Congregation Beth Israel (West Hartford, Connecticut)

Congregation Beth Israel (transliterated from Hebrew as "House of Israel") is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 701 Farmington Avenue, in West Hartford, Connecticut, in the United States.

Established in 1843, it is one of the two oldest Jewish congregations in Connecticut and one of the largest Reform congregations in New England, with about 900 member families and about 2,000 individual members.

Designed by George Keller in the Romanesque Revival style, the congregation's first synagogue building, commonly called the Charter Oak Temple, located in Hartford on Charter Oak Avenue, was completed in 1876 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Designed by Charles R. Greco in the Art Deco and Byzantine Revival styles, the congregation's second and current building, located in West Hartford, was completed in 1936 and was added to the same register in 1995, as part of a multiple property listing of fifteen historic synagogues in Connecticut.

Architecture
The congregation occupies a large building dominated by an enormous Byzantine Revival dome. Inside are a sanctuary, upon which the dome is built, a chapel, a religious school, a pre-school, offices, two meeting halls, a small museum, and a library. Beautiful stained glass windows are present in both the sanctuary and the chapel.

The 1936 building was designed by Charles R. Greco and built at the height of the Art Deco period, the Byzantine revival form in Art Deco style presents a majestic appearance. In 2006, the congregation was given the West Hartford Historic Preservation Award for its meticulous restoration of the historic structure.

The synagogue building was one of fifteen Connecticut synagogues added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 and 1996 in response to an unprecedented multiple submission, nominating nineteen synagogues.

Founding and affiliation
Beth Israel was founded in 1843, the year the Connecticut legislature first permitted public worship by Jews in the state. Congregation Mishkan Israel was founded in the same year. Congregation Beth Israel began as an Orthodox congregation, however, in part influenced by the immigration of German Jews to Hartford, the congregation quickly adopted Reform practices. In 1877, it joined with other American Reform Jewish congregations to form the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.

First synagogue
Congregation Beth Israel's first synagogue was built at 21 Charter Oak Avenue in Hartford in 1876. Though Beth Israel left the building in 1936, the building is occupied by the Charter Oak Cultural Center. It is among the oldest synagogue buildings still standing in the United States.

Rabbi Feldman
Beth Israel moved into its present location in 1936. For most of the middle of the 20th century (1925–1977), the congregation was led by Rabbi Abraham J. Feldman, a leading exponent of Classical Reform philosophy. One of the innovations that Rabbi Feldman brought to Congregation Beth Israel was the confirmation ceremony at age 16.

Feldman's influence was far reaching. He fostered a sense of community and was held in great respect by most, if not all, of the congregation. He focused on building a congregation that people stayed in for a long time and celebrated all their life events as a congregation. His long service as rabbi meant that many people were born, confirmed, and married under his leadership. Indeed, even at the beginning of the 21st century, a number of older congregants would use his leadership and rabbinate as an example.

Rabbi Silver
Rabbi Harold Silver succeeded Feldman in 1968. He would serve as senior rabbi for 25 years, retiring in 1993. Silver came from a family of rabbis. Five generations of his family before him served as rabbis. His father, Maxwell Silver, was a rabbi in New York City; his uncle, Abba Hillel Silver, was a rabbi in Cleveland, Ohio; and his grandfather, Moses Silver, was a rabbi in Jerusalem. Silver was ordained in 1951 at Hebrew Union College in New York City. Rabbi Silver's first rabbinate was as assistant rabbi at the Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh. He went on to become rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Pittsburgh, where he served from 1955 until he came to Congregation Beth Israel in 1968.

Silver was prominent in the Hartford Jewish community. He organized the first Greater Hartford Rabbinical Board of Rabbis, which brought together rabbis from different Jewish congregations and movements. He also served on a variety of community boards, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Silver also promoted cross-religious interfaith dialogue, preaching at many local churches and encouraging peace and understanding between people of different faiths. Additionally, Silver taught Judaism courses at local universities. He hired Connecticut's first female associate rabbi, Jody Cohen, bringing her to Beth Israel in 1984.

