Congregation Beth Elohim

This article is about a Jewish congregation founded in 1861 in Brooklyn, New York. For the birthplace of American Reform Judaism, see Congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim.

Congregation Beth Elohim
Sanctuary main entrance
Religion
Affiliation	Reform Judaism
Leadership	Senior Rabbi: Andy Bachman Rabbi: Shira Koch Epstein Congregational scholar: Daniel Bronstein
Status	Active
Location
Location	274 Garfield Place and Eighth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York City, United States
Architecture
Architect(s)	Simon Eisendrath & B. Horowitz (Sanctuary) Mortimer Freehof & David Levy (Temple House)
Style	Classical Revival (Sanctuary) "Jewish Deco" – Romanesque Revival and Art Deco (Temple House)
Groundbreaking	1909 (Sanctuary) 1928 (Temple House)
Completed	1910 (Sanctuary) 1929 (Temple House)
Specifications
Direction of façade	West (Sanctuary)
Capacity	1,200 (Sanctuary)
Dome(s)	1 (Sanctuary)
Materials	Cast stone (Temple House)
Website
http://www.congregationbethelohim.org

Congregation Beth Elohim, also known as the Garfield Temple and the Eighth Avenue Temple, is a Reform Jewish congregation located at 274 Garfield Place and Eighth Avenue, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, United States.

Founded in 1861 as a more liberal breakaway from Congregation Baith Israel, for the first 65 years it attempted four mergers with other congregations, including three with Baith Israel, all of which failed. The congregation completed its current Byzantine Revival synagogue building in 1910 and its "Jewish Deco" (Romanesque Revival and Art Deco) Temple House in 1929.

The congregation went through difficult times during the Great Depression, and the bank almost foreclosed on its buildings in 1946. Membership dropped significantly in the 1930s because of the Depression, and again in the 1970s as a result of demographic shifts. Programs for young children helped draw Jewish families back into the neighborhood and revitalize the membership.

By 2006, Beth Elohim had over 1,000 members, and, as of 2008, it was the largest Reform congregation in Brooklyn, the "oldest Brooklyn congregation that continues to function under its corporate name", and its pulpit was the oldest in continuous use in any Brooklyn synagogue.

Early years: Pearl Street

Congregation Beth Elohim was founded on September 29, 1861 by 41 German Jews at Granada Hall on Myrtle Avenue, members of Congregation Baith Israel who had become disaffected after they attempted and failed to reform practice there. The synagogue name was chosen by a vote of the membership, and the services were led by George Brandenstein, who served as cantor, and was paid $150 a year. Brandenstein was hired as cantor, not rabbi, because "the congregation believed having a cantor was more important", though in practice he filled both roles. A shamash (the equivalent of a sexton or beadle) was also hired for $75 a year.

While searching for a permanent location, the congregation continued to meet and hold services at Granada Hall. Men and women sat together, unlike the traditional separate seating, and services were conducted in German and Hebrew. Within a few months, the former Calvary Protestant Episcopal church on Pearl Street, between Nasau and Concord, was purchased for $5,100 and renovated for another $2,000. The new building was dedicated on March 30, 1862, and the congregation became known as "the Pearl street synagogue". By 1868, membership had increased to 103, and by 1869, almost 100 students attended the Sunday school.

Beth Elohim had originally conducted its services in the traditional manner, but on February 19, 1870 "inaugurated the moderate reform services" instead. In an attempt to stem defections and make the synagogue more attractive to existing and potential members, that same month the congregation purchased, for $55,000, the building of the Central Presbyterian Church on Schermerhorn Street near Nevins Street. Sufficient numbers of new members did not, however, materialize, and the congregation was forced to give up its new building, forfeit its $4,000 deposit, and return to the Pearl Street building. Instead, the Pearl street building was renovated, and an organ and choir added.

