Table of Contents

Summary Information

Administrative Information

Collection Inventory

Series I: A-C

Series II: D-N

Series III: O-Z

Series IV: Newsletters, 1900s-2006

Series V: Newsletters, 2007-present

Summary Information

Repository

Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford

Title

Congregation Beth Israel (1843 - present)

ID

Synagogue.0010.003.007

Date [inclusive]

1843-present

Extent

2.5 Cubic feet

Language

Biographical/Historical

Biographical/Historical note The history of Congregation Beth Israel has been covered extensively in Hartford Jews, 1659-1970, Making a Life, Building a Community and The Way We Were by Beth Israel, written by archivist Marge Rafel. The Temple maintains its own archives. Therefore this portion of the inventory will not go into great detail and researchers are urged to consult those references. Congregation Beth Israel is the oldest congregation in Hartford and one of the two oldest congregations in Connecticut. The precise date of founding is unknown and has been celebrated as both 1843, the year that Jews were first allowed to form congregations in this state, and as 1847, the date of the first written evidence of the congregation's existence. Beth Israel was founded by German Jews, and although formed as an orthodox congregation, it soon adopted Reform movement practices. The congregation used a converted church as its synagogue for many years, but in 1876 erected the first synagogue building in Connecticut built especially for that purpose, designed by architect Arthur Keller. The building is known today as the Charter Oak Cultural Center. Anticipating the westward movement of the Jewish population in Hartford, the current temple on Farmington Avenue was built in West Hartford and dedicated in 1936. Special mention should be made of Beth Israel's most distinguished Rabbi, Abraham J. Feldman, who served from his arrival from Cincinnati in 1925 until retirement in 1968. Rabbi Feldman occupied a position of national prominence in the Reform movement and helped to lead changes in the branch, most notably the Reform view of Zionism. See the Rabbi Abraham J. Feldman Collection for more information. Because Beth Israel was the only substantial congregation in Hartford for several decades, its members are closely tied to early Jewish communal and fraternal activities. Members of the Deborah Society, for example, enjoyed social activities while carrying out a variety of charitable duties for the poor in both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents note The collection contains documents relating to the history Congregation Beth Israel. A significant portion of the collection consists of newsletters from the late 1990s until the present day.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford

333 Bloomfield Avenue
West Hartford, CT, 06117
860-727-6171
ekafer@jewishhartford.org

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Collection Inventory