Silver retired in 1993 and became rabbi emeritus. He died on March 9, 2017, aged 92 years.

Rabbi Glaser
Silver was succeeded by Rabbi Simeon Glaser, who has served as assistant rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel at the end of Rabbi Silver's tenure as senior rabbi. Glaser was particularly popular with young families and children because of his love, and evident talent, for music and song. Glaser put on exciting Purim and Simchas Torah holiday services in which he would team up with Cantor Green and Assistant Rabbi Weiss to sing, dance, and act out the stories of the holidays. After serving four years as senior rabbi, Glaser left Beth Israel, first to serve at a small Conservative synagogue in Wethersfield, Connecticut and then to Temple Israel in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Soviet immigration
During the 1990s, Congregation Beth Israel became instrumental in the absorption of hundreds of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Early on, the New American Committee was formed to provide education assistance, licensure help, clothing acquisition assistance and help with the home needs of the new Americans. The New American Committee also continues to provide educational opportunities including lectures and weekly language classes. Congregation Beth Israel now has a large Russian speaking population and immigrants make up a significant demographic of the congregation.

Rabbi Fuchs
Rabbi Stephen Fuchs became senior rabbi in 1997 and has served as Rabbi Emeritus since 2011. <!-- This information is not encyclopeidic and reads like an WP:ADVERT. I think that we just need to concentrate on the rabbinical leaders here, and lay it out in a table. In the meantime, I'm hiding this content. == Leadership == Congregation Beth Israel, like most American Jewish congregations, is led by both a lay board and clergy.

Clergy
Beth Israel has long had a clergy system consisting of a senior rabbi, an assistant rabbi, and a cantor. Occasionally, this system has changed to better reflect realities of the offices, such as when Rabbi Weiss held the title of assistant rabbi, then associate rabbi, and then simply rabbi (with no qualification) after serving the congregation for many years from the late 1990s until early the early 2000s. Additionally, the congregation now has the position of rabbi emeritus, occupied by the previous senior rabbi, Harold Silver.

Rabbi Stephen Lewis Fuchs became Rabbi Emeritus in 2011 when he was named President of the World Union of Progressive Judaism. He had been senior rabbi since 1997, having previously served as senior rabbi of the Temple Congregation Ohabai Sholom in Nashville, Tennessee for 11 years. Rabbi Fuchs is the author of six books and is currently the spiritual leader of Bat Yam Temple of the Islands. in Sanibel Island, FL.

Michael Pincus is the current senior rabbi. Andi Fliegel is the current assistant rabbi. Stephanie Kupfer is the current cantor.

Lay leadership
The lay leadership of Congregation Beth Israel set policy, hires clergy, and oversees the running of the congregation. The governing body is the board of trustees, which consists of approximately 30 active members of the congregation. The head of the board is the president, who is assisted by a number of vice-presidents, a treasurer, and a secretary. Additionally, the brotherhood president, sisterhood president, young families chair, youth group president, and the clergy sit on the board but mostly in an ex-officio capacity.

Officers
The officers of the board of trustees are the president, vice-presidents, treasurer, and secretary.

The president is the head of the board of trustees and the lay leader of Congregation Beth Israel. It is his job to make sure the congregation continues to run smoothly and to spearhead any new projects that become necessary.

The vice-presidents assist the president. At any given time there are usually between three and five vice-presidents. Usually vice-presidents are long standing members of the board of trustees who have been particular active, often as committee chairs. It is common for vice-presidents to eventually become president, and they are often chosen to be vice-president with this in mind.

The treasurer is in charge of the finances and the secretary takes minutes at the meetings.

Committees
The board of trustees has a number of committees that manage different aspects of the congregation. Some important committees include the Finance Committee, the Ritual Committee, and the Social Action Committee. -->