Beth Elohim voted to retire Brandenstein in 1882, an action which created some controversy both within the congregation, and among other Brooklyn synagogues. Younger members of the congregation found no specific fault with Brandenstein, but wanted "a change", and succeeded in dismissing him and electing an entirely new board of officers. The final vote was 29 in favor, 21 against, out of a total membership of 53 or 54 (only the male heads of households were counted as members during this era). Solomon Mosche was hired to replace Brandenstein.

In April 1883, Baith Israel, Beth Elohim, and Temple Israel, Brooklyn's three leading synagogues, attempted an amalgamation. This was the third such attempt; the previous two had failed when the members could not agree on synagogue ritual. The combined congregation, which would purchase new premises, would have 150 members; members would be refunded half the purchase price of the pews in their existing buildings. Mosche and the rabbi of Temple Israel were to split the offices of rabbi and cantor: Baith Israel, at the time, had no rabbi. Though this attempt also failed, in the following year the three congregations carried out combined activities, including a picnic and a celebration of the 100th birthday of Moses Montefiore. Membership at that time still hovered around 50.

Mosche fell ill in 1884, and after being unable to serve for six months, was replaced by 26-year-old William Sparger. Despite his illness, Mosche lived until age 75, dying on November 3, 1911.

Sparger was Hungarian by birth, a graduate of the Prince Rudolph University of Vienna, and, according to a contemporary New York Times article, "belong[ed] to the extreme liberal school of Hebrew theology". He introduced changes to the services, including improving the choir, bringing in a new prayer book, adding Friday night services, and the "radical reform" of making the sermon the most important part of the service. He appealed to younger congregants, and, under his direction, the synagogue experienced a large increase in attendance.

State Street

State Street building in 1891

Though more seats had been added to the synagogue by narrowing the aisles, as a result of Sparger's innovations Beth Elohim outgrew its Pearl Street building, and a new one was sought. After a three year search, in 1885 Beth Elohim purchased the building of the Congregational Church on State Street near Hoyt for $28,000, and moved in that year.

In 1891, Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan offered Sparger a salary larger than Beth Elohim could match, and he moved there. Beth Elohim subsequently split the offices of cantor and rabbi, hiring G. Taubenhaus as rabbi and the Mauritz Weisskopf as cantor.

G. Taubenhaus when he was hired as rabbi in 1891

Born in Warsaw, Taubenhaus attended the "Berlin theological seminary" (likely the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums) for six years. Upon emigrating to the United States, he served congregations in Paducah, Kentucky, Dayton, Ohio, and Sacramento, California, before becoming the rabbi of the Gates of Hope synagogue in New York. Differences with the latter congregation led to his resignation there shortly before being hired by Beth Elohim. Taubenhaus's brother Joseph would be appointed rabbi at Baith Israel, Beth Elohim's parent congregation, in 1893, and another brother, Jacob/Jean Taubenhaus, was a famous French chess master.

By the time of Taubenhaus's hiring, Beth Elohim was, according to the Brooklyn Eagle, "recognized as the leading Hebrew synagogue of Brooklyn". The views of the congregation regarding kashrut (the Jewish dietary laws) were by then quite liberal; in 1892, when Hyman Rosenberg was expelled as rabbi of Brooklyn's Beth Jacob synagogue for eating ham, Taubenhaus stated that he did not believe his congregation would expel him for doing the same.

In 1895, Samuel Radnitz succeeded Weisskopf as cantor, a role he filled until his death in 1944.

By the turn of the twentieth century English had replaced German in the services and official minutes, and the second days of holidays eliminated. The synagogue had 106 members and annual revenues of around $8,000, and its Sunday School had approximately 300 pupils.

Taubenhaus left the congregation in 1901, and the following year Alexander Lyons was hired as the congregation's first American-born rabbi. Lyons went on to serve the congregation for 37 years, until his death in 1939 at the age of 71.

In 1907, the women's auxiliary was founded; until then, though seating was mixed, women had little say in the running of the synagogue.

Garfield Place and Eighth Avenue

1909–1929: New buildings

Sanctuary exterior

In 1909, the congregation began construction on its current building at Garfield Place and Eighth Avenue. The structure was built by the firm of Simon Eisendrath and B. Horowitz and completed in 1910. Designed in the Classical Revival style, it had five sides, representing the five books of Moses, a sanctuary that seated 1,200, and was capped by a saucer dome.

