“It was 1962 and the world was changing! A forward-thinking group of families with a keen sense of their Jewishness and a pioneer spirit had the desire to practice their religious beliefs and educate their children in a more meaningful manner than was available at other Reform congregations. Their aim was to preserve tradition and address modern American life without compromising either… Their primary interest was to establish a religious school that would teach with a sense of joy and discovery about Judaism.”
The year 2022 marks Temple Emanuel’s 60th anniversary year. As I have been reflecting on what this means, I wanted to know more about Temple Emanuel’s past. My family joined TE in 2000 and we heard many stories about services in “the barn”, an old metal cattle shed with a corrugated steel roof that that served at TE’s first sanctuary. The quote above is from “The History of Temple Emanuel of Greater New Haven, 1962-2012”, compiled by Betty Goldberg (Orange) for our 50th anniversary. You can find this wonderful historical record on the Temple Emanuel website (https://tegnh.org/history/ and scroll down for a link to the booklet).
I did not know that the first members of Temple Emanuel wanted the religious school to be taught with no Hebrew at all. Over time that has changed; you will find Hebrew in our religious school as well as our songs and prayers. But our spirit has not changed substantially from that of our founders. The first members of TE came together to practice Judaism in a meaningful way, one that blended Jewish traditions with modern day life and brought joy to their lives. According to Joan Small z”l, an original member of Temple Emanuel “We were a strong force for ethical activism.” These sentiments mirror my reasons for joining Temple Emanuel and I believe they are true of many of our members as well.
We have much to celebrate as we begin our 60th year. We are lucky to have Rabbi Farbman, who fit right into our warm and musical congregation in 2009 and helped move us forward, strengthening our school, expanding our musical horizons, attracting new members and becoming a leader in the Greater New Haven Jewish community. I am delighted to announce that he will be starting a new 5-year contract in July. I am also excited about our religious school. Olga Markus and our teachers have done an amazing job creating a curriculum that teaches our children in a way that excites them. Our enrollment has grown over the last decade and our school has developed a very special teen program, keeping almost all our teenagers engaged at Temple Emanuel post b’nei mitzvah. Music continues to be a highlight at TE, with services and special events that feature our band, individual members who play for us and Shir Magic concerts (see below for Noah Aronson’s concert on April 2nd).
It is worth reading the history of Temple Emanuel to see the transition we have made, from no physical home at all, to renovating a barn into a sanctuary, to building a wonderful new building and expanding it, so that it now houses our sanctuary, offices, social hall, kiddush lounge, and enough room for our growing religious school. Due to the generosity of a couple of our members, Temple Emanuel owns our building outright. In fact, after many years of board meetings discussing where we would get the income to pay our bills, it is a pleasure to know that TE is currently in good financial shape.
Temple Emanuel is a strong congregation, one of a few in the area that continues to attract new members. It is our membership that makes us who we are: a warm, caring, intellectually vibrant community, ready to change with the times yet preserve our traditions, as we grow into our 60th year. Several events are being planned to help us celebrate this milestone event.
- Shir Magic Concert featuring Noah Aronson and the TE band, Saturday, April 2nd
- TE at 60 Family Celebration, Sunday, May 15th (last day of TE religious school)
- TE 60th Gala Celebration, Saturday night, October 29th
Please stay tuned for more information about these events.