Archive Committee Uncovers Special Significance of

September Kickoff Date for Centennial Celebration

In reviewing Beth El’s archive of old Bulletins, the Archive Committee discovered that this September marks the thirty-eighth anniversary of the cornerstone dedication of Beth El’s Main Sanctuary addition. That joyous, landmark occasion, which took place on Sunday, September 13, 1970, celebrated the culmination of the Beth El building program that had begun in 1950 with the purchase of the 4.5-acre Ernst estate on North Avenue and Northfield Road. Designed to serve the threefold function of a “Beth El” (House of God) in the North End of New Rochelle, the synagogue was conceived as a House of Study, a House of Assembly, and a House of Worship.

 

Mrs. Arthur Reiss prepares to place the cornerstone box

containing significant Beth El memorabilia into place. Witnessing

 the historic moment (from the left) are President Sydney Mitchell,

Rabbi David I. Golovensky, Building Fund Chairman Irving Sobel, cornerstone

donor Arthur Reiss, Mrs. Reiss, Building Committee Chairman Stanley I. Batkin,

and Chairman of the Cornerstone Dedication Committee Irving L. Goldberger.

Photo by Bill Russ.

Phase One of the building program was completed in December 1957, with the opening of the Community Center, and Phase Two was completed in September 1961, with the opening of the school wing. It was not until September 1970 that the sanctuary itself was completed after more than six years of fundraising and eighteen months of construction.

“Featuring a fifty-foot column of limestone, incised with a Menorah and the Ten Commandments,” the new sanctuary addition, with its beautiful stained glass windows, clear plastic dome sky light overlooking the bima, was expected to be “an architectural asset to the community . . . representative of the best in Jewish culture and tradition, . . . a blend of the finest in ancient and contemporary design; a modern version of King Solomon’s Temple. . . (and) an achievement in which we will all take great pride.”

The photograph, reprinted below, appeared in the October 1970 Bulletin. It captures the climax of the dedication ceremony—the unveiling of the cornerstone by congregants Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Reiss, who had endowed the cornerstone in memory of Mr. Reiss’s father. In the photo Mrs. Reiss, flanked by Building Committee chairman Stanley Batkin and chairman of the Cornerstone Dedication Committee Irving Goldberger, is about to place into the cornerstone a box containing Beth El memorabilia. Shown to their left are President Sydney Mitchell, Rabbi David Golovensky, Building Fund Chairman Irving Sobel, and Mr. Reiss.