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November 16, 2001/Kislev 1, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 10
Let's protect our legacy
FLO ECKSTEIN
Publisher
I'm something of an oddity, residing as I do in a place whose populace comes mostly from somewhere else - Chicago, Cleveland, Teaneck, N.J., Pittsburgh, Detroit, Los Angeles. I'm a Phoenix native, born at the old St. Joseph's Hospital, where the Arizona Center now stands.
When my family's synagogue, Beth El Congregation, lacked classrooms in its tiny Fourth and Fillmore streets location, I attended Sunday school at Temple Beth Israel at 122 E. Culver St. in downtown Phoenix, walking distance from the duplex my family shared with our maternal grandparents.
The temple building was home to the Valley's first congregation from 1920 to 1949. My parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles appear in 1940s-era photos of United Jewish Appeal fund-raisers and community seders held in the temple's multipurpose sanctuary/assembly hall. Almost all Phoenix Jews turned out for such occasions.
In the late '40s, Beth El moved to Third Avenue and McDowell Road, and in the mid-'60s to a modern campus at 11th and Glendale avenues. Its Fillmore Street site was torn down decades ago; its second home is a pawnshop.
In 1949, Beth Israel moved to handsome new digs at 11th Avenue and Osborn Road. When the temple moved to Shea Boulevard and 56th Street several years ago, it sold the property to Phoenix College, which has transformed it into classrooms and offices.
As other houses of worship morphed into temporal use, the Culver Street property stood firmly connected to the spiritual, first as a Chinese Baptist church and more recently sheltering a Mexican Baptist congregation. Over time, the aging downtown neighborhood has been notably improved by the construction of Margaret Hance Park and the Burton Barr Public Library, and by the blossoming Phoenix historic arts district.
This tale down memory lane is prelude to an important message to the Valley Jewish community, newcomers and long-timers alike: We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save a sacred space - the only historic Jewish community site in the Valley, with the exception of Beth Israel's and Beth El's cemeteries. Present owners of the Culver Street property want to sell. If we act now, we can protect, preserve and restore it as a museum for the artifacts, photographs and documents that illuminate Valley Jews' first 120 years, and as a community gathering place.
The Arizona Jewish Historical Society, in spearheading a "Save Our Synagogue" effort, is seeking $1 million to buy and carry out initial preservation efforts. Planners say $4 million would restore it fully.
When it recently renovated its circa 1910 Stone Street Temple, Tucson joined Jewish communities across the nation, including Leadville, Colo., in preserving American Jewish history. Can we do less?
We have shown our capacity and generosity in contributing $25 million for the Jewish Community Campus in Scottsdale. As we construct that significant place for our Jewish community's future, let's not abandon our heritage.
Attend the SOS rally 2-4:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, at the old temple, 122 E. Culver St. in Phoenix. Decide for yourself if it's a site worth saving.
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