Heritage center secured

Purchase of Phoenix's first synagogue complete

LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor

The Arizona Jewish Historical Society has finalized the purchase of the site of the Valley's first synagogue.

The complex, which includes the original sanctuary built in 1921, adjoining classrooms built in 1935, four cottages and a social hall, will be known as the Cutler Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center.

Donations from community members made the purchase possible, including an undisclosed gift from the family of the late James and Bettie Cutler, longtime local philanthropists who died in an automobile accident in 1980.

"We're excited that we are able to save this wonderful historical Jewish landmark for the entire community," said Jerry Lewkowitz, AJHS president. "We are indebted to the Cutler family for their generosity."

The building, at 122 E. Culver St. in Phoenix, housed Temple Beth Israel from 1920-1949, a Chinese Baptist church from 1949-1959 and, most recently, a Mexican Baptist church. AJHS purchased the property in June 2002 for $540,000, with a stipulation to pay the balance by Oct. 1, 2003. Nearly $300,000 had been raised by March 2003.

The Cutler family has been part of the Valley's Jewish community for four generations. Harry and Minnie Cutler moved to Scottsdale in the early 1940s, purchased citrus groves in the Arcadia area and ran a fruit stand near Thomas Road and 36th Street. Their daughter-in-law, Bettie Cutler, was on the board of directors of the Hillel Jewish Student Center at Arizona State University and was active in Hadassah. Their son, James Cutler, was a contractor and also actively involved in the Jewish community. Their grandchildren all still live in the Valley, including former AJHS president Larry Cutler, his brothers Howard and Randy, and sister Candee Brierley. There are five great-grandchildren.

The center is named also in honor of Rabbi Albert Plotkin, rabbi emeritus of Temple Beth Israel. Plotkin has "been a part of so many people's lives in the Jewish community for the last 48 years," Larry Cutler said.

Plotkin has known four generations of the Cutler family: he officiated at the funerals of Larry Cutler's parents and grandparents, Larry's bar mitzvah and wedding, and participated in the bris and bar mitzvah of his sons Jacob and Brandon. Jacob Cutler was the first bar mitzvah at the current Temple Beth Israel location on Shea Boulevard and 56th Street in 1997. "We trace our ancestry personally at Temple Beth Israel," Larry Cutler said.

Plotkin said he "felt a very deep connection to the old temple."

He first visited it when he arrived in the Valley in 1955, when the building belonged to the Chinese Baptist Church.

"My hope when I saw it was that someday it would come back to the Jewish community because I thought it as a possibility of having a museum of early Jewish life in Arizona," Plotkin said. "It's a heritage which belongs to the entire Jewish community."

"The Arizona Jewish Historical Society is proud to honor these individuals having their names on this center," said Risa Mallin, AJHS executive director.

The next step is raising funds for renovation.

"Now that phase one is completed for the purchase of the building, we will now embark on phase two: soliciting the community for matching funds for Arizona and City of Phoenix historic preservation grants," Lewkowitz said.

AJHS will start a capital campaign drive for funds to restore the building so that it can be used for lifecycle events and be a vehicle in the cultural diversity of the city, Mallin said.

"If we didn't buy (the building) and didn't buy it in a hurry, it would have been demolished," Cutler said. "We're just so happy that we've been able to save this historic structure."

The AJHS is offering tours of the building before renovation begins. Call 602-241-7870.

Contact the writer at leisah_namm@jewishaz.com.

Details

Future events at the Cutler Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center, 122 E. Culver St., Phoenix. Call AJHS, 602-241-7870.
Sukkot celebration: 2:30-4:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 13
Planning meeting for "Celebrate 350 Years of Jewish History in America": 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 16
Mitzvah Day: 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16

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