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History of Temple Israel

(For more information on the history of Temple Israel, please visit our Archives section.)

Temple Israel, 1928

Congregation Adath Israel was founded in 1854 by German members of Temple Ohabei Shalom, who split with their Polish coreligionists over ethnic and ritual differences. The synagogue established its first home on Pleasant Street in the South End the same year. In 1859, the board purchased land for a cemetery in Wakefield, and began weekly instruction in German and Hebrew for the temple's children.




For its first 20 years, Adath Israel remained an Orthodox congregation, but as congregants gained more financial success and became more involved with the local community, they began to call for religious modifications to reflect their changing identity and social aspirations. Beginning with small liturgical changes, such as using German, then English vernacular, congregants soon voted to incorporate sermons, mixed seating, a choir, and an organ. In 1874, the congregation elected Rabbi Solomon Schindler, who drastically changed the temple's religious practices. He began preaching in English, replaced the bar mitzvah service with the Protestant rite of confirmation, and instituted a new prayerbook that conformed to the American Reform ideology. Schindler made his pulpit an interfaith educational tool, encouraging interested Christians to attend his sermons on Judaism and explaining Christian doctrine to his congregation. As Boston's most visible Jewish leader, Schindler became a bridge between the Jewish middle classes, their non-Jewish neighbors, and the growing numbers of Orthodox Jews in the city. He was also welcomed into Protestant intellectual circles that included Minot J. Savage, the first American clergyman to reconcile Darwinism with Christianity, and the influential Unitarian minister Edward Everett Hale.

By the 1880s, membership tripled, and included the most wealthy and influential Jews in Boston. To accommodate this growth, the congregation built a beautiful new temple on Columbus Avenue. At the 1885 dedication, President Edward S. Goulston echoed Rabbi Schindler's interfaith message by "cordially welcoming Israelite and Christian."

By the early 1890s, Schindler's teachings were deviating too far from Judaism for his congregation. The board replaced him in 1894 with Rabbi Charles Fleischer, a graduate of Hebrew Union College. Influenced by Brahmin intellectual theories, Fleischer hoped to introduce greater change into the congregation. Temple Israel joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and adopted the new Union Prayer book. He gradually incorporated more liturgical elements into the Sunday lecture series, making it the main weekly worship service, although it did not officially become so until 1906. In 1895, he instituted the controversial practice of pulpit exchange, hoping to foster greater interfaith communication.

In 1907, Temple Israel dedicated a 1,000-seat synagogue on fashionable Commonwealth Avenue, reflecting the congregation's growing wealth and prominence. Referred to as "Solomon's Temple" in the mainstream press, the imposing structure was Oriental in design, symbolizing the ancientness of the Jewish religion. The congregation's adoption of American ideals was reflected in the motto inscribed on the facade: "Dedicated to the Brotherhood of Man. Consecrated to the Fatherhood of God."

By 1911, Fleischer's humanist leanings overcame his devotion to Judaism and he resigned to head a non-denominational group that preached morality through American ideals. The congregation chose Rabbi Harry Levi to replace him. Levi was widely known as the noted author of Jewish Characters in English Fiction, a founder of the Jewish Chautauqua Society, and the spiritual leader of a West Virginia reform congregation. Believing that by being better Jews, Jews could be better Americans, he advocated Zionism, called for a greater awareness of Jewish traditions, and supported Jewish education.

During Levi's tenure, the congregation completely revamped its Sabbath school. With his advice, the board reorganized the structure, hiring professional teachers and placing the children in grades. Working with the temple's Sisterhood, founded in 1903, they also established branch schools in the Boston's ghettos. A Young People's Society, organized in 1915 supplemented these educational efforts. In 1928, the temple's commitment to both childhood and adult education was reinforced with the building of a meetinghouse on the Riverway, which provided more program and school space for the rapidly growing congregation.



Temple Israel Religious School Class of 1917

Levi used pulpit exchanges and secular speaking opportunities to educate people about Judaism and combat anti-Semitism. The temple's Brotherhood, founded in 1914, added to these efforts in 1924 by sponsoring Levi's popular radio sermons. Levi told The Boston Traveler that "in every way the radio is proving a blessing...Work has been found for the unemployed, contributions have been secured for community projects. Members have been secured for the temple." Most importantly, "people of every shade of opinion, frankly confessing to prejudices against [Jews], have as frankly given assurance of a fairer, juster and more religious attitude henceforth" (Boston Traveler, 13 March 1925).

