RECENT HISTORICAL EVENTS Our 50th Anniversary Celebrations Home gatherings to meet Rabbi Klein Barrington Beach Shabbat Service Rabbi Rosenberg's Retirement Gala Celebration Temple Rockin' Celebration for Groundbreaking of new Temple expansion Groundbreaking of new Temple Expansion Bresler's Klezmer Music at Temple Habonim
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In the Beginning
It was not long before a group of members from the Eastward Jewish Center began to feel there was enough interest to start a temple in Barrington. The group drew up by-laws, and the Barrington Jewish Center became a reality in September 1963. Their philosophy was expressed in the preamble to their constitution: "to worship God in accordance with the faith of Judaism; to cultivate an understanding of and love for our Jewish heritage through learning; to participate in all community activities which are essential to the continuance of Jewish life, and to translate the ethical ideals of our faith into actual conduct in our lives." Rabbi Meyer Selekman, a visiting rabbi, conducted the first High Holy Day services in 1963 at the Barrington Congregational Church. Friday night services were held in different homes. Temple membership was 39 families with 36 children in a religious school program. The school was also held at the Congregational Church with Jean Fain, Lois Graboys, and Beverly Malin serving as teachers. In 1963-1964 the dues were $30, the religious school fee was also $30, and the total budget was under $5,000.
Student Rabbi Barry Friedman, who came to Barrington on weekends, was our Spiritual leader in 1965-1966. Our religious school faculty already included Donald Solomon. We joined the Barrington Blood Bank at that time and held the first Holiday Happening in 1966. The entire congregation worked hard for this annual fundraising event. Rabbinic Leadership - A Rescued Torah
In November of 1967 the Sisterhood published the first Butterfingers Cookbook. It was such a success that many printings and a second edition followed. In the winter of 1968 we began a successful program of ecumenical dialogues with the Barrington Presbyterian Church, and in 1969 the Temple held its first bat mitzvah and bar mitzvah service.
A Men's Club was organized in 1972, and in May 1972 we held our first Confirmation service. In 1973 we enrolled 100 children in our religious school. A Woman for President In June of 1974 President George Miller passed the gavel to Rollie Hostein, our first woman president and the very first female temple president in Rhode Island. That summer Rabbi James Rosenberg became our spiritual leader. Rabbi Rosenberg was installed in October 1974 by Rabbi Roland B. Gittlesohn of Temple Israel in Boston under whom Rabbi Rosenberg had served as assistant rabbi. Rabbi Rosenberg's infant daughter was named at the same service.
A New Name, A New Home For several years a group of members had been suggesting that we choose a Hebrew name for our facility. In March of 1975 our name was officially changed to Temple Habonim-Barrington Jewish Center. Habonim means "The Builders," and it seemed to be a most fitting name. Rabbi Rosenberg introduced guitar music to the service and began a series of adult education courses. During these years our High Holy Day services were held in Cedar Hall at the Barrington Baptist Church. In 1975 on Thanksgiving Eve we participated in the first town-wide ecumenical service sponsored by members of the Barrington Clergy Association. By 1976 our school had 120 children enrolled, and our congregation had 110 family members. It was starting to get very crowded in the little white house on County Road. When we learned that the Town of Barrington was going to sell the school administration building on New Meadow Road, there was considerable discussion, and some dissension, about whether the temple should try to buy the Civil War era school at 165 New Meadow Road. With David Presbrey as our talented architect, we renovated the building to meet the needs of the congregation. In June of 1980 the congregation undertook the move from our home on County Road to our new, larger temple on New Meadow Road. Rabbi Rosenberg and Cantor Remmie Brown led the procession with each temple member taking turns holding our sacred Torahs as we marched east on County Road and turned north on New Meadow Road to our new home. At the dedication of our new building, we expressed our deep appreciation to Herb Malin for his vision and tireless efforts to make our dream a reality. For the first time we were able to hold High Holy Day services in our temple. Our religious school would now have room to grow. With the establishment of a preschool class in 1984, our school would provide religious training from ages 4-16. Our Thirtieth