Members of Temple Beth El held a rededication ceremony Friday
night at the congregation’s new location on Clarence Street.
The two-hour, invitation-only rededication service took place
between 7:30 and 9:45 p.m., with a celebration following.
Rabbi Steven Mills, regional director of the Union for Reformed
Judaism, officiated during the services, and Rabbi John Bush of
Temple Anshe Hesed of Erie was also in attendance, reports
indicate.
Temple Beth El president Dr. Edward Epstein said at the
post-service reception the services were “beautiful,” and that he
was pleased with the turn-out, which included members of all
ages.
“We were very luck to have Rabbi Mills come here and support
us,” Epstein said.
The conference/kitchen area on the second floor of the Clarence
Street building was filled with congregation members visiting,
enjoying traditional Jewish dishes and listening to music sung in
Hebrew.
“I am so happy for the Jewish community,” the Rev. Leo Gallina,
pastor of St. Bernard Catholic Church, said. “This is a beautiful
place to worship and carry on traditions. May they have many happy
and wonderful years here.”
The relocation of Temple Beth El from its former Jackson Avenue
site was announced to the public in June of 2005, when officials at
the local Salvation Army first made it known they wanted to buy
that building and relocate themselves.
Then-president Dave Zuckerman wrote in a letter to the editor
for Other Voices in The Era stating that the congregation’s
decision to move was based on the reduction of the membership and
relative financial capabilities.
Zuckerman wrote in the letter that in the early 1960s, the
congregation boasted at least 300 members (families) and had
dwindled to a mere 30 or so. He went on to say the Temple simply
could not maintain the very large building on Jackson Avenue.
It was reported at that time that the Salvation Army’s interest
in the building and talks about a sale had already been going on
“for a few years” at that point.
Epstein, who became president of Temple Beth El early this year,
announced in February that the sale of the Jackson Avenue building
to the Salvation Army was official and that the Temple would move
to the end of Clarence Street, at the site of the former Apostolic
Church of North America.
Rhoda Silverberg of Bradford, a long-time member of Temple Beth
El, told The Era Friday afternoon from her home that prior to the
construction of the Jackson Avenue building, there were two Jewish
temples in Bradford that eventually merged into one – Temple Beth
El. The Jackson Avenue building was constructed for the newly
formed congregation in the early 1960s, she said.
She said Temple Beth Zion was located on South Avenue just past
its intersection with East/West Corydon Street and was a “reformed”
congregation. Congregation Beth Israel, she said, was a
“conservative” temple on the corner of South Avenue and East/West
Corydon Street where Hollenbeck-Cahill Funeral Home is now.
Ann Markowitz recounted the same version of the history of the
temples in Bradford, adding Congregation Beth Isreal was eventually
sold to the Grace Lutheran Church. When the Grace Lutheran Church
moved to Mechanic Street where the former A&P Grocery Store was
situated, Hollenbeck-Cahill Funeral Homes bought the site where
Beth Isreal was located.
The former Temple Beth Zion, they both said, is still standing
on South Avenue. In the last 20 years, it functioned as a facility
for Humble Pie, a performance theater program, before being
purchased by a University of Pittsburgh at Bradford fraternity.
