Temple Israel (Westport, Connecticut)

Temple Israel is in Fairfield County and is listed as a Reform synagogue at 14 Coleytown Road in Westport.[1][2] Regional sources place it within the connected Jewish communal life of Norwalk and Westport. The Jewish Virtual Library identifies Temple Israel as Westport's Reform synagogue, while My Jewish Learning lists it alongside the Conservative Synagogue of Westport and Temple B'nai Chaim in Georgetown, reflecting the area's multi-congregational landscape.[4][5]

A February 24, 1989 letter identifies Rabbi Robert J. Orkand as the rabbi of Temple Israel and gives the congregation's Coleytown Road address.[2] Orkand wrote that he had recently chaired a UJA Rabbinic Cabinet mission to Rome, Romania, and Israel. He focused on approximately 9,000 Soviet Jews waiting at Ladispoli, outside Rome, to travel to the United States, Canada, or Australia, and proposed sending Reform Jewish educational outreach to the community. Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler responded that the proposal fell within the World Union for Progressive Judaism's purview and forwarded it with an urgent recommendation for follow-up.[2]

By March 2020, Rabbi Elana Nemitoff-Bresler was affiliated with Temple Israel in Westport. She was among 302 rabbis and cantors who signed a letter to Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo expressing concern about the State Department's Commission on Unalienable Rights.[3][9]

The Jewish population of the Norwalk, Westport, and Wilton federation area was estimated at 11,500 in 2005. The same regional account states that smaller Jewish populations in Wilton, Weston, Darien, and Georgetown participated in the communal life of Norwalk and Westport.[4] These regional figures describe the surrounding Jewish community rather than Temple Israel's individual membership.

Temple Israel operates within a regional network in which synagogues often join together for Jewish communal activities.[4] In 2017, Scott Gottlieb served on the congregation's board of directors. He and his wife, Allison, were active in the surrounding community; Allison helped run a local homeless shelter in Westport and volunteered in the Bridgeport school system.[10]

In July 2025, Temple Israel of Westport was among the signatories of a communal letter to National Education Association President Becky Pringle. The letter called on NEA leadership to reject New Business Item 39, condemn antisemitism within the organization, address antisemitism in national and local chapters, and reject efforts to attack educators' identities because of their support for Israel's existence. Its signatories described themselves as representing "the depth and diversity of Jewish life across the United States."[7]

Temple Israel is also listed as a Connecticut network member of the ADL's "Kulanu: Synagogues in Action Against Antisemitism" program. The program invites synagogue professionals, clergy, and lay leaders to apply with the support of their congregations.[6]

Temple Israel of Westport was listed as a participating school in the 2006–2007 Census of Jewish Supplementary Schools in the United States. The census identified it as a Reform institution at 14 Coleytown Road in Westport. Its individual enrollment figure was not published because the census had promised confidentiality for school-level enrollment data.[1]

The JewishGen International Jewish Cemetery Project lists a cemetery named Temple Israel of Westport on Richards Street in Norwalk, Connecticut. The project's Fairfield County inventory records 194 graves at the site.[8]