{{Short description|Synagogue in North America}} {{for|similarly named synagogues|Beth Israel (disambiguation){{!}}Beth Israel}} {{Infobox religious building | building_name = Beth Israel | image = | image_size = | caption = | map_type = Pennsylvania | map_size = 250 | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in [[Pennsylvania]] | location = 385 Pottstown Pike, ([[Pennsylvania Route 100|Route 100]]), [[Upper Uwchlan Township, Pennsylvania|Upper Uwchlan Township, Chester County]], [[Pennsylvania]] | geo = {{coord|40.083551|-75.690474|region:US-PA_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | religious_affiliation = [[Conservative Judaism]] | rite = | region = | province = | territory = | prefecture = | sector = | district = | cercle = | municipality = | state = | country = United States | administration = [[United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism]] | consecration_year = | status = [[Synagogue]] | functional_status = Active | heritage_designation = | leadership = Rabbi Jon Cutler | website = {{url|bethisraelpa.org}} | architecture = yes | architect = Callori Architects | architecture_type = Synagogue | architecture_style = | general_contractor = | facade_direction = | established = 1904 {{small|([[Coatesville, Pennsylvania|Coatesville]] congregation)}} | groundbreaking = 1994 | year_completed = {{ubl|1924 {{small|(in [[Coatesville, Pennsylvania|Coatesville]])}}|1995 {{small|(in [[Upper Uwchlan Township, Pennsylvania|Upper Uwchlan]])}}}} | construction_cost = | specifications = | capacity = | length = | width = | width_nave = | height_max = | dome_quantity = | dome_height_outer = | dome_height_inner = | dome_dia_outer = | dome_dia_inner = | minaret_quantity = | minaret_height = | spire_quantity = | spire_height = | materials = | nrhp = | added = | refnum = | designated = | footnotes = <ref name=Homepage/><ref name=Welcome/><ref name=Callori/> }} '''Beth Israel Congregation''' is a [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] [[synagogue]] located at 385 Pottstown Pike ([[Pennsylvania Route 100|Route 100]]) in [[Upper Uwchlan Township, Pennsylvania|Upper Uwchlan Township, Chester County]], [[Pennsylvania]], in the United States.<ref name=Homepage/> The congregation was founded in [[Coatesville, Pennsylvania|Coatesville]] in 1904 as '''Kesher Israel''' by [[Eastern Europe]]an immigrants, and formally chartered as "Beth Israel" in 1916.<ref name=Chartered/> It constructed its first building in 1923, and expanded it after [[World War II]].<ref name=Welcome/>
[[Linda Joy Holtzman]] was appointed rabbi in 1979, the first female rabbi appointed to lead a Conservative congregation in the United States.<ref name=Goldstein2009p337/><ref name=Gallob1979/> Holtzman served until 1985,<ref name=Schwartzman2007/> and was succeeded by Michael Charney.<ref name=Weisberger2019/> The congregation purchased its current property in 1989, and completed its facility there in 1995.<ref name=Welcome/> Charney was succeeded in 2015 by Jon Cutler.<ref name=Leadership/>
==Early history== Beth Israel was founded in 1904 as '''Kesher Israel''' by Jewish immigrants to Coatesville, Pennsylvania from Eastern Europe. It established a Sunday school and purchased a cemetery in 1907, and was formally chartered as "Beth Israel" by the Chester County Court of Common Pleas in 1916.<ref name=Chartered/>
The congregation purchased land on Fifth Avenue and Harmony Street in Coatesville in 1923, and constructed a new synagogue building there,<ref name=Welcome/> completed in 1924.<ref name=Rosen1983p363/> After World War II, an extension to the building added a chapel/library and classrooms, and expanded the kitchen and social hall.<ref name=Welcome/>
Elihu Schagrin was [[rabbi]] from 1945 to 1953. Born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1918, he was [[Semikhah|ordained]] at the [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] [[Jewish Institute of Religion]] in 1946. During his tenure at Beth Israel he also served as chaplain of Coatesville's [[Veterans Health Administration|Veterans Hospital]], and, from 1949 on, was president of the Greater Coatesville Inter-Racial Committee. In 1953 he moved to Temple Concord of Binghamton, New York.<ref name=SchneidermanCarmin1955p841/><ref name=WhosWho1992/>
