Our Past is Prologue to the Future
Temple Beth El represents the first attempt to organize a synagogue in Palm Beach County. Its members assembled at a private home on 5th Street in 1919. In those days, the Jewish community was quite small and the area encompassed by the area's first Jewish community went as far as Fort Pierce to the north, south to Boca Raton, and west to the Glades. As the population in the Palm Beach area grew and as the Jewish population grew more diverse, there arose a need for independent new models of synagogue life.
At the beginning of the 1920s, the secular needs of this demographic group were served by the Jewish Community Center. In 1922 a movement developed that sought to meet the spiritual needs of the Jewish community by establishing worship services at the Center. A meeting was held at the old Keystone Hotel at which time members were asked to determine if the new synagogue would be aligned with the Conservative or the Reform movement. After lengthy discussion, the matter was put to a vote and the majority favored the Reform option. This led to a split in what was called the Center Group.
The Conservative-leaning group soon established its own congregation and dubbed it Temple Beth El (House of the Lord). Initially small in numbers, Temple Beth El began holding services in the West Palm Beach Women's Club. There was no Rabbi and services were led by lay leaders, the first being Mr. Jacob Fein. Although the congregation considered itself part of the Conservative movement, up until 1927 only the leader wore a yarmulke during services.
As the congregation grew, the need for a permanent home became more pressing. After months of deliberation, a 100 foot by 100 foot parcel of land at 7th Street, just off of Dixie Highway, was purchased in 1926. A sanctuary, capable of seating 300 people, was erected as part of the new building that later became home to the Palm Beach County Health Department. It was this same year that the congregation received its official charter from the Conservative movement and became an incorporated entity.
The charter of the Articles of Incorporation of Congregation Beth El was signed on March 1, 1926 by Jacob Fein who became the synagogue's first president.
Hard times soon followed as the stock market crash and subsequent Great Depression took their toll. Membership dropped with many migrating to the Reform synagogue that was now known as Temple Israel. The remaining members of Temple Beth El could not meet the mortgage payments on the new building and soon faced foreclosure. President Jacob Fein, finding himself personally financially responsible for the Temple's debt chose to leave the congregation. He later served as president of Temple Israel.
(to be continued...)
At the beginning of the 1920s, the secular needs of this demographic group were served by the Jewish Community Center. In 1922 a movement developed that sought to meet the spiritual needs of the Jewish community by establishing worship services at the Center. A meeting was held at the old Keystone Hotel at which time members were asked to determine if the new synagogue would be aligned with the Conservative or the Reform movement. After lengthy discussion, the matter was put to a vote and the majority favored the Reform option. This led to a split in what was called the Center Group.
The Conservative-leaning group soon established its own congregation and dubbed it Temple Beth El (House of the Lord). Initially small in numbers, Temple Beth El began holding services in the West Palm Beach Women's Club. There was no Rabbi and services were led by lay leaders, the first being Mr. Jacob Fein. Although the congregation considered itself part of the Conservative movement, up until 1927 only the leader wore a yarmulke during services.
As the congregation grew, the need for a permanent home became more pressing. After months of deliberation, a 100 foot by 100 foot parcel of land at 7th Street, just off of Dixie Highway, was purchased in 1926. A sanctuary, capable of seating 300 people, was erected as part of the new building that later became home to the Palm Beach County Health Department. It was this same year that the congregation received its official charter from the Conservative movement and became an incorporated entity.
The charter of the Articles of Incorporation of Congregation Beth El was signed on March 1, 1926 by Jacob Fein who became the synagogue's first president.
Hard times soon followed as the stock market crash and subsequent Great Depression took their toll. Membership dropped with many migrating to the Reform synagogue that was now known as Temple Israel. The remaining members of Temple Beth El could not meet the mortgage payments on the new building and soon faced foreclosure. President Jacob Fein, finding himself personally financially responsible for the Temple's debt chose to leave the congregation. He later served as president of Temple Israel.
(to be continued...)
