Our congregation's history really starts two decades before our synagogue building was erected. Historical highlights:
- 1931: Establishment of the congregation. Eventually incorporates as the
Belmont and Watertown Jewish Community Center. (The official incorporation certificate is on display in the coat room.) Has no building.
- 1936:
First High Holiday services.
- 1945: Purchase of house at 220 Lexington Street in Belmont. The house will eventually be named the
Beth El Congregational Center.
- 1951: Rabbi Earl Grollman hired.
- 1955: Moves into current home at 2 Concord Avenue, the
Beth El Temple Center.
- 1956: Cantor Jacob Seully hired.
- 1959: Becomes
Reform
by joining the UAHC, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the association composed of Reform synagogues. Previously had been ``independent'' --- neither Conservative nor Reform nor Orthodox. There was a heated debate concerning this action. Many families unhappy with this decision leave Beth El and help establish Temple Emunah (Conservative) in Lexington.
- 1971: Cantor Seully retires; Cantor Boruch Greisdorf hired.
- 1972: Women given aliyot [the honor of saying the blessings when the Torah is read] and counted in the minyan [the minimum number of people (10) required to have a full service].
- 1987: Rabbi Earl Grollman retires; Rabbi Ferenc Raj hired.
- 1991: Cantor Greisdorf retires.
- 1992: Cantor Sheldon Chandler is hired.
- 1994: Rabbi Jonathan Kraus is hired to succeed Rabbi Raj.
- 1995: Cantor Chandler retires. Student Cantor Geoffrey Fine is
hired. Toby Koritsky is hired as Director of Education.
- 1997: Capital campaign launched to fund renovation of the synagogue. Thanks to the broad and generous participation by members of the congregation, the targeted amount is eventually raised.
- 1998: Cantor Geoffry Fine invested as cantor, and hired part-time. Planning is in full swing for the synagogue renovation.
The following history was compiled from the writings of former Temple Secretary Lillian Tigar, who retired in 1981 after 29 years.
It all began with a dream --- the dream of a handful of families to put down roots for themselves and their families --- the need for a place where our children could learn of their heritage, their Judaism; a place where we could hold religious services, learn together, socialize --- in short, a place with which we could all identify.
Our searching first took us to the East Watertown Fire Station where we held our first meeting in October, 1931. Bernard I. Levine became the first President. Our Sunday School of 38 children met in Payson Hall, Belmont. In Charles Gettes's administration (1934-36) the Women's Literary Group and the Men's club were established (currently these groups are known as the Sisterhood and Brotherhood). In 1936 our first High Holiday services were held, conducted by our own members. The next year the first issue of a monthly bulletin hit the stands.
In 1941 the dream became one of erecting our own building and getting a full time spiritual leader. World War II ruled out one, and a lack of funds ruled out the other. By September 1945, the membership voted unanimously to buy a single-family home at 220 Lexington Street, Belmont, and one month later our first meeting was held there. Sometimes the heater didn't work; our members had to sweep the floors or shovel the snow, but somehow nothing mattered. It was our home and we loved it. Bettie Fein became the first professional principal of the Religious School. By 1950 our enrollment grew from 38 to 157 and our P.T.A. was formed. Lou Cohen was hired as Executive Directory and established our Youth Groups. By this time we were pushing out the walls and so, just two years later, in 1947 we built an extension onto our ``home.''
Who can describe the joy of those years --- the enthusiasm with which we threw ourselves into every undertaking! But for some, something was missing --- a spiritual leader. We hired Paul R. Siegel, established regular Friday night and Saturday morning services, and trained a volunteer choir under the direction of Temple member Murray Coran.
By 1950 we boasted 170 members, and one year later Rabbi Earl A. Grollman, then assistant Rabbi at Temple Israel in Boston, with his wife Netta and son David, came to our Temple. He came looking like a
Yeshiva bocher
, with his arms growing out of his sleeves, his youthful face, and smoking a big, black cigar (maybe to prove he was grown up). Now, over thirty years later, he doesn't have to prove a thing. He has made his mark not only on our Temple but world-wide as an author and lecturer. He has served his congregation admirably as a teacher, a scholar, and a humanitarian. He gave us the courage and the drive to make our move from 220 Lexington Street to 2 Concord Avenue, and he has enriched our lives.
Ground-breaking at our new site on Concord Avenue, Belmont, took place in June, 1954; moving day was April, 1955, and May 6, 7, and 8 were Dedication Weekend. In September 1956, we welcomed our first full-time cantor, Cantor Jacob Seully, and his family to our community. Prior to this, Lee Abrams had served as volunteer Cantor for many years. In 1958 our membership passed the 400 mark and we joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations the following year.
In 1966 we took our rightful place within the community of Belmont. We became members of the Belmont Religious Council and some of our members became officers. We co-sponsored Union Thanksgiving Services. We invited our Christian friends and neighbors to become better acquainted with us and with Judaism by offering such programs as
Holiday Tables
and model seders, and brought them into our kitchen to help prepare. The sight of nuns standing side by side with our own ladies, chopping nuts for
charoses
[the fine-tasting treat representational of mortar at the Passover seder], brought a whole new dimension to Interfaith relations. Eventually, the Temple also established a scholarship to be given to outstanding Belmont High School students.
We began, too, to shoulder our share of the responsibility in the wider community of the world. Our Temple became active on behalf of Soviet Jewry and adopted a Russian family. The Temple adopted a Vietnamese Boat Family, the Chaus, who are now living in Watertown and becoming very much a part of the American scene. Our Social Action Committee has been more and more active in recent years, working diligently on the Nuclear Freeze and the care of our local homeless people. And always, the Temple has been involved on behalf of our beloved Israel.
In 1971, after 15 years of faithful service as Cantor and teacher, Cantor Seully retired to become Cantor Emeritus, and Cantor Baruch Greisdorf and his family came to our community.
So much has happened in the intervening years. Temple members are always busy with annual concerts, adult education classes, Brotherhood breakfasts, rummage sales, Family Shabbat Dinners, and so much more.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, a change started to take place. Children grew up and started to leave home to face the challenging world outside. Houses became too big and empty, and parents began to leave them for apartments, many of them in the Hill Estates (our Annex #1) [located on Brighton Street in Belmont]. Eventually they started to flee our rigorous New England winters for the sunny climes of Florida. But distance could not loosen the strong bonds of friendship and belonging. And so, in January 1973, the first
Reunion with the Rabbi
was held in Florida.
On May 8, 1976 we passed another unforgettable milestone. We observed the 25th anniversary of Rabbi and Netta Grollman's coming to our Temple. And in 1980 we celebrated the 25th anniversary of our ``new'' Beth El Temple Center --- our House of God.
End of story, end of dream? Not a bit of it. It's a dream fulfilled yet never ending. As we see our children and our children's children leave their mark on this Temple and its community, then we know our future is in good and loving hands. It is not Beth El's ebb tide, but the wave of the future, and we are content.
Epilogue: Rabbi Grollman retired from the pulpit in 1987.
He was succeeded by Rabbi Ferenc Raj in July of 1987 and by Rabbi
Jonathan Kraus in July of 1994. Cantor Greisdorf retired in 1991
and was succeeded by Cantor Sheldon Chandler in 1991 and by Student
Cantor Geoffrey Fine in 1995. Toby Koritsky was
hired as full-time Director of Education in the summer of 1995. Upon being
invested, Cantor Fine was hired as part-time cantor in 1998.