==Linda Holtzman== In 1979, the congregation (which now numbered 110 families) hired [[Linda Joy Holtzman]] as rabbi.<ref name="Kaplan2009pp237-238"/><ref name=Briggs1979pA20/><ref name=MontrealGazette1979p42/> She had been ordained that year by the [[Reconstructionist Rabbinical College]], and was one of thirty applicants.<ref name="Kaplan2009pp237-238"/><ref name=Weiser1981p392/> She became the second woman in the United States to serve as the presiding or senior rabbi of a synagogue, following [[Michal Mendelsohn|Michal Bernstein]].<ref name=Gallob1979/> She was the first woman to serve as a rabbi for a Conservative congregation, as the Conservative movement did not then ordain women.<ref name=Goldstein2009p337/> The [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] and [[Reconstructionist Judaism|Reconstructionist]] movements had previously ordained at least ten women rabbis, but (aside from Bernstein) they all served as assistant rabbis, hospital chaplains, or directors of university campus [[Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life|Hillel]] organizations.<ref name="Kaplan2009pp237-238"/><ref name=Briggs1979pA20/> ''[[The New York Times]]'' described her hiring as "a marked breakthrough for the growing numbers of women who have faced obstacles in becoming a rabbi-in-charge", and quoted Holtzman as saying "the fact that I have an appointment in a small town and that they have entrusted me with functions they believe are important is very significant for women and for the Jewish community".<ref name=Briggs1979pA20/> At the time, there were only 22 female rabbis in the entire world.<ref name=MontrealGazette1979p42/>
Beth Israel hired the Reconstructionist-ordained Holtzman despite the fact that it was a Conservative synagogue.<ref name=Goldstein2009p337/> The executive vice president of the Conservative [[Rabbinical Assembly]], Rabbi [[Wolfe Kelman]], described the appointment as "an historical breakthrough and simply fantastic", and felt that other synagogues would be encouraged to follow suit. At the time, the Rabbinical Assembly did not accept women as members, and the Conservative movement did not ordain its first woman rabbi—[[Amy Eilberg]]—until 1985.<ref name="Kaplan2009pp237-238"/> The hiring of a non-Conservative rabbi in itself was not unusual, however; due in part to a shortage of Conservative rabbis, a fifth of all Conservative synagogues in the U.S. had non-Conservative rabbis in place.<ref name=Briggs1979pA20/> While Holtzman believed in the tenets of the Reconstructionist movement, she said that members of the congregation could choose to follow either traditional or nontraditional ideas.<ref name=Briggs1979pA20/>
Beth Israel's membership was 125 families by 1983, and the synagogue building also housed [[B'nai B'rith]] and [[Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America|Hadassah]] chapters.<ref name=Rosen1983p363/> Holtzman served at Beth Israel until 1985, when her contract was up for renegotiation.<ref name="Holtzman2001pp39-49"/> She had been living in Philadelphia and commuting to Coatesville for several years; although she and her lesbian partner had had an open commitment ceremony in Philadelphia, she had not yet come out to her congregation (but despite living something of a double life, she had enjoyed her time with the synagogue and found it very rewarding).<ref name="Holtzman2001pp39-49"/> Now she informed Beth Israel's board of directors that she and her partner were planning to have children and that she wanted co-parenting leave, and by her subsequent account, each board member privately indicated they were okay with this but that the other board members were not ready for such a development.<ref name="Holtzman2001pp39-49"/> She left the synagogue and later that year became spiritual leader of Beth Ahavah, an [[LGBT]] congregation in [[Center City, Philadelphia]].<ref name=Schwartzman2007/><ref name=Hasbany1989p93/>
