Temple B'Nai Abraham

Last updated

Temple B'nai Abraham
Religion
Affiliation Judaism
Rite Unaffiliated
Ecclesiastical or organisational status Synagogue
Leadership
  • Rabbi David Z. Vaisberg
  • Rabbi Max Edwards (Associate)
  • Rabbi Clifford M. Kulwin (Emeritus)
StatusActive
Location
Location300 East Northfield Road, Livingston, Essex County, New Jersey 07039
CountryUnited States
Location map of Essex County, New Jersey.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of the current synagogue
in Essex County, New Jersey
Geographic coordinates 40°46′15″N74°18′05″W / 40.770795°N 74.301396°W / 40.770795; -74.301396
Architecture
Date established1854 (as a congregation)
Completed
  • 1897 (High Street, Newark)
  • 1924 (Clinton Avenue)
  • 1973 (Livingston)
Website
tbanj.shulcloud.com
Deliverence Evangelistic Center
Bnai Abraham Deliverance Temple jeh.jpg
The former synagogue, in 2010
Location map of Essex County, New Jersey.svg
Red pog.svg
USA New Jersey location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location621 Clinton Avenue, Newark, New Jersey
Coordinates 40°43′23″N74°12′25″W / 40.72306°N 74.20694°W / 40.72306; -74.20694
Area0.5 acres (0.20 ha)
Built1924
ArchitectNathan Myers
Architectural style Classical Revival
NRHP reference No. 07000358
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 26, 2007
Designated NJRHPApril 1, 2010
[1] [2]

Temple B'nai Abraham is an unaffiliated Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 300 East Northfield Road, in Livingston, Essex County, New Jersey, in the United States.

Contents

Established in Newark in 1853 as an Orthodox (and later, Conservative) [3] [4] congregation, for most of the 20th century Temple B'nai Abraham has been independent of the organized synagogue movements, describing itself as a traditional progressive congregation. [5]

Its historic 1924 building at 621 Clinton Avenue was used as a synagogue until 1973, and subsequently used as a Pentecostal church and, since 2023, as a charter school. The former synagogue building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007 and was added to the New Jersey Register of Historic Places in 2010. [2]

History

Temple B'nai Abraham was founded as a result of a 1853 split from Newark's first congregation, the Orthodox B'nai Jeshurun. Named in honor of Abraham Newman, most of its initial members were from Poznań, in Poland. The congregation moved often in its early years, from 25 Academy Street (1857–1866), Union Hall, 200 Market Street (1867–1869), 65 Bank Street (1870–1883), 177 Halsey Street (1884–1889), 226 Washington Street (1890–1897), and to 487 High Street (1897–1923). [4]

The congregation engaged Nathan Myers, a Newark architect, to design its 1924 building on Clifton Avenue, completed in the Classical Revival style. Myers later designed the iconic Hersch Tower in Elizabeth, New Jersey. [6] In addition to the sanctuary, the Clifton Avenue complex had a large number of classrooms, a gymnasium, an auditorium, and a swimming pool. [4]

In 1973, the congregation moved to Livingston and sold the Clifton Avenue building to the Deliverance Evangelistic Center, a Pentecostal church. The former synagogue building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 26, 2007.

With the building in need of repairs, the struggling Deliverence Evangelistic Center [3] sold the building to the People's Preparatory Charter School for $2.5 million in January 2023. [7] [8]

Rabbinical leadership

Dr. Joachim Prinz, the rabbi from 1939 to 1976, modernized the ritual and introduced his own prayer book. Prinz, who had escaped Nazi Germany in 1937, was a vocal civil rights leader in the United States, known globally for his moving rhetoric. [9] Prinz arranged for Martin Luther King Jr. to address the congregation in the Clinton Avenue building on January 17, 1963. [3]

Prinz was succeeded by Rabbi Barry Friedman who introduced further innovations in the services and wrote and edited the prayer book, Siddur Or Chadash. In 1999, Rabbi Clifford Kulwin became the synagogue's fourth religious leader in 98 years. Rabbi David Z. Vaisberg was appointed senior rabbi in 2019. [5] [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Israel (West Hartford, Connecticut)</span> Historic Reform synagogue in West Hartford, Connecticut, US

Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 701 Farmington Avenue, in West Hartford, Connecticut, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation B'nai Israel (Galveston, Texas)</span> Jewish synagogue located in Galveston, Texas, USA

Congregation B'nai Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located in Galveston, Texas, in the United States. Organized by German Jewish immigrants in 1868, it is the oldest Reform congregation and the second chartered Jewish congregation in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac M. Wise Temple</span> Reform synagogue in Cincinnati, Ohio, US