Anniversary The 1980s were years of considerable growth in programming. In 1987 the Temple family adopted three Soviet families under the auspices of the Social Action committee. All three of the families received exit visas and emigrated to the United States or Israel. In the Spring of 1991 the Temple held its first adult Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah. Before we knew it we were celebrating the 30th anniversary of Temple Habonim in 1993. Rollie Hostein served as the thirtieth anniversary chairperson. Janet Shansky was the President and Temma Holland was the Vice President, and Joe Shansky treated us all to a wonderful musical history of the temple, Beraysheet. We watched a stellar cast trace our history with singing, dancing, and many, many laughs. In the beginning, Beraysheet. Miracles of miracles. If you happened to miss the original show you can purchase the DVD in the Sisterhood Giftshop. An Amazing Decade: ...1993-2003
Although that wonderful celebration was just a decade ago, we're celebrating again this weekend (Sept. 12-14, 2003). Under the able leadership of the administrations of Bob Kemp, Ron Kurtzman, Harold Foster and Larry Berren we gradually transformed our dream into today's reality. We are dedicating our new sanctuary on Friday, September 12 and we will be holding classes in our newly expanded religious school on Sunday, September 14. Through many meetings, a major fundraising effort led by Alex Burstein and considerable construction upheaval, we were able to create our magnificent space. Our architect, Jay Litman, has created a sanctuary more beautiful than anyone could have imagined. We did it! Our officers, our board members, our entire community have indeed been "The Builders." Temple Habonim. A sanctuary for us, a legacy for our children. Sandra Rosenberg
Temple Habonim |
In September of 1959 several families who were living on the east shore of Narragansett Bay felt the need to provide an educational and social facility for their fellow Jews. Thirty-five families became the Eastward Jewish Center with an annual budget not exceeding two thousand dollars. Meetings were held at the Roger Williams Grange Hall on Pawtucket Avenue in East Providence. According to their by-laws, the main reasons for coming together were to establish a school for their thirty children, to provide social and cultural programs for the adults, and to cooperate in worthy community projects.
In 1964-1965 the President of the Barrington Jewish Center was Barnet Fain, and Elihu Burkow was the student rabbi. The Sisterhood was founded in 1964. Pleasant memories of 1964-1965 include a highly successful film festival run by Esteruth and Lenny Rumpler, a beautiful and inspiring Sukkot party, and a Spring dance at the Sheraton Biltmore. In June of 1965, members purchased our first building at 147 County Road for $25,000, and the Temple family took occupancy in the fall of 1965. At the same time five members purchased the strip of land below the building for $5,000. When the state of Rhode Island took a parcel of land to widen County Road in October of 1966, the Temple was paid $7,250 and George Graboys, Harvey Lapides, Barnet Fain, Lenny Rumpler and Paul Segal were repaid for their kind investment in the Temple's future.
Our first full time rabbi was appointed in May 1967. Our congregation of 41 members and 9 associate member families welcomed Rabbi Richard Weiss in September 1967. In the summer of 1967, through the initiative of Muriel and Joseph Fath, we became the guardians of our first Torah, Holy Scroll #1133, one of 1,564 scrolls saved from the Nazis in Czechoslovakia and assigned by Westminster Synagogue in London to us. Mrs. Edith Fath, Joe Fath's mother, flew here from London with the scroll. On Simchat Torah Rabbi Weiss and Rabbi Braude of Temple Beth-El in Providence jointly dedicated our historic Torah.
In the summer of 1971 we welcomed Rabbi Robert Schenkerman. We began to grow by leaps and bounds, and we began renovating the white house on County Road by finishing the basement, removing the wall dividing the sanctuary and painting the interior. Remmie Brown began complementing our High Holy Day services as Cantor; and in November, 1971, Marjorie Blowers, came to be our administrative secretary. Little did we know that Margie would continue to provide organizational stability and personal warmth in our office for well over three decades..jpg)
Shortly after Rabbi Rosenberg arrived, Rabbi Draizen, an Orthodox rabbi from Providence undertook the extensive repair work which our very fragile Torah needed. Later that year in honor of Abraham Ziskind's 70th birthday a new Torah was donated to the Barrington Jewish Center by Abraham Ziskind's daughter, Diana Glashow, and the Ziskind family.