris Silverman Collection inventory for more information.)

The congregation grew so rapidly that it sold its building in 1926 to erect a new synagogue on Woodland Street which it occupied in 1927. As the Jewish population of Hartford moved west and northwest to the suburbs, however, younger members of the congregation wanted the synagogue to move as well. Older members who had worked so hard to establish the old building wanted to remain on Woodland Street. This issue became a major controversy that divided the group.

To meet the needs of suburban parents who were increasingly unhappy about driving their children into Hartford for religious school, the congregation began planning for a school and auditorium in West Hartford.

Discouraged by the lack of plans for a move of the sanctuary, a group of Emanuel members formed their own Conservative congregation in West Hartford in 1953, Beth El Synagogue. The two synagogues established friendly relations and a cooperative school.

Within two years of the establishment of Beth El, however, the majority of Emanuel congregants came to see the necessity of moving to West Hartford where most of the congregation now lived. In 1956 Emanuel purchased land on Mohegan Drive, sparking controversy among both the residents on Mohegan and the Beth El congregation that feared encroachment. Objections were overcome, however, and the new synagogue was completed in 1959.

In addition to the national renown of Rabbi Silverman, Emanuel Synagogue stands out for other reasons. In 1949, the congregation hired Cantor Arthur Koret, who became a national figure in Jewish liturgical music. In 1962 Emanuel was the first Conservative congregation in the nation to alter its constitution to allow the election of women to its Board of Trustees.

A new sanctuary was dedicated in 1972. The sanctuary destroyed by arson in 1983 and rebuilt in 1984.