The Isaac M. Wise Temple, commonly called the Wise Temple, is an historic Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States. The congregation's historic Plum Street temple was erected in honour of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, who was among the founders of Reform Judaism in the United States. The temple building was designed by prominent Cincinnati architect James Keys Wilson and its design was inspired by the Alhambra at Granada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B'nai Abraham Synagogue (Brenham, Texas)</span>

The B'nai Abraham Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue and former congregation from Brenham, Texas, in the United States. The congregation was organized in 1885.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Hebrews of Ocala</span> Historic former Reform Jewish synagogue in Ocala, Florida, US

The United Hebrews of Ocala is an historic former Reform Jewish synagogue building located at 729 N.E. 2nd Street, in the Tuscawilla Park Historic District of Ocala, Marion County, Florida, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilshire Boulevard Temple</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in Los Angeles, California, US

The Wilshire Boulevard Temple, known from 1862 to 1933 as Congregation B'nai B'rith, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 3663 Wilshire Boulevard, in the Wilshire Center district of Los Angeles, California, in the United States. Founded in 1862, it is the oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B'nai Israel Synagogue (Baltimore)</span> Synagogue in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

B'nai Israel Synagogue is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located in the historic Jonestown neighborhood, near downtown and the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. The synagogue is one of the oldest synagogue buildings in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Israel (Scottsdale, Arizona)</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in Scottsdale, Arizona, US

Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 10460 North 56th Street in Scottsdale, Arizona, in the United States. Incorporated in 1920, the congregation affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism in 1935.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B'nai Jeshurun (Manhattan)</span> Synagogue in New York City

B'nai Jeshurun is a non-denominational Jewish synagogue located at 257 West 88th Street and 270 West 89th Street, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City, New York, United States.

Kol Ami is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 225 North Country Club Road, in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The congregation was formed through the 2019 merger of Temple Emanu-El and the Congregation Or Chadash, that was established in 1995. The leaders of Temple Emanuel-El and Congregation Or Chadash began discussions about a potential merger in 2018. The merger of the two Reform congregations was consummated the following year, as Kol Ami.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oheb Shalom Congregation</span> Conservative Jewish synagogue in New Jersey, United States

Oheb Shalom Congregation is an egalitarian, Conservative Jewish congregation and synagogue located in South Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, in the United States. The synagogue is affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

Congregation B'nai Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 2710 Park Avenue, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish Museum of New Jersey</span> United States historic place

The Jewish Museum of New Jersey, at Ahavas Sholom, is located at 145 Broadway in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B'nai Israel Synagogue and Montefiore Cemetery</span> Synagogue and cemetery in North Dakota, US

B'nai Israel Synagogue and Montefiore Cemetery in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in the United States, consists of a Reform Jewish congregation and its synagogue; and the congregation's related cemetery. Both the synagogue building and the cemetery were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple B'nai Sholom (Huntsville, Alabama)</span> Historic Reform synagogue in Huntsville, Alabama, US

Temple B'nai Sholom is an historic Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 103 Lincoln Street SE, in Huntsville, Alabama, in the United States. Founded as a congregation on July 30, 1876, the current synagogue building was dedicated on November 26, 1899. It is the oldest synagogue building in continuous use in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic Congregation B'nai Abraham</span> Historic Orthodox synagogue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Historic Congregation B’nai Abraham, officially B’nai Abraham Chabad, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 523-527 Lombard Street, in the Society Hill neighborhood of the Center City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Established as a congregation in 1874 and the current synagogue building completed in 1910, worshipers can access daily, Shabbat, and holy day services in the Ashkenazi rite. B'nai Abraham is home to a Jewish Preschool, as well as Lubavitch of Center City.

B'nai Abraham or B'Nai Abraham may refer to the following Jewish synagogues:

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Essex County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection – Historic Preservation Office. April 1, 2010. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 27, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 Weiner, Robert (June 15, 2016). "'Living monument' church in need of salvation". New Jersey Jewish News. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Geisheimer, Glenn G. (2021). "Congregation B'Nai Abraham". Newark Religion: Old Newark. Glenn G. Geisheimer. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  5. 1 2 "Our History". Temple B'nai Abraham.[ self-published source? ]
  6. ↑ "THE ELIZABETH FORUM 2014". Elizabeth Historical Society. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  7. ↑ Prise, Allison (January 18, 2023). "Endangered historic N.J. temple has a new life after $2.5M sale" . NJ.com . Advance Publications . Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  8. ↑ Fry, Chris (February 8, 2023). "Historic Newark Temple Will Be Converted into Charter School". Jersey Digs. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  9. ↑ Pasternak, Rachel Nierenberg; Fisher, Rachel Eskin; Price, Clement (November 6, 2014). "Rabbi Joachim Prinz: The Jewish Civil Rights Leader". Moment Magazine . Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  10. ↑ "History: The first 150 years" (PDF). Temple B'nai Abraham. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 15, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2016.[ self-published source? ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.