| Early History In 1909 congregation Ohabath Israel an orthodox congregation, was founded.The founding fathers were Louis Kessler of Dunmore, Joseph Wimmer of Dunmore and Adolph Rosenberg of Dunmore. At this time, there were no officers.In 1909, the Synagogue's First Torah was presented by Joseph Wimmer. Daily and Shabbos Services were held in the home of Harry Bernstein, in the grocery store at 710E Drinker St., Dunmore. High holy day services were held at the Odd fellows lodge at the 100 block of Chestnut Street in Dunmore.  The first Election of officers was held in 1913. Joseph Stein, of Dunmore, was elected President, Barney Parish of Dunmore, VP, AS Arnovitz of Dunmore, Treasurer and HL Kessler of Dunmore, was elected secretary. Joe Wimmer, Jacob Steckel, and Charles Rosenzweig, also, all of Dunmore, were elected Trustees. Additional charter members were: Sam Weisberger, Jacob Klein, Morris Schechter, Morris Chenetz, Harry Goldman, Abe Furman, Isadore Gladstein, Abe Koslow, Ed Benowitz, Sam Lesser.Soon after the elections, the congregation bought land for a new temple for about $500 from Lackawanna County. But construction of the Temple did not begin till 1924.In 1920, A women's auxilary was formed around for the purpose of raising money to erect a Synagogue. Mrs. Joseph Wimmer was president, Mrs. Morris Schechter, VP, and Mrs. AS Arnovitz & Mrs. Charles Raker, were made Secretaries.Construction began in 1924. The contracted cost for the synagogue was $33 thousand and was to be called "Temple of Israel." This included the design and placement of the magnificient stained glass windows and painted murals on the upper walls and ceilings. In 1925, construction was completed with the conerstone in place and the dedication of the synagogue made by Rabbi Artz. The synagogue has remained unaltered (except for changing from coal furnace to gas in 1950, and the laying of carpet in 1990) ever since. At the time of the dedication, All the original officers were still in place.Interestingly, Rabbi Artz who dedicated the synagogue, was not the synagogue's first Rabbi. That honor was given to Rabbi Shamoni who started and taught the Temple of Israel Talmud Torah Hebrew School. Classes for the School were held in the basement of the Temple.In 1926, a second Torah was presented to the congregation by AS Arnovitz.In 1927, a third torah was presented by Jacob Steckel in prayer for the survival of his youngest daughter, Sarah Steckel, who was stricken with Pneumonia. Sarah passed the crisis.In 1929, Rabbi Shamoni left for another, more lucrative position and was succeeded by Rabbi Rosenbluth.Rabbi Rosenblum, did not last long at Temple Israel either. In 1933, he left, also for another position. Rabbi Rosentbluth was replaced by Rabbi Gold. Rabbi Gold stayed only until 1938. Amazingly, however, though there was great turn-around in Rabbis, all the original officers of the Temple were still in place. And it wasn't until 1938, the year that Rabbi Gold left that a new president, Heinie Scheck, of Scranton, was elected.In 1938, because of The Depression and the obligation to pay off the synagogue's mortgage, no new Rabbis, were hired. Times were financially tough, not only for the community, but for the Temple as well. Were it not for the work of the Women's Auxiliary, which rasied funds during The Depression, the Temple would have had to have closed its doors permanently many years ago. To this day, as a result of those times, there still is no Rabbi officiating at Temple of Israel.It became the beginning of a tradition, at the temple, in 1938, that services would be conducted by the members of the synagogue. The first members to conduct the services were Morris Schechter, Mr. Roth, and George Kruger, all from Dunmore.After 1938, the only times a Rabbi would officiate, in Temple of Israel was on the High Holy Days, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanna, when the congregation would hire an out-of-town Rabbi to conduct the services. 1939 was an important year in the history of the Temple. New, influential members, Louis Kornfeld, ML Hodin, Theodore Ellowitz, and Charlie Raker, all of Dunmore, joined the Temple. They would have a lasting influence on the Temple for years to come.In 1943 Samuel Lesser was elected president, replacing Henie Scheck. Jacob Steckel was elected VP.HL Kessler was elected Secretary, Charles Rosensweig, treasurer. The new trustees were Irving Rosen, George Kruger, Lester Stahler, and Irving Feibus.In 1946, another influential new member, Sam Their, joined the Temple. In that same year Samuel Lesser of Dunmore was re-elected president and Isadore Steckel, who was just discharged from the Air Core, was elected VP.In 1947, the mortgage was finally paid of and a "burn the mortgage party was planned.In 1948 Isadore Steckel of Dunmore was elected president (and has remained president ever since) and Barney Parish of Dunmore elected VP. It was that same year that the "Burn the Mortgage" party was held in the basement of the Temple. 110 people attended. The party chairman was President Isadore Steckel. Rabbi Shoop, Cantor William Horn, both from out of town and Atty Irving Epstein of Scranton were guest speakers. Former President, Heine Scheck was MC. Needless to say, it was a memorable occassion. It was said that the folks at the party were "squeezed so tightly that they couldn't get out, even if they wanted to."In 1950, the old coal furnace was replaced with a new oil burning furnace.After 1950, the congregation dwindled as many of the original old-timers passed on.However, because of the the dedication of its members, the Temple continued to operate.
RECENT HISTORY |
|
Temple of Israel of Dumore is a congregation affiliated with
THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA Website is designed and maintained by Updated 5-23-05 |
.