Congregation Beth Jacob Ohev Sholom
| Beth Jacob Ohev Sholom | |
|---|---|
| Basic information | |
| Location | 284 Rodney Street, Brooklyn, New York  United States
|
| Geographic coordinates | 40°42′28″N 73°57′24″W / 40.70765°N 73.9568°WCoordinates: 40°42′28″N 73°57′24″W / 40.70765°N 73.9568°W |
| Affiliation | Orthodox Judaism |
| Country | United States of America |
| Status | Active |
| Leadership | Rabbi: Joshua Fishman (retired) President: Martin S. Needelman |
| Completed | 1957 |
Congregation Beth Jacob Ohev Sholom (also known as "Congregation Beth Jacob Ohev Shalom") ("House of Jacob Lover of Peace") is an Orthodox synagogue located at 284 Rodney Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. It is the oldest Orthodox congregation on Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens), and one of the last remaining non-Hasidic Jewish institutions in Williamsburg.
The congregation was formed in 1869 by German Jews as an Orthodox breakaway from an existing Reform congregation. It constructed its first building on Keap Street in 1870. In 1904 it merged with Chevra Ansche Sholom, and took the name Congregation Beth Jacob Anshe Sholom. The following year it constructed a new building at 274–276 South Third Street, designed by George F. Pelham.
The congregation's building was expropriated and demolished to make way for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in the 1950s. It combined with another congregation in a similar situation, and, as Congregation Beth Jacob Ohev Sholom, constructed a new building at 284 Rodney Street, just south of Broadway, in 1957.
Joshua Fishman became rabbi in 1971. With changing demographics, attendance at services, which had been 700 in the 1970s, fell to two dozen by 2010.
The congregation was founded as Beth Jacob in 1869, by more traditional members of an existing Reform German Jewish synagogue, the Keap Street Temple. They objected to the installation and use of a pipe organ to accompany Yom Kippur services, which was forbidden by halakha (Jewish law), and seceded and created their own congregation. The new congregation was formally incorporated on October 1 of that year, and first worshiped in a house. In 1870, Beth Jacob purchased a 23-foot (7.0 m) by 95-foot (29 m) lot at what is now 326 Keap Street (than Tenth Street) for $150 (today $2,800) in cash and a mortgage of $1,050 (today $19,900), and constructed a building there, at a cost of around $6,000 (today $114,000). Men and women sat separately, and the sanctuary had seating for 164 men on the main floor and 135 women in the gallery. Services were generally held only on Shabbat and the Jewish holidays. The first spiritual leader was Rabbi Dresser, and he was succeeded by Lewis Lewinski (or Levinsky).
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