Congregation Mishkan Israel

{{short description|Reform synagogue in Hamden, Connecticut, US}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Congregation Mishkan Israel | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Mishkan Israel.jpg | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = Congregation Mishkan Israel | religious_affiliation = [[Reform Judaism]] | tradition = | sect = | district = | prefecture = | province = | region = | deity = | rite = | festival =  | organisational_status = [[Synagogue]] | ownership = | governing_body = | leadership = {{ubl|Rabbi Daniel Schaefer|{{nowrap|Cantor Sierra Fox}}|Rabbi Herbert N. Brockman}} {{small|(Emeritus)}} | bhattaraka = | patron = | consecration_year = | functional_status = Active | religious_features_label = Notable artworks | religious_features = {{ubl|[[Jean-Jacques Duval]] stained-glass;|[[Ben Shahn]] [[Torah ark|ark]] {{small|(1960)}}}} | location = 785 Ridge Road, [[Hamden, Connecticut|Hamden]], [[Connecticut]] 06517 | locale = | municipality = | cercle = | state = | country = United States | map_type = Connecticut | map_size = 250 | map_alt = | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in [[Connecticut]] | grid_name = | grid_position = | sector = | territory = | administration = | coordinates = {{coord|41.3563|-72.9012|region:US-CT_type:landmark|format=dms|display=it}} | coordinates_footnotes = | heritage_designation = | architect = 1897: {{bulleted list|[[Arnold W. Brunner]]|[[Thomas Tryon (architect)|Thomas Tryon]]}} 1960: {{bulleted list|Fritz Nathan}} | architecture_type = Synagogue | architecture_style = {{ubl|[[Moorish Revival architecture|Moorish Revival]] {{small|(1897)}}|[[Modernist architecture|Modernist]] {{small|(1960)}}}} | founded_by = | creator = | funded_by = | general_contractor = Mariani Construction Co. {{small|(1960)}} | established = 1840 {{small|(as a congregation)}} | groundbreaking = | year_completed = {{ubl|1856 {{small|(Court Street)}}|1897 {{small|(Audubon Street)}}|1960 {{small|(Ridge Road)}}}} | construction_cost = | date_demolished =  | facade_direction = | capacity = | length = {{convert|330|ft|m}} {{small|(1960)}} | width = {{convert|180|ft|m}} {{small|(1960)}} | width_nave = | interior_area = | height_max = | dome_quantity = Two {{small|(1897)}} | dome_height_outer = | dome_height_inner = | dome_dia_outer = | dome_dia_inner = | minaret_quantity = | minaret_height = | spire_quantity = | spire_height = | site_area = {{convert|9.4|acre|ha}} {{small|(1960)}} | temple_quantity = | monument_quantity = | shrine_quantity = | inscriptions = | materials = {{ubl|Red brick {{small|(1897)}}|{{nowrap|Limestone, brick, glass {{small|(1960)}}}}}} | elevation_m =  | elevation_footnotes = | nrhp = | designated = | added = | refnum = | delisted1_date = | website = {{URL|cmihamden.org}} | module = {{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes | name = Temple Mishkan Israel (1897) | nrhp_type = | nrhp_type2 = cp | partof = [[Orange Street Historic District]] | partof_refnum = 85002314 | designated_nrhp_type2 = September 12, 1985 | image = Mishkan Israel3.jpg | image_size = 250 | alt = | caption = Former 1897 synagogue, now arts high school | coordinates = {{Coord|41.3109|-72.9202|region:US-CT_type:landmark|display=inline|format=dms}} | location = 55 Audubon Street,<br/>[[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]], CT | added = | designated_nrhp_type = | refnum = | website =  | mpsub = | nocat = yes }} {{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes | name = Temple Mishkan Israel (1960) | nrhp_type = | location = 785 Ridge Road, Hamden | added = May 20, 2021 | designated_nrhp_type = | refnum = 100006598 | website =  | mpsub = }} | footnotes = <ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref><ref name="NRHP 1897">{{cite web |author= |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/a458e1bb-31de-4413-836e-88941999b747/ |title=Nomination Form: Orange Street Historic District |work=[[National Register of Historic Places]] |publisher=National Park Service |date=September 12, 1985 |access-date=January 15, 2024 }}</ref><ref name="NRHP 1960">{{cite web |author1=Correia, Elizabeth |author2=Glaser, Leah S. |author3=[[Central Connecticut State University]] |url=https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DECD/Historic-Preservation/06_About_SHPO/State-Review-Board/2021_Meetings/March-26_2021/Congregation-Mishkan-Israel-NR.pdf |title=Registration Form: Congregation Mishkan Israel |work=[[National Register of Historic Places]] |publisher=National Park Service |date=May 20, 2021 |access-date=January 15, 2024 }}</ref> }} '''Congregation Mishkan Israel''' is a [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] [[Jewish]] congregation and [[synagogue]], located at 785 Ridge Road, in [[Hamden, Connecticut|Hamden]], [[Connecticut]], in the United States. Founded in 1840, it is the [[Oldest synagogues in the United States|oldest Jewish congregation]] in both Connecticut and [[New England]], and the 14th oldest continuous operating synagogue in the United States.

