Temple Beth Sholom B'nai Israel, Manchester records
Abstract
Congregation Beth Sholom began in 1910 as the Manchester Hebrew Free Loan Society. In 1935 the organization evolved into the Jewish Community Club and began to hold High Holiday services. Until 1940 the congregation held services in Tinker Hall on Main Street with a visiting Rabbi and only a handful of congregants. Since then, the Temple has been housed in two different buildings.
In 1937 the founding members purchased an old clubhouse from St. Mary’s church; the building was dedicated as Temple Beth Shalom in 1940. The building was later expanded to include seven additional rooms.
The first Rabbi, Bertrand Woythaler, served from 1940-1945. Longtime, Rabbi Leon Wind became the Temple’s spiritual leader in 1945 and served until 1979.
The current Temple was built on a site at 400 East Middle Turnpike and dedicated in 1964.
Beth Sholom merged with B’nai Israel of Rockville-Vernon to form Beth Sholom B’nai Israel in 2009.
Dates
- Creation: 2009-
Full Extent
6 Linear Feet (5 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Custodial History
Provenance: Most of the material in the Temple Beth Sholom series was donated by Irene Tabatsky.
Spelling of Names
The synagogue formed in 2009 is Beth Sholom B'nai Israel. Note that there is no "a" in Sholom.
This congregation was formed by the merger of Temple Beth Sholom (Manchester) and Congregation B'nai Israel (Rockville/Vernon).
Reorganization and Integration
April 12, 2018 - Jeanne Lowrey, Archivist
In order to better reflect the structure of the materials, the Beth Sholom (Manchester) was made into the Temple Beth Sholom Series. The collection was renamed for the current congregation name, Beth Sholom B'nai Israel. Series were created for Congregation B'nai Sholom (Vernon/Rockville) and Beth Sholom B'nai Israel. This arrangement shows the independent existence of both congregations and their later union. This connection is critical to highlight because there were many things, including programs and clergy, that are present in both the pre and post merger materials. The Beth Sholom B'nai Israel series was placed at the end of the paper materials to allow for future growth. Throughout, Newsletters have been given their own subseries.
- Title
- Temple Beth Sholom (Manchester) records
- Status
- In Process
- Author
- Accessioned by Llyn Kaimowitz , 1999 Updated by Margaret Mair, 2004-2006 Updated by G. Farr, Archivist, 2012 Updated by Jeanne Lowrey, Archvisit, 2016 Uodated by Jeanne Lowrey, Archivist, 2018
- Date
- 2005
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford Repository