Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Israelite
Page 5
History of SHEARITH ISRAEL Congregation
Th.- history of the Congregation
t -a? ith Israel dates baek to the early
( ,f Realizing the necessity
• another Synagogue for the rapidly
, - easing Jewish community of At-
ten leaders of Atlanta Jewry
u t hc interests of their religion
.. ,i its needs at heart came together
■ the early winter of 1904 and form-
the Synagogue which bears the
,,f Shearith Israel. How fitting
. the name given to this small
,,, U p ,,f .lows. "The Remnant of 1s-
i they called themselves. True they
A.r. a remnant, but from the rem-
.ui*. there grew a Congregation a
,is of Jews—true to the traditional
• ,i kgiound and anxious to grow and
-Mi u;age a love for Judaism in this
new home, far away from their
in the Old Country. These
: -unders consisted of K. J. Abelsky,
I Hro/.nach, D. Hadas, R. Massell, M.
Schwartz, who now lives in St. Paul,
Minn.. S. Zimmerman, and the late
M Kahn, C. H. Shainker, (’has. Zim-
nifiinan, J. Buckman.
With the firm foundation set by
the'c noble men, the Congregation be
gan its early period of existence on
[Hunter Street. There a Synagogue was
formed out of the old St. Paul’s
Ichimh. a building that had withstood
[the ravages of the War between the
J States, The building was redecorated
ami soon was ready for the occupancy
the new Congregation. In 1907 the
[< "merstone of the Congregation Shea-
: th Israel was inserted. As befits a
|< "ngfegation of this sort, it was seen
[that a Synagogue without a leader is
practically valueless. The leaders be-
L’.m an immediate search for the prop-
man to occupy the position of Rabbi
the new Congregation. They were
President of Sherith Israel
(’ongregation
SIDNEY ZIMMERMAN
lU'-cessful to such an extent that
e finest young Orthodox Ri
‘ ‘ i'ted their call to become spir
C 41 • r of the new Congregation. F
r itterman arrived in Atlant
ame year that the Congregi
>l 'd into its new building. F
This—Oran-Kodesh (Holy Ark)—was Presented by Mr. and Mrs. Tobias
BoroehofT. Ill Pair Street, S. K.
CJutterman, a man of great scholarly
attainments and very well versed in
the Jewish law, occupied the position
excellently. Although he was in Atlan
ta for a few years (he now resides in
Scranton, Pa.) he will be remembered
by Atlanta Jewry for his outstanding
leadership in the early period of strug
gles that the (’ongregation passed
through.
At the conclusion of Rabbi Gutter-
man’s short but eventful stay in At
lanta, it was seen that the Rabbinical
position must not remain vacant if
the correct leadership was to be had.
Therefore, the idealistic young group
set out to procure the services of
another man, who could hold the co
veted position so well taken care of
by Rabbi Gutterman. From Canton,
Ohio, came the news that Rabbi To
bias Geflfen had been selected as the
next Rabbi of the Congregation Shea
rith Israel. Rabbi Geffen, who had
been in the New World only a few
years, but long enough for his abili
ties to.be recognized by the Jews of
America, accepted the call and ar
rived. in Atlanta in January 1910.
Destined for a long stay in the Gate
City of (he South, Rabbi Geffen im
mediately set himself to the task of
instilling a genuine love for the tra
ditions of Judaism. Many have been
the interesting episodes occurring dur
ing the years of Rabbi Geffen’s stay
up to the present day. He immediately
organized several classes in Talmud,
Mishnayos, Kin Yaakov and Bible,
which are still in existence. Although
the members of the classes have come
and gone, there are still a few faces
present, which might have been seen
at the classes twenty years ago. Rabbi
Geffen was the first Orthodox Rabbi
to penetrate the South as far as Geor
gia, permanently.
Although the Congregational activi
ties were unfortunately severe by sev
eral destructive fires, the unceaseless
energy of the active members succeed
ed in rebuilding the structure so that
worship could be continued. By far,
the outstanding leader during this
period was the late Mr. M. Kahn. Mr.
Kahn, May he-rest in Peace, was heart
and soul in the work of the Congre
gation Shearith Israel. Never for one
day in his life did he forget his duty
to the Congregation, which he had
been so instrumental in organizing.
Today, although no longer with us,
his spirit remains, to encourage and
show the way to a successful Congre
gation Shearith Israel.
Since it was deemed necessary to
rid the Congregation of worship in a
basement, this situation was remedied
by adding a Beth Hamdrash in«the
rear of the Synagogue. When this was
built, it brought about the organiza
tion of the Shearith Israel Lodge,
which is still in existence today. Again
it was the efforts of M. Baum, M. L.
Kahn, Rabbi Geffen, and the late M.
Kahn and Chas. Zimmerman, which
brought about the organization of this
very important activity in the life of
the Congregation. This organization,
aside from its general importance, in
troduced the Free Loan Association
for its members and also various re
lief funds which constitute the work
of an organization of this type.
In 1916 it was decided to make use
of the discarded basement by con
structing a Mikveh to meet the needs
of the community. This unit has been
constantly used by the community at
large and is still functioning.
At the outbreak of the World War,
this Congregation was the first to
raise funds for the war-sufferers and
during the entire period it was very
active in bringing relief to the oppres
sed.
RABBI TOBIAS GEFFEN
Then came by far the most eventful
day in the history of the Congrega
tion. Twenty-five years after the or
ganization of the Congregation, it was
seen, through necessity, that the Con
gregation must be moved. The change
of location from Hunter to Washing
ton Street was necessitated by the rap
id change of neighborhood in the form-
(Continued on Page 14)