1909 was also the year Judah Leon Magnes proposed and founded his Kehilla, a "comprehensive communal organization for the Jews of New York", which operated until 1922. Lyons opposed its creation, arguing that Jews in New York were too diverse to co-exist in one organization with a single set of standards, that Jews should not organize as Jews for anything except purely religious purposes, and that in any event Reform Judaism was the future and Orthodox Judaism was "doomed". As Lyons put it,

To me Reform Judaism is an irresistible conviction. I believe it to be the religion of the Jewish future, while I regard orthodoxy as a survival that may have a galvanized life now and then, but on the whole is doomed.

Negotiations to merge with Union Temple (the successor to Temple Israel) were started in 1925. A confirmation vote eventually passed, and the impending merger was announced in the Brooklyn Eagle. However, younger congregants feared a loss of identity, and forced a withdrawal.

Temple House

Instead, the congregation raised funds for a second building, and in 1928–1929 built the six-story Temple House (used for all congregational activities) on the corner opposite the main sanctuary. Designed by Mortimer Freehof and David Levy, the cast stone building's architectural style was "Jewish Deco", a mix of Romanesque Revival and Art Deco decorative forms that was common in Jewish buildings of the period. The names of major figures from the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) were inscribed on the Garfield Place facade, and the Biblical verses "SHOW ME THY WAYS O LORD TEACH ME THY PATHS GUIDE ME" (Psalms 25:4–5) on the Eighth Avenue facade. The building was also decorated with bas-reliefs of Jonah being swallowed by a great fish and Babylonian charioteers.

Lyons took on a number of causes in the 1910s and 1920s. He worked with Bishop David Greer and Rabbi Stephen Wise to expose conditions in New York's tenements, dissociated himself from Tammany Hall candidates, tried to secure a re-trial for Leo Frank, and opposed some of the views of Samuel Gompers. In 1912, Lyons was a founding member of the Eastern Council of Reform Rabbis, an organization of Reform rabbis from the Eastern United States that was created despite opposition from the Central Conference of Reform Rabbis. In 1919 he withdrew from the Brooklyn Victory Celebration Committee (celebrating victory in World War I) and asked that his contributed funds be donated instead to the Red Cross; a large number of committee members eventually resigned in protest over the overt politicization of the event, and its control by William Randolph Hearst.

1930s: Landman joins, Great Depression, Lyons dies

Isaac Landman, a graduate of Hebrew Union College, joined Lyons as rabbi of Beth Elohim in 1931. Born in Russia in 1880, Landman had come to the United States in 1890. In 1911, with the assistance of Jacob Schiff, Julius Rosenwald, and Simon Bamberger, he founded a Jewish farm colony in Utah, and during World War I he was "said to be the first Jewish chaplain in the United States Army to serve on foreign soil". A leader in Jewish–Christian ecumenism, he was editor of American Hebrew Magazine from 1918, served as the delegate of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now Union for Reform Judaism) to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, and in the late 1930s and early 1940s was editor of the ten volume New Universal Jewish Encyclopedia.

Landman had also been a prominent opponent of Zionism: when, in 1922, the United States Congress was considering the Lodge–Fish resolution in support of the Balfour Declaration, Landman and Rabbi David Philipson had presented the Reform movement's (then) anti-Zionist position to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Landman also printed many opinions against the resolution and Zionism in his American Hebrew Magazine. The bill was eventually unanimously supported by both houses of Congress, and approved by President Harding.

During the Great Depression, the synagogue membership decreased significantly; experiencing financial difficulties, the congregation stopped paying its mortgage. Nevertheless, Beth Elohim was not completely moribund; in 1931 it opened its Academy of Adult Jewish Education, which "offered courses in Bible, religion and contemporary Jewish life", and operated throughout the Depression. By 1937 the congregation had elected Lyons "rabbi for life".