== History == The congregation was founded by 15 to 20 New Haven Jewish families, mostly from [[Bavaria]], in 1840, when Jews were not allowed to form their own religious societies. These families took turns hosting services and event at their homes until the Connecticut Legislature, in 1843, enabled Jews to officially establish synagogues by allowing non-[[Christianity|Christian]] organizations to incorporate in the state.

Mishkan Israel's first gatherings were held in a room above the Heller-Mendelbaum store at the corner of Grand and State Street in [[New Haven, Connecticut]]; reported in the local newspaper at the time:<ref name=Rae>{{cite book |author-link=Douglas W. Rae |author=Rae, Douglas W. |title=City: Urbanism and its End |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=2003 |page=151 |isbn= }}</ref> {{blockquote|Whilst we have been busy converting the Jews in other lands, they have outflanked us here, and effected a footing in the very centre of our own fortress.|''[[New Haven Register]]'', May 26, 1843.}}

The congregation aligned with the Reform movement in 1856; and in the same year purchased the former Third Congregation Church, a [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival]] [[church (building)|church]] building on Court Street between State and Orange Street.

Its second synagogue building, built in 1897, was located, also in New Haven, at 55 Audubon Street, on the corner of Orange Street. Designed by [[Arnold W. Brunner]] and [[Thomas Tryon (architect)|Thomas Tryon]] in the [[Moorish Revival architecture|Moorish Revival]] style, the former synagogue building is a [[contributing property]] in the [[Orange Street Historic District]], listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on September 12, 1985. The building is notable for its twin [[façade]] domed-towers, ornately carved [[brownstone]] windows, and door trimmings.<ref name="NRHP 1897"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://nhpt.org/index.php/site/district/orange_street_historic_district/ |title=New Haven Preservation District, Orange Street Historic District |access-date=2009-12-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100309211217/http://nhpt.org/index.php/site/district/orange_street_historic_district/ |archive-date=2010-03-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The building is now used as a performing arts space for [[ACES Educational Center for the Arts]], a performing arts high school.<ref name=Olitzky>{{cite book |author1-link=Kerry Olitzky |author1=Olitzky, Kerry M. |author2=Raphael, Marc Lee |title=The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group|Greenwood Press]] |date=June 30, 1996 |pages=76–80 |isbn= }}</ref>

In 1960, the congregation moved to its current and third site, on Ridge Road in Hamden.<ref>{{citation |work=Ethnic Heritage Center |title=Walk New Haven Cultural Heritage Tours: Downtown & Downtown North |date=2016 |publisher=Walk New Haven |location=New Haven, CT. |isbn=978-0-9979091-1-1 |page=39}}</ref> The building was designed by German architect, Fritz Nathan in the [[Modernist architecture|Modernist]] style, and features stained-glass windows by [[Jean-Jacques Duval]]. This building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 20, 2021.<ref name="NRHP 1960"/>

== Social activism == Mishkan Israel became a bastion of liberal religious thought and social activism in the 1950s and 1960s. Then Rabbi Robert E. Goldburg was an outspoken advocate for civil rights, and was arrested in a freedom march along with [[Martin Luther King Jr.|Martin Luther King]] and other clergy in 1964. Earlier, Dr. King had delivered a sermon at Mishkan Israel in 1961, helping to dedicate the new facility, which had relocated to Hamden. It is said to have been Dr. King's only preaching from a pulpit in the greater New Haven area.