With Levi's retirement in 1939, the temple elected Joshua Loth Liebman, a promising young rabbi and scholar. During his tenure, the temple began to lose its distinctive German image and underwent even further changes to its reform ideology. Influenced by the challenges to European and world Jewry brought on by the Holocaust, Liebman advocated a return to ancestral traditions and supported the establishment of the state of Israel to help strengthen group identity. He reinstated Saturday as the main day of worship and brought Friday night services back into practice. He incorporated a more traditional liturgy with Hebrew, increased holiday observance, and instituted an educational curriculum more grounded in Bible and Jewish history. Reflecting the move out to the suburbs by many Jews in the city, Liebman and congregational leaders worked with other Jewish synagogues to establish branch temples, hoping to expand the influence of liberal Judaism in the Greater Boston area. Liebman also worked with community leaders to foster good relations between Jews and non-Jews in the Boston area. In 1946, Liebman achieved international recognition with the publication of his best-selling Peace of Mind, which explored the relationship between religion and psychiatry.

After Rabbi Liebman's sudden death in 1948, the board elected his assistant Rabbi Abraham Klausner as senior rabbi. He resigned in 1953, and was replaced by Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn. Both Klausner and Gittelsohn continued to strengthen the changes Liebman introduced. Unlike in other congregations, this return to more traditional practices was not limited to men. In 1956, the temple introduced the bat mitzvah ceremony for girls to match the bar mitzah ceremony reinstated in 1940 for boys. First elected to the board of trustees in 1924, this event marked the full participation of women in religious services.

As a chaplain with the Fifth Marine Division at Iwo Jima, where he delivered his famous sermon at the dedication of the cemetery, and as a member of President Harry S. Truman's 1947 Committee on Civil Rights, Rabbi Gittelsohn became devoted to the achievement of democracy for all. Bringing those ideals to Temple Israel, he helped the congregation become more focused than ever on making Judaism a guide for creating a better America and a better world. In 1959 congregants established a Social Action Committee along UAHC guidelines. Over the next few decades, this group worked on various issues and projects, including civil rights, interfaith efforts, urban housing, Vietnam, and education. The Israel Committee was founded in 1959 to work for greater support of Israel, sponsoring bonds, organizing study missions, and fostering greater awareness of Israeli culture.

In 1972, the congregation laid the cornerstone for a new sanctuary next to its meetinghouse on the Riverway, reflecting its continuing growth in membership. Completed the following autumn, this structure remains the temple's home today. Also in 1972, the temple elected its first cantor, Murray E. Simon to replace its long-time musical director Herbert Fromm. Gittelsohn served as senior rabbi until 1977, and as Rabbi Emeritus until his death in 1995. Upon his retirement, the congregation elected Rabbi Bernard H. Mehlman.

The 1980s brought many changes to Temple Israel, including a heightened awareness of the plight of Jews in Soviet Russia. Together with assistant rabbi Ronne Friedman and cantor Roy B. Einhorn (1983-present), Rabbi Mehlman made several trips to Russia on the behalf of the refusniks. Other priorities included an even greater dedication to education, as Rabbi Friedman became the temple's educator, devoting all of his efforts to enhancing the temple's many programs for children and adults. The end of the decade brought new advances for the women of the congregation. In 1988, Fran Putnoi was elected the congregation's first female president. Two years later, Elaine Zecher became the first female rabbi.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the temple continued to expand its social justice, cultural, and education programs. The Wyner Museum opened in 1983, while the Frances Jacobson Preschool opened its doors in 1993 with a full enrollment and waiting list. In 1999, Rabbi Mehlman became Senior Scholar/Rabbi Emeritus, and Rabbi Friedman returned from a short stint at another synagogue to become the congregation's tenth senior rabbi.

In 2004, Temple Israel celebrated its 150th anniversary. While barely recognizable from its beginnings as a small German Orthodox shul, it has retained its awareness of tradition, commitment to Jewish values, and ability to change for the better. These characteristics are the strength of Temple Israel and will continue to serve it well in the next century.