In 1938 Lyons made common cause with Thomas Harten, the black pastor of Holy Trinity Baptist Church. Speaking to a mixed black–Jewish audience at the church, Lyons informed the listeners that he was planning to attend the second Joe Louis versus Max Schmeling boxing match in order to protest Adolf Hitler's "view that a bout between a German and a Negro was improper". Lyons denounced the Nazi racial ideas, which he noted discriminated against blacks as well as Jews, and encouraged the audience to boycott all German-made goods until "Hitler comes to his senses".

Lyons died the following year, and Landman served as sole rabbi. After his death, the Central Conference of American Rabbis described Lyons as the "dean of the Brooklyn rabbinate from the point of view of service".

World War II and aftermath: Sack joins, Landman dies

The synagogue's fortunes improved in the 1940s, but in 1946, its bank threatened to foreclose on its buildings, in anticipation of their sale to the local Catholic diocese, as the congregation had not paid the mortgage in many years. The congregation succeeded in convincing the bank to re-negotiate its mortgage, and reduce the outstanding loan, and Max Koeppel led a drive to pay it off completely.

Eugene Sack, the father of Second Circuit Court of Appeals judge Robert D. Sack, joined Landman as rabbi in 1946. While serving as assistant rabbi of Congregation Rodeph Shalom of Philadelphia, Sack had been instrumental in the founding of the Reform movement's National Federation of Temple Youth in 1939, and had presented a paper at its first biennial convention. Starting in 1943 he spent 18 months in the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II as an army chaplain; at one point he had to substitute peach juice for Passover wine.

Sack had also previously been involved in anti-Zionist efforts amongst the Reform rabbinate. In 1941 the Central Conference of American Rabbis had abandoned its former anti-Zionist stance, and adopted a resolution favoring the creation of a Jewish army in Palestine, to fight alongside other Allied armies, and under Allied command. Sack and other prominent Reform rabbis opposed this; meeting on March 18, 1942, they agreed "there was a need to revitalize Reform Judaism, to oppose Jewish nationalism, and to publicize their point of view". They planned "for a meeting of non-Zionist Reform Rabbis to discuss the problems that confront Judaism and Jews in the world emergency", to be held in Atlantic City. 36 rabbis eventually attended the two-day conference on June 1, 1942, including Beth Israel's Landman. The conference led to the formation of the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism, "the only American Jewish organization ever formed for the specific purpose of fighting Zionism and opposing the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine"; it lasted until 1948.

Landman died suddenly in 1946, leaving Sack to head Beth Elohim alone; Sack would eventually serve as rabbi for 35 years.

By 1953, Beth Elohim had grown to over 700 families.

1970s–2000: Decline and re-birth

In 1970, the congregation again encountered difficulties, "faced with dwindling membership and bleak prospects". The members, however, created one of the earliest nursery schools in the neighborhood, which helped draw Jewish families back into the temple and revitalize the membership. One of those young families was that of Gerald I. Weider, a young rabbi from the Bronx, who joined the synagogue's staff in 1977. The 1970s also saw a return to more traditional practices in the service – the wearing of kippahs in the sanctuary by some, and the addition of some Hebrew prayers to the Sabbath service.

Sanctuary interior

The sanctuary ceiling collapsed in the early 1980s, and services were held in Temple House for a time. The congregation mounted a "Save our Sanctuary" campaign in 1982, and repaired the ceiling.

The congregation restored and renovated its buildings in 1990, and in 1992 did emergency restoration work to the facade of Temple House. In 1994, Beth Elohim planned to create a Reform Jewish day school modeled on New York's Abraham Joshua Heschel School, as an outgrowth of Beth Israel's preschool program. The school, which was intended to start with only first grade in 1995, but extend to eighth grade by 2000, did not come to fruition. At the time Beth Elohim had approximately 500 member families and 141 children in the preschool.

