In 1853, a small group of Jewish
émigrés from Poland decided to form their own congregation that followed
Eastern European ritual rather than the German liberal approach of
Newark's Temple B'nai Jeshurun. This budding congregation met in the
home of Abraham Newman, a founder and a member of B'nai Jeshurun, until
a hall could be rented at 107 Market Street, Newark. By 1855 they
acquired land for a cemetery and were incorporated under New Jersey law
as "Congregation of the Sons of Abraham -- B'nai Abraham," in honor of
benefactor Abraham Newman and in recognition of Biblical tradition's
first Jew.
In 1861, the congregation purchased a
former Baptist Church at the corner of Halsey and Academy Streets. In
1870, the Temple members built a synagogue on Bank Street only to lose
it in a mortgage foreclosure. Moving into rented space on Market Street
until 1884, the congregation then leased larger quarters in a two story
Washington Street building, only 25 feet wide and 75 feet deep. The
cornerstone of a new synagogue with a seating capacity of 900, at High
Street and 13th Avenue, was set in 1897. In 1924, the congregants dug
deeply into their pockets to raise the huge sum of $I,250,000 to
build their last Newark home, the magnificent edifice at Clinton and Shanley Avenues.
(right)
Rabbi Julius Silberfeld became the rabbi of Temple B'nai Abraham in
1902. Retaining the Orthodox ritual, which had been followed from 1853,
he edited a new prayer book, adding English translations. In 1939, Rabbi
Silberfeld retired and was succeeded by
Dr. Joachim Prinz, who
modernized the ritual and introduced his own prayer book.
In 1973, the congregation moved into
its newly-built home in Livingston. Dr. Prinz
retired in 1976, and Rabbi Barry Friedman, who came to the Temple in
1968 as Associate Rabbi, became Senior Rabbi in 1977. Rabbi Friedman
introduced further innovations in the services and wrote and edited our
prayer book Siddur Or Chadash. He retired in 1999 having served
the congregation as rabbi for thirty-one years. In 1999 Rabbi Clifford
Kulwin became the synagogue’s fourth religious leader in 98 years.
For much of the 20th Century, Temple
B'nai Abraham identified itself as a traditional progressive
congregation, independent of the organized synagogue movements. Now one
of the largest Jewish congregational families in New Jersey, and
growing, it carries that description into a new century with respect for
tradition, relevance to time and place, creativity, musicality and a
commitment to providing a focal point for living and learning Jewishly.
