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(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 twenty-five German families from Congregation Ohabei Shalom. 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. Adath Israel retained its traditional German ritual and culture for its first two decades under the leadership of Rabbis Joseph Sachs (1854-1856) and Joseph Shoninger
(1856-1874).

By the 1870s, the congregation had initiated a pattern of gradual reform, adopting such changes as the use of a choir and organ to bring order to the services and "family" (mixed) seating in pews. In 1874, Adath Israel elected Rabbi Solomon Schindler, who began preaching in English, instituted a new Reform prayer book, replaced the bar mitzvah service with confirmation, and instituted a Sunday lecture series. As Boston's most visible Jewish leader, Rabbi Schindler became a bridge between the Jewish and non-Jewish communities in the city. By the 1880s, Temple Adath Israel's eighty families numbered among the most wealthy and influential Jews in Boston. To accommodate this growth and reflect the aspiration of its members, the congregation built an impressive new temple on Columbus Avenue in the fashionable "new" South End in 1885, where the majority now lived.

In 1894, the board hired Rabbi Charles Fleischer. Rabbi Fleischer, a proponent of the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform, encouraged the congregation to join the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. He gradually incorporated more liturgical elements into the Sunday lecture series and made it the main weekly worship service. In 1907, Adath Israel dedicated a 1,000-seat sanctuary on Commonwealth Avenue to better accommodate its 135 families. The imposing white marble structure illustrated the synagogue's adoption of American ideals with the inclusion of the motto inscribed on its façade: "Dedicated to the Brotherhood of Man. Consecrated to the Fatherhood of God."

Upon Fleischer's resignation to form his own non-denominational congregation in 1911, the board hired Rabbi Harry Levi, an advocate of more moderate Reform principles. During Levi's tenure, the congregation renewed its commitment to ecumenical understanding and religious education: Levi used pulpit exchanges and secular speaking opportunities to educate people about Judaism; the Sisterhood (founded in 1903) established branch religious schools in Boston's immigrant neighborhoods; the Brotherhood (founded in 1914) sponsored Levi's popular radio sermons beginning in 1924. In 1928, the congregation constructed a Meeting House on the Riverway to provide more administrative and educational space for the rapidly growing congregation, solidifying its position as the most influential Reform synagogue in New England.

With Levi's retirement in 1939, the board hired Rabbi Joshua Loth Liebman, who proposed several innovations to align Temple Israel with the modern Reform movement. He replaced the Sunday morning service with one on Friday evening, incorporated more Hebrew into services and education, revived the bar mitzvah ceremony (bat mitzvah was later introduced in 1953), and advocated Zionism. Rabbi Liebman also worked closely with Boston’s civic and religious leaders to combat antisemitism. The Brotherhood supported this work through the formation of the Gutman (later Simons-Gutman) Foundation in 1945, designed to promote democratic ideals and the principles of social justice. In 1946, Liebman achieved international recognition with the publication of his best-selling book, Peace of Mind, which explored the relationship between religion and psychiatry.

After Rabbi Liebman's sudden death in 1948, the board hired Rabbi Abraham Klausner, a former army chaplain who had worked with displaced persons in Europe after World War II. Rabbi Klausner reestablished a pastoral rabbinate at Temple Israel and continued Liebman's efforts to expand the temple's educational programs.

When Klausner resigned in 1953, the congregation hired Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn, a former Marine Corps chaplain, who had gained international fame with his sermon dedicating the cemetery after the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. Known as a "crusading rabbi," Rabbi Gittelsohn encouraged Temple Israel's formation of a Social Action Committee in 1959. Over the next two decades, this group tackled a variety of issues, including civil rights, urban housing, nuclear war, and the Vietnam War. The Israel Committee was founded in 1959 to foster connections with the state of Israel through fundraising, study missions, and the promotion of Israeli culture.

Temple Israel Religious School Class of 1917

Temple Israel experienced dramatic membership growth during Gittelsohn’s tenure; the congregation numbered 1400 families in 1953, and by 1968, it was larger than ever before or since, with 2140. To accommodate this increase, the Rabbi Joshua Loth Liebman Religious School Wing was dedicated in 1957 and a new sanctuary designed by The Architects Collaborative was constructed in 1973. The structure included a soaring interior sanctuary, a sky-lit atrium lobby connecting the buildings, and a chapel (a social hall was added later). "Sky Covenant," a sculpture commissioned from artist Louise Nevelson, enhanced the Riverway entrance. The completed complex epitomized both the achievements of the Gittelsohn era and the desire for change that characterized the 1970s, as Jews at Temple Israel and other American congregations began to seek a more participatory, family-like worship setting and a stronger sense of community. This desire for a more spiritual worship experience was reflected in the decision to hire Cantor Murray E. Simon to replace Herbert Fromm, Temple Israel's longtime musical director, upon his retirement in 1972.

In 1977, the board elected Rabbi Bernard Mehlman, who focused on broadening educational and social justice opportunities, making the worship experience more accessible, and creating caring communities for new constituents, including aging members, interfaith families, and gays and lesbians. During the 1980s, Rabbi Mehlman, Rabbi Ronne Friedman (hired in 1978), and Cantor Roy B. Einhorn (hired in 1983) made several trips to the Soviet Union on the behalf of the refusniks. The Wyner Museum opened in 1983, and in 1990, the congregation completed the renovation of the sanctuary and the construction of the Berners' Square Garage. In 1988, Fran Putnoi was elected the congregation's first female president. Two years later, Elaine Zecher became the temple's first female rabbi; her creative approach to liturgy has made the Qabbalat Shabbat and holiday services more inclusive and participatory. The Frances Jacobson Early Education Center (FJECC) opened its doors in 1994.

In 1999, Rabbi Ronne Friedman became Temple Israel's tenth senior rabbi. Rabbi Friedman has built on the strengths of the clergy and administrative team to develop new programs designed to foster community. In 2001, Rabbi Jeremy Morrison was hired to lead the Riverway Project, a program for Jews in their 20s and 30s to deepen their connections to Judaism; he now leads the temple's religious school. In 2004-2005, Temple Israel celebrated its sesquicentennial anniversary, providing an opportunity for the congregation to commemorate the past, celebrate the present, and look toward the future.

Many of the programs of the past decade, including outreach to interfaith and gay and lesbian members, and the Temple Israel Lifelong Learning Initiative (TILLI), continue to advance congregational goals. In particular, Ohel Tzedek (launched in 2008), has become central to congregational life. Members are engaged with several social justice initiatives, including Aging with Dignity, creating an "internal caring community," and alleviating the suffering of Sudanese genocide victims. They have also forged links with the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) and other external "action communities." In 2007, due to success of the "Temple Israel Tomorrow" campaign, renovations began that will ultimately transform Temple Israel's physical space to meet changing needs and ensure the integrity of the historic structures. In 2008, the Rabbi Harry Levi Auditorium was transformed into a multi-function space for worship, celebration, and meetings. The historic Riverway entrance was restored in 2009.

While barely recognizable from its beginnings as a small German Orthodox shul, Temple Israel's congregational values as a whole have remained constant: devotion to education and personal development, dedication to social justice, and a fundamental determination to make the synagogue a "second home" for everyone who enters its sacred space.

Excerpted in part from Becoming American Jews: Temple Israel of Boston,
by Meaghan Dwyer-Ryan, Susan L. Porter, and Lisa Fagin Davis (Brandeis University Press, 2009).
Used with the permission of the authors.