In 1999, the congregation again restored Temple House's facade, added a fifth floor to it for additional classrooms, and added still more classrooms in the basement of the sanctuary. That year Sack (by then Rabbi Emeritus) died; the year before his death his son, Robert, at his induction as a Second Circuit judge, had described his father as "the most open minded man he had ever known".

Events since 2006

Sanctuary interior

By 2006, Beth Elohim had over 1,000 members, and, as of 2008, Beth Elohim was the largest Reform congregation in Brooklyn, the "oldest Brooklyn congregation that continues to function under its corporate name", and its pulpit was the oldest in continuous use in any Brooklyn synagogue. In 2007, it was a winner of the Union for Reform Judaism's Congregation of Learners award for medium size synagogues, for "those synagogues that provide an exceptional environment of varied and comprehensive learning opportunities and have imbued their synagogue communities with a culture of learning".

As of 2008, the rabbis were Andy Bachman and Shira Koch Epstein, the congregational scholar was Rabbi Daniel Bronstein, and the Rabbi emeritus was Gerald Weider.

Epstein, born in the Bronx and raised in New Milford, Connecticut, attended Wesleyan University and Hebrew Union College, and served as the coordinator of the Institute for Reform Zionism. In 2008 she became a member of "Rabbis for Obama", a cross-denominational group of more than 300 American rabbis supporting Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

Bronstein, a native of Chicago, received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, an M.A. from Brandeis University, and graduated from Hebrew Union College in 1996. Until the fall of 2008 he was an Adjunct Instructor of Jewish History at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and was completing a PhD in Jewish history there. He has seen every episode of Star Trek.

Bachman, a graduate of University of Wisconsin-Madison with a 1996 rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College, became the Beth Elohim's first new senior rabbi in 25 years on October 25, 2006. Before becoming senior rabbi he had previously been an educator there from 1993 to 1998. An advocate of more traditionalism in the Reform movement, in 2002 he started a small, more traditional, Hebrew-focused spinoff minyan at Beth Elohim, and has spoken in favor of a more traditional liturgy. Bachman and his wife, Rachel Altstein, have been instrumental in bringing 20 and 30 year-olds into the synagogue, and in December 2007, Bachman was named one of The Forward's "Forward 50". Since January 2008 he has been a regular contributor to the Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive website.

References

Brooklyn Eagle, no byline.

• "Penitential. The First Sabbath in the Jewish New Year—Sermon by the Rev. S. Moshe.", Brooklyn Eagle, September 17, 1882, p. 6.
• "Peculiar. The Action of the Congregation Beth Elohim in Pearl Street.", Brooklyn Eagle, October 4, 1882, p. 4.
• "Hebrews Consolidating. A Movement to Unite Three Congregations—Important Action Taken on the Subject", Brooklyn Eagle, April 7, 1883, p. 1.
• "Consolidation of Local Hebrew Churches." (part 1), Brooklyn Eagle, April 26, 1883, p. 2.
• "Consolidation of Local Hebrew Churches." (part 2), Brooklyn Eagle, April 26, 1883, p. 2.
• Hebrews. The Agitation on the Question of the Changing the Jewish Sabbath.", Brooklyn Eagle, May 27, 1884, p. 2.
• "A Hebrew Sunday School Union. The First Combined Picnic to be Held in Prospect Park.", Brooklyn Eagle, July 7, 1884, p. 4.
• "Montefiore — Brooklyn Honoring the Centenarian.", Brooklyn Eagle, October 27, 1884, p. 1.
• "Thirtieth Anniversary. A Notable Celebration in Synagogue Beth Elohim Today." (part 1), Brooklyn Eagle, October 25, 1891, p. 2.
• "Thirtieth Anniversary. A Notable Celebration in Synagogue Beth Elohim Today." (part 2), Brooklyn Eagle, October 25, 1891, p. 2.
• "Thirtieth Anniversary. A Notable Celebration in Synagogue Beth Elohim Today." (part 3), Brooklyn Eagle, October 25, 1891, p. 2.
• "How They Regard Ham. Views of Local Rabbis on Mr. Rosenburg's Expulsion.", Brooklyn Eagