In the 1890s, before
automobiles, it was
important to locate
a building on a
streetcar line. This
enlarged copy of an
old picture postcard
shows The
Temple-Tifereth
Israel at the
intersection of two:
East 55th (then
Willson Avenue) and
Central Avenue.
Here Moses Gries,
first
American-born rabbi
of our first
Reform congregation,
held Sunday morning
services. In a time of
six-day work weeks and
laws aimed at
keeping
stores closed on
Sundays, this
adjustment to
American life
allowed
many more members to attend
weekly
worship. Some
complained that
Rabbi Gries had
moved the Sabbath to
Sunday. But it was
Rabbi Aaron Hahn who
had started the
Sunday services,
which included a
slightly modified
version of the
week-day prayers. |
Built in 1894, this may have been
the first Jewish
institution on East
55th. There would be
many more including
B'nai Jeshurun
(our first
Conservative
synagogue), and the
daily
Yiddishe Velt,
read by our rapidly
growing Eastern
European population.
In 1924 The Temple,
now led by Abba
Hillel Silver, moved
to University Circle
and sold this
building to a
church. Another
church - Friendship
Baptist -
owns the building
today,
but with only
40 members it faces
foreclosure on what
had once been the spiritual
home of more than
a thousand
Jewish families. |