==Events since 1985== Holtzman was succeeded as rabbi in 1985 by Michael Charney. The son and grandson of rabbis, he was ordained at the Reform [[Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion]] in Cincinnati, and served congregations in Clearwater, Florida and Bowie, Maryland before coming to Beth Israel. While serving at Beth Israel, he also work as a chaplain at [[Norristown State Hospital]], and taught [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] at [[Arcadia University]]. Charney retired in 2015, though continued to instruct [[Bar and bat mitzvah]] candidates, and died in 2019.<ref name=Weisberger2019/>
The congregation purchased its current property at 385 Pottstown Pike ([[Pennsylvania Route 100|Route 100]]) in [[Upper Uwchlan Township, Pennsylvania|Upper Uwchlan Township]] in 1989. Construction on a new synagogue building there began in 1994 and completed in 1995. Designed by Callori Architects, the {{convert|30000|sqft|adj=on}} facility<ref name=Callori/> houses a sanctuary, chapel/library, and school wing. Behind the school wing is a [[the Holocaust|Holocaust]] memorial garden.<ref name=Welcome/>
Jon Cutler became the rabbi of Beth Israel in 2015. A native of Philadelphia, he graduated from [[Temple University]] in with a Masters of Arts in Religious Studies, and was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He then earned his Doctor of Ministry (Counseling) from [[Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion]]. He previously served in congregations in [[Flemington, New Jersey]] and [[Warrington Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania|Warrington, Pennsylvania]].<ref name=Leadership/> Cutler also had a long career as a chaplain for the U.S. [[United States Navy|Navy]] and [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]], retiring as a [[United States Navy Reserve|Naval Reserve]] captain on April 30, 2017, 32 years to the day after his original [[Commission (document)|commission]].<ref name=Tenorio2017/>
A member of the [[United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism]],<ref name=Homepage/> it holds services Friday evenings, ''[[Shabbat]]'' mornings, and on [[Jewish holidays]].<ref name=Welcome/>
== See also == * [[History of the Jews in Pennsylvania]]
== Notes == {{reflist|colwidth=35em|refs= <ref name=Briggs1979pA20>[[#refBriggs1979|Briggs (1979)]], p. A20.</ref> <ref name=Callori>[[#refCallori|Beth Israel Congregation, Callori Architects website]].</ref> <ref name=Chartered>[[#reWelcome|Welcome, Beth Israel website]]. [[#refRosen1983|Rosen (1983)]], p. 363 states Beth Israel was established in 1916.</ref> <ref name=Goldstein2009p337>[[#refGoldstein2009|Goldstein (2009)]], p. 337.</ref> <ref name=Hasbany1989p93>[[#refHasbany1989|Hasbany (1989)]], p. 93.</ref> <ref name="Holtzman2001pp39-49">[[#refHoltzman2001|Holtzman (2001)]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=mgS8DoaS684C&pg=PA39 pp. 39–49].</ref> <ref name=Homepage>[[#refHomepage|Beth Israel website]].</ref> <ref name=Gallob1979>[[#refGallob1979|Gallob (August 22, 1979)]].</ref> <ref name="Kaplan2009pp237-238">[[#refKaplan2009|Kaplan (2009)]], pp. 237–238.</ref> <ref name=Leadership>[[#refLeadership|Leadership, Beth Israel website]].</ref> <ref name=MontrealGazette1979p42>[[#refMontrealGazette1979|''Montreal Gazette'' (August 25, 1979)]], p. 42.</ref> <ref name=Rosen1983p363>[[#refRosen1983|Rosen (1983)]], p. 363.</ref> <ref name=SchneidermanCarmin1955p841>[[#refSchneidermanCarmin1955|Schneiderman & Carmin (1955)]], p. 841.</ref> <ref name=Schwartzman2007>[[#refSchwartzman2007|Schwartzman (2007)]].</ref> <ref name=Tenorio2017>[[#refTenorio2017|Tenorio (2017)]].</ref> <ref name=Weisberger2019>[[#refWeisberger2019|Weisberger (January 3, 2019)]].</ref> <ref name=Weiser1981p392>[[#refWeiser1981|Weiser (1981)]], p. 392.</ref> <ref name=Welcome>[[#refWelcome|Welcome, Beth Israel website]].</ref> <ref name=WhosWho1992>[[#refWhosWho1992|Who's Who in Religion, 1992–1993]]</ref> }}