Rabbi Goldburg stirred congregants’ passions with his strong and eloquent political voice raised frequently in support of racial justice and opposition to the [[Vietnam War]]. Dr. [[Daniel Ellsberg]], [[Alger Hiss]], [[Stokely Carmichael]], and [[William Sloan Coffin]] were guest speakers at the behest of Rabbi Goldburg. Goldburg officiated at [[Marilyn Monroe]]'s conversion to Judaism and at her Jewish wedding ceremony with [[Arthur Miller]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Singer, Saul Jay |url=https://www.jewishpress.com/sections/features/features-on-jewish-world/the-judaism-of-arthur-miller-and-marilyn-monroe/2018/01/03/ |title=The 'Judaism' Of Arthur Miller And Marilyn Monroe |work=The Jewish Press |date=January 3, 2018 |access-date=January 15, 2024 }}</ref>

== Current leadership == Rabbi Daniel Schaefer, who grew up in the Mishkan Israel congregation and was ordained in 2018 by Hebrew College, has served as the rabbi since the summer of 2024. Before that, he was assistant rabbi at Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, Massachusetts and the Interim Director for Jewish Life at Georgetown University. Rabbi Brian P. Immerman served as Mishkan Israel rabbi from 2018 to 2024. He succeeded Rabbi Herbert N. Brockman, now the emeritus, who had been the spiritual leader at Mishkan Israel for over 30 years. Rabbi Brockman taught and engages in community projects, and has been at the forefront of interfaith understanding and justice, not only in New Haven, but also nationally and internationally. The current cantor is Cantor Sierra Fox, who was ordained and received her Master of Sacred Music from Hebrew Union College. She succeeded Arthur Giglio, now emeritus, who held the position for 17 years.

The annual Martin Luther King Interfaith Service was inaugurated in 2010 by Rabbi Brockman as a tribute to Rabbi Goldburg and Martin Luther King's historic connection to Mishkan Israel.

The late peace activist [[Bruce M. Cohen]] served as rabbi of Mishkan Israel prior to founding [[Interns for Peace]].<ref name=NYTObit>{{cite news |author=Hevesi, Dennis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/world/middleeast/09cohen.html |title=Rabbi Bruce M. Cohen, Is Dead at 65; Worked to Promote Peace |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 8, 2010 |access-date=August 9, 2010 |url-access=registration }}</ref>

==Cemetery== The Mishkan Israel cemetery was created in 1843.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cmi.urj.net/ |title=Congregation Mishkan Israel: Home Page |accessdate=2008-08-08 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630094153/http://cmi.urj.net/ |archivedate=2008-06-30 }}</ref>

== See also == {{stack|{{portal|Judaism|Connecticut}}}} * [[Oldest synagogues in the United States]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{Official website|http://www.cmihamden.org/}} * {{Official website|https://www.aces.org/schools-programs/magnet-schools/educational-center-for-the-arts|ACES Education Center for the Arts official website}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mishkan Israel}} [[Category:1840 establishments in Connecticut]] [[Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Hamden, Connecticut]] [[Category:German-American culture in Connecticut]] [[Category:German-Jewish culture in the United States]] [[Category:Historic district contributing properties in New Haven County, Connecticut]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1840]] [[Category:Modernist architecture in Connecticut]] [[Category:Modernist synagogues]] [[Category:Moorish Revival architecture in Connecticut]] [[Category:Moorish Revival synagogues]] [[Category:National Register of Historic Places in New Haven County, Connecticut]] [[Category:Reform synagogues in Connecticut]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1897]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1960]] [[Category:Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut]]