Congregation Beth Israel (San Diego)

Beth Israel
Basic information
Location 9001 Towne Centre Drive,
San Diego, California,
 United States
Geographic coordinates 32°52′15″N 117°12′23″W / 32.870901°N 117.206322°WCoordinates: 32°52′15″N 117°12′23″W / 32.870901°N 117.206322°W
Affiliation Reform Judaism
Status Active
Leadership Senior Rabbi: Michael B. Berk
Rabbi Arlene Bernstein, Cantor
Assistant Rabbi: Jordana Gerson[1]
Website www.cbisd.org

Congregation Beth Israel (Hebrew: בית ישראל‎) is a Reform synagogue located at 9001 Towne Centre Drive in San Diego, California. Formally incorporated in 1887, Beth Israel traces it roots back to 1861. It is San Diego's largest and oldest Jewish congregation.[2][3][4]

History

Jews first came to San Diego in 1850, and organized High Holiday services each year. In 1861, led by Marcus Schiller, the organized a congregation called "Adath Yeshurun". In early 1887 they formally incorporated under the name "Beth Israel".[3]

Beth Israel's first building still stands in Heritage Park, which is adjacent to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. The wooden building was erected in 1889 at Second Avenue and Beech Street, in the wake of a boom in economic activity and population that resulted from the November 1885 completion of the California Southern Railroad connecting San Diego to the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad in Barstow, California. One of the oldest synagogue buildings in the American West,[5] it was used by the Congregation until 1926, when the Congregation moved to its second, larger building at Third and Laurel.[3] At the time the congregation numbered around 60 families.[3]

Temple Beth Israel is San Diego's first synagogue. It is located in Heritage Park in San Diego's Old Town area. The first services held here were on September 25, 1889.

The Third and Laurel site occupied a full city block, and included a number of structures. In addition to the synagogue building, there was an adjacent social hall, a school building, and number of small apartments. When the congregation moved in early 2001, it retained the school and social hall.[3]

Beth Israel purchased a 3 acres (12,000 m2) lot in University City in 1993. Construction on new facilities there began in January 2000 and were dedicated in October 2001. The site comprises five buildings totaling more than 65,000 square feet (6,000 m2).[3]

Rabbi Jonathan Stein, who was Senior Rabbi at the synagogue, is now Senior Rabbi at Temple Shaaray Tefila on New York City's Upper East Side.[6]

Current status

Beth Israel has over 2,000 members in nearly 1,200 households, making it San Diego's largest and oldest Jewish congregation.[2] The clergy includes Senior Rabbi Michael Berk, Rabbi Arlene Bernstein, Cantor, and Assistant Rabbi Jordana Gerson.

Notes

  1. ↑ Rabbis and Cantors, Synagogue website, About CBI. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 About CBI introduction, Synagogue website, About CBI. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 History of CBI, Synagogue website, About CBI. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  4. ↑ Eroles, Maricarmen. "San Diego's Oldest Jewish Temple Will Get Face Lift", Los Angeles Times, July 16, 1989, p. Metro 1.
  5. ↑ Schwartz, Henry. "Temple Beth Israel", The Journal of San Diego History, Fall 1981, Volume 27, Number 4.
  6. ↑ "Our History and Vision". Shaaraytefilanyc.org. Retrieved January 7, 2013.

External links