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March 28, 2003/Adar2 24 5763, Vol. 55, No. 31
Preserving the past
LEISAH NAMM
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 Ivy Epstein practices for her March 8 bat mitzvah at a special March 3 service at the Culver Street Synagogue. It was the first Torah reading there in more than 50 years. Rabbi Albert Plotkin, rabbi emeritus of Temple Beth Israel, left, read the first aliyah. Cantor Howard Tabaknek, right, follows along. Photo by Leisah Namm |
Students from the Pardes Jewish Day School Middle School held their morning service in the Culver Street synagogue on March 3; Ivy Epstein read from the Torah in preparation for her March 8 bat mitzvah.
"I'm grateful that it's you, the young people, who will be the future of this community," Rabbi Albert Plotkin, rabbi emeritus of Temple Beth Israel, told the children during the service. He then pointed out the similarity to that week's Torah portion about building a new sanctuary in the desert.
"I think everything kind of came alive for (the children) that morning," says Tobee Waxenberg, director of the PJDS Middle School. "It really helps the kids understand some history."
The building, at 122 E. Culver St. in Phoenix, housed Temple Beth Israel from 1920-1949, before being sold to a Chinese Baptist church and then, in 1983, a Mexican Baptist church. The Arizona Jewish Historical Society purchased the property in June 2002 for $540,000. So far, nearly $300,000 has been raised, says Herman Lewkowitz, AJHS fund-raising chairman. The balance must be raised by Oct. 1 to secure the building. In addition to endowments, the long-term goal is $1.7 million, which will include renovations.
"A lot of people out there think we already own it and all we have to do is renovate it," says Ira Morton, a member of the fund-raising committee and husband of the late Beryl Morton, former AJHS executive director and project founder. "That's not so. We do not own it and will not own it until we complete this purchase price and get the title."
So far, the fund-raising committee has garnered support from the AJHS board and is now soliciting select individuals for major gifts, Lewkowitz says. In addition, the committee is also applying for grants and plans to approach foundations and corporations, as well as individual donors.
"This is an exciting opportunity for the community," Lewkowitz says. "Much as the community built the (Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus) for the future; this is an opportunity to preserve history for the entire community and generations to follow."
The history of the synagogue began in 1920 when the Hebrew Center Association purchased the property for $14,000, says AJHS Executive Director Risa Mallin. The building was dedicated in October 1921.
"For a decade, this building was the Jewish place," Morton says. "Just about every (Jewish) meeting, service, banquet, social and entertainment event were held there."
"Even though (it was) Temple Beth Israel's first synagogue, it really was a synagogue for the entire community," says Lewkowitz.
"It was the only place where Jews gathered," adds Morton.
Lewkowitz, a Phoenix native, says "Phoenix is a big city, but it's still a small town in my mind. I think it's important for the community to, as we move forward, remember where we've come from and teach our children and grandchildren what life was in the '20s and '30s when we had really but one place to worship."
His father, Jerry Lewkowitz, attended religious school and became a bar mitzvah at the Culver Street Synagogue. Now father and son are working together on the fund-raising committee.
The idea of the synagogue linking generations became further apparent during the March 3 service after Mallin recited a speech a visiting rabbi made at the synagogue on Rosh Hashana in 1927.
The rabbi's name was Chaim Scharfman - the grandfather of Bonnie Morris, head of the Pardes school. His great-granddaughter, Erica Morris, was one of the 45 Pardes students sitting in the synagogue. Another student saw her grandfather's name on a plaque on the wall that honored community members who served in the armed forces, Waxenberg noted.
Once the necessary funds are raised, the building will be dedicated as the Jewish Heritage Center, Mallin says. It will house the AJHS, the Culver Street Synagogue and museum space.
"As soon as we raise the money, we're going to get started making this place shine," she says.
College students from Hillel Jewish Student Center at Arizona State University volunteered their time on Feb. 16 and an ASU sorority is coming to work at the synagogue on April 6, Mallin noted. A club from Tempe's Marcos de Niza High School has also volunteered to do some renovation work. "Anybody's talents or participation in any way would be greatly appreciated," she adds.
Morton reads a part of the keynote speech his late wife prepared to deliver at the November 2002 building dedication but was unable to because of illness: "We've been given an amazing opportunity to preserve the past and record the present and future of the Jewish experience in Arizona.
"We need to seize and embrace this opportunity as a remembrance to our pioneering forefathers and as a gift to those that come after."
Call AJHS, 602-241-7870.
Contact the writer at leisah_namm@jewishaz.com.