Temple of Israel Synagogue (Queens)

Temple of Israel is located at 188 Beach 84th Street in the Rockaways, Queens, New York.[1] JewishGen identifies this as the present location of the synagogue historically known as Temple Israel of Rockaway Beach and Beth Israel. The current address is distinct from the former synagogue building at 10 South Fairview Avenue, which was constructed in 1900.[1]

The Rockaways were an important center of early Jewish religious life in Queens. Of the five Queens synagogues enumerated in the Brooklyn Eagle 1916 Almanac, four were in the Rockaways, illustrating the area's prominence in the borough's Jewish communal geography at that time.[1]

JewishGen describes Temple Israel of Rockaway Beach, also called Beth Israel, as a Reform congregation founded in 1894. It states that the congregation's building at 10 South Fairview Avenue was constructed in 1900.[1] A historical directory also lists Temple Beth Israel at 10 South Fairview Avenue, but gives its organization year as 1896, creating a two-year discrepancy in the surviving records.[2]

The directory names Harry Germansky as rabbi-cantor, Henry Wierer as president, and Henry Shalin as secretary.[2] JewishGen reports that the synagogue later became known as Temple of Israel and gives its location as 188 Beach 84th Street, but the consulted sources do not date or describe the move between the two addresses.[1]

The historical directory reported that Temple Beth Israel had 75 members. It also recorded a religious school with two classes, two teachers, and 80 pupils.[2] These figures describe the congregation at the time of the directory's publication and should not be interpreted as current membership or enrollment statistics.

The directory reported an annual congregational income of $4,000 and recorded Sabbath services conducted in Hebrew.[2] Its listing of a rabbi-cantor and a weekly religious school indicates that worship, Hebrew instruction, and children's education were established parts of congregational life at the South Fairview Avenue location.[2]

The congregation's former building stood at 10 South Fairview Avenue and was constructed in 1900.[1] A Hebrew sign above its entrance preserved the Beth Israel name and the Hebrew year corresponding to 1900: "The year [5]660 (1900), Beth Israel."[1] JewishGen distinguishes this historic structure from the synagogue's later location at 188 Beach 84th Street.[1]

Historical records document other Queens congregations with similar names, although the available sources do not establish institutional relationships with Temple of Israel in Rockaway Beach.

A sisterhood identified as the "Sisterhood of Temple Israel of Jamaica" appears in Hebrew Union College scholarship-fund contribution records for 1937–38, 1938–39, and 1939–40.[3] A 2008 census of Jewish supplementary schools separately lists "Temple Israel of Jamaica" as a participating Reform school at 18815 McLaughlin Avenue in Hollis.[4] The records document use of the Temple Israel of Jamaica name in two periods but do not connect that institution with the Rockaway Beach congregation.

In Astoria, the 1917–1918 New York Jewish communal register documents Congregation Mishkan Israel at 826 Crescent Street as an Orthodox congregation with English and Yiddish sermons.[5] It reported 60 members, seating for 200, a sisterhood, and a cemetery, and named Gustave Steiner as president and Henry Wechsler as secretary and rabbi.[5] Another directory lists Mishkan Israel at the same address but gives differing organization dates: 1904 in its Astoria entry and June 24, 1902, in its Long Island City entry.[2]

JewishGen explicitly identifies the historic Temple Israel of Rockaway Beach, also called Beth Israel, with the present name Temple of Israel and the address 188 Beach 84th Street.[1] The consulted sources therefore support that basic identity, but they do not document the date of the congregation's relocation, the construction history of its current building, or its current membership and operating status.

The records for Temple Israel of Jamaica concern a sisterhood and a supplementary school and do not establish a connection with the Rockaway Beach synagogue.[3][4] Likewise, the records for Congregation Mishkan Israel in Astoria describe a separate congregation and provide no evidence of a relationship with Temple of Israel.[5][2]