==References== {{refbegin|colwidth=50em}} *{{wikicite |ref=refHomepage |reference=[http://www.bethisraelpa.org/ Beth Israel Congregation website]. Accessed November 23, 2010.}} **{{wikicite |ref=refLeadership |reference=[http://www.bethisraelpa.org/leadership Leadership], Beth Israel Congregation website. Accessed January 9, 2019.}} **{{wikicite |ref=refWelcome |reference=[http://www.bethisraelpa.org/welcome Welcome], Beth Israel Congregation website. Accessed January 9, 2019.}} *{{wikicite |ref=refBriggs1979 |reference=Briggs, Kenneth A. [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1979/08/16/112050701.pdf "Only Female Presiding Rabbi in U.S. Begins Her Work in a Small Town"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 16, 1979.}} *{{wikicite |ref=refCallori |reference=[http://www.calloriarchitectsleonia.com/portfolio/religious/religious3.htm Beth Israel Congregation], Callori Architects website. Accessed November 23, 2010.}} *{{wikicite |ref=refGoldstein2009 |reference=Goldstein, Elyse. ''New Jewish feminism: Probing the Past, Forging the Future'', Jewish Lights Publishing, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-58023-359-0}}}} *{{wikicite |ref=refHasbany1989 |reference=Hasbany, Richard. ''Homosexuality and Religion'', [[Routledge]], 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-86656-909-5}}}} *{{wikicite |ref=refHoltzman2001 |reference=Holtzman, Linda, "My Life as a Lesbian Rabbi", in Trachtenberg Alpert, Rebecca; Elwell, Ellen Sue Levi; Idelson, Shirley (eds.). ''Lesbian Rabbis: The First Generation''. [[Rutgers University Press]], 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-8135-2916-5}}}} *{{wikicite |ref=refGallob1979 |reference=Gallob, Ben. [https://www.jta.org/1979/08/23/archive/22-women-now-ordained-as-rabbis-most-of-them-do-not-have-pulpits "22 Women Now Ordained As Rabbis Most of Them Do Not Have Pulpits"], ''[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]'', August 22, 1979.}} *{{wikicite |ref=refKaplan2009 |reference=Kaplan, Dana Evan. ''Contemporary American Judaism: Transformation and Renewal'', [[Columbia University Press]], 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-231-13728-7}}}} *{{wikicite |ref=refMontrealGazette1979 |reference="Woman to head synagogue is first for U.S. congregation", ''[[The Gazette (Montreal)|The Montreal Gazette]]'' (''[[Associated Press]]''), August 25, 1979.}} *{{wikicite |ref=refRosen1983 |reference=Rosen, Oded. ''The Encyclopedia of Jewish Institutions: United States & Canada'', Mosadot Publications, 1983.}} *{{wikicite |ref=refSchneidermanCarmin1955 |reference=Schneiderman, Harry; Carmin, Itzhak J. ''Who's Who in World Jewry'', Pitman Publishing Corporation, 1955.}} *{{wikicite |ref=refSchwartzman2007 |reference=Schwartzman, Bryan. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080828141527/http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/14046/ "She Loves What They Argue About at Mishkan"], ''[[The Jewish Exponent]]'', September 13, 2007.}} *{{wikicite |ref=refTenorio2017 |reference=Tenorio, Rich. [https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-a-high-ranking-gay-navy-chaplain-retired-with-pride/ "How a high-ranking gay Navy chaplain retired with pride"], ''[[The Times of Israel]]'', September 19, 2017.}} *{{wikicite |ref=refWeisberger2019 |reference= Weisberger, Jed. [http://jewishexponent.com/2019/01/03/longtime-chester-county-rabbi-dies/ "Longtime Chester County Rabbi Dies"]. ''[[The Jewish Exponent]]'', January 3, 2019.}} *{{wikicite |ref=refWeiser1981 |reference=Weiser, Marjorie P. K.; Arbeiter, Jean S. ''Womanlist'', Atheneum, 1981, {{ISBN|978-0-689-11083-2}}}} *{{wikicite |ref=refWhosWho1992 |reference="Schagrin, Elihu", ''Who's Who in Religion, 1992–1993'', [[Marquis Who's Who]], 1992. {{ISBN|978-0-8379-1604-0}}}} {{refend}}
==External links== * {{official website|http://www.bethisraelpa.org/}}
{{Synagogues in the United States}}
[[Category:Cemeteries in Chester County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Conservative synagogues in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Religious buildings and structures in Chester County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Jewish cemeteries in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1904]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1924]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1995]] [[Category:1904 establishments in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:Synagogues in Pennsylvania]]