A History of Temple B'nai Abraham and the Jewish Community of Beverly Massachusetts

In the summer of 1897, Nicholas and Bessie Zelinsky made their way from Boston to the wood frame house at 71 Park Street in Beverly. There they would start their small business and unwittingly plant the seeds for a synagogue community that today numbers over 200 families.

Soon the Zelinsky's were joined by Barnet and Annie Albert who, like themselves, had come from Russia. Almost before Annie Albert had time to settle into her new home, a son, Samuel, was born; the first Jewish child born in Beverly, January 24, 1899. Abraham and Annie Lederman arrived next with their family. By 1905, fifteen Jewish families had settled in Beverly. The city had taken on a new look as the recently completed United Shoe Machinery factory beckoned to workers of all nationalities. Beverly, once a small seacoast farming town, had grown into a thriving industrial city. And as the city grew, the seeds of the Jewish Community took root and flourished. As the number of Jewish families increased, it soon became apparent that there was a need for a synagogue and Hebrew School in the city. As 1907 drew to a close the Beverly Lodge, Independent Order of B'rith Abraham was formed, and from it the congregation, known as the Sons of Abraham, was organized.

Then, on the night of March 2, 1908, in the small rented room at the rear of the Wood Building on the corner of Rantoul and Pleasant Streets, the newly formed congregation met for the first time to elect the officers who would lead their new community. Joseph Simon was elected president that night, and Jacob Baltimore, treasurer, while Abraham Yaffa became secretary. At that time Gabriel Zax was chosen to be the shochet, spiritual leader and teacher. The following year, Abraham Lederman was named president and Louis Ehrlich became the spiritual leader and teacher.

As the nation and the city prospered in those pre-World War days so did the Jewish Community prosper and grow. By 1911, the desire for a more permanent house of worship took hold and property on Bow Street was secured, and plans drawn for the erection of the first synagogue in Beverly.

On March 8, 1914, the newly completed synagogue on Bow Street was formally dedicated with ceremonies that brought feelings of pride to the whole community. As more than 500 people, including the Mayor of

Beverly, filled the street, the front doors were unlocked and the sacred Torahs carried inside, accompanied by music and singing that told of the joy of the whole congregation.

The Congregation Sons of Abraham and Isaac was now part of the community, its roots set firmly in the city that was home to more than 50 Jewish families. Organizational life, which had begun years earlier with the formation of the B'rith Abraham Lodge now expanded to the point where there was a constant flurry of activity at the new shul. There was the Independent Order of United Hebrews and the YMHA, both of which had been formed in 1910 along with the Ladies Aid Organization. The Jewish Community of Beverly had come of age, and in the process became one of the most active communities in New England.

In August, 1930, the Community Center Building, a two-story addition to the synagogue, was erected, and with its completion, the social and cultural activities of the community gained new life. Throughout the '30's, the Community Center became the Center of Jewish Life in Beverly, as it became home to several new groups that were organized to serve the community's needs. As soon as the Center was built, a Sisterhood was formed and soon the Hebrew Civic League, B'nai B'rith and AZA joined the list of clubs that called the Center home.

In 1937, as the community was experiencing the pressures and pains of organizational growth, a new rabbi came to Beverly to take over the duties of spiritual leader. Rabbi Meyer Finkelstein, the first ordained rabbi to serve the congregation, would stay at the Bow Street synagogue for the next eight years, and during that time, see the congregation through the most trying period in its history.

As the dark shadow of the Depression slowly lifted from the face of America, the '30's gave way to the '40's, and with them came war. From the beginning, the Jews of Beverly answered the call of their country. And like their neighbors throughout the city, they hung small flags with blue stars in their living room windows to show that a son or a daughter was in the service. Of the 525 Jews in the city of Beverly in 1943, 66 were serving in the Armed Forces. In 1946, Post #486, Jewish War Veterans was organized, and named in honor and memory of two of its gallant sons, Isadore Goldberg and Harry Zassman, who gave their lives in defense of their country.

On the night of June 13, 1943 the congregation and the community witnessed a milestone in the history of the congregation, the "Burning of the Mortgage" on the Bow Street property. It was according to B. Frederick Yoffa, then president," a dream become a reality...special recognition of a major event." Sadly, the joy of that evening was not to last.

Less than two years later, the building at 37 Bow Street would become a pile of scorched timbers, ravaged by a fire that struck on a cold winter's night. The synagogue was destroyed. The congregation, however, survived, and on September 7, 1947, a bigger and better Community Center was dedicated, a tribute to the untiring efforts of the entire community.

Another lengthy effort was unfolding during the period between 1940 and 1947, the establishment of a Jewish cemetery. In 1940 a chevra kadisha from the congregation purchased nine acres of land on Cole Street for this purpose. It wasn't until the last injunction was defeated in the Massachusetts Supreme Court that this dream was realized in 1947. As the High Holiday standing room only crowds would attest, the post-war '50's suburban boom quickly outgrew the location that had served the Jewish Community of Beverly for more than four decades.

The land on East Lothrop Street, the current site of our synagogue, was acquired in 1960 and groundbreaking ceremonies took place on May 7, 1961. After a number of construction delays, the completed building was dedicated on September 14, 1962 and named Temple B'nai Abraham. In the words of Jacob Wiseman, president until 1961, it was, "...a task requiring great faith and determination, for rarely in a lifetime does one have the opportunity to participate in the building of a new sanctuary dedicated to the worship of God."

The intervening years saw a multitude of dedicated families and individuals working on many worthy projects; supporting the state of Israel through bond drives; providing for the rescue of Soviet and Ethiopian Jewry, and of course providing for its own community. On October 22, 1978, just such a committed group of workers enabled the Temple to burn its mortgage again; and in April of 1984, the congregation celebrated its Jubilee (75th) Anniversary.

Several years ago the congregation located the cornerstone of the old Bow Street synagogue and rededicated it on the East Lothrop Street grounds. This dedication comes not in the form of carving out a community as our predecessors did, but in maintaining our synagogue heritage and building on it by revering and practicing the traditions of our faith, and providing a warm and welcome place where the Jews of the North Shore feel at home. The history of the Greater

Beverly Jewish Community is one of perseverance, dedication and tireless effort. May it serve as an inspiration to all who dedicate themselves to this congregation.