Temple Israel (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
| Temple Israel | |
|---|---|
| Basic information | |
| Location | 2004 East 22nd Place, Tulsa, Oklahoma,  United States
|
| Geographic coordinates | 36°07′50″N 95°57′46″W / 36.130579°N 95.962776°WCoordinates: 36°07′50″N 95°57′46″W / 36.130579°N 95.962776°W |
| Affiliation | Union for Reform Judaism |
| Country | United States of America |
| Status | Active |
| Leadership | Rabbis: Karen and Micah Citrin Cantor: Kari Siegel-Eglash |
| Website | templetulsa |
| Architectural description | |
| Architect(s) | Percival Goodman |
| Completed | 1955 |
Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation located at 2004 East 22nd Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1914, the synagogue affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism in 1915, and constructed its first building on the corner of 14th and Cheyenne Streets in 1919. Early rabbis included Jacob Menkes, Charles Latz, Samuel Kaplan, Jacob Krohngold, and Benjamin Kelsen.
In 1932, Temple Israel constructed a new building on South Cheyenne. Rabbis there included Hyman Iola, Abraham Shusterman, Randall Falk, and Morton C. Fierman. In 1955 the congregation moved to its current home, a building on East 22nd Place designed by Percival Goodman. Rabbis serving in this building have included Norbert Rosenthal (1951–1976), Charles Sherman (1976–2013), and Karen and Micah Citrin (2013–present).
Membership rose from 170 families in 1943 to 525 in 1979, but has since fallen to 425. As of 2011[update], Temple Israel was the only Reform synagogue in Tulsa.
Temple Israel was founded in December 1914, and joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now Union for Reform Judaism) in 1915. Its first religious leader was Abraham Feldman, who, at the time, was studying at the Reform Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. He served until 1915. In 1917, the members hired Jacob B. Menkes as their first rabbi. A 1910 graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, he served until 1919, the year the congregation occupied its first permanent building (until then services had been held in a series of temporary premises).
Located at 1306 South Cheyenne (at 14th Street), it was, according to some sources, the oldest synagogue building in Oklahoma. It was eventually abandoned and fell into disuse. Early in 2009, real estate developer Kevin Stephens stated that he planned to move forward with plans to save its facade and develop the building into a center for sustainability, community, and non-profit space, but less than one week after Stephens was interviewed about his plans the building was damaged by a fire on January 27, 2009, which caused the roof and floors to collapse.
...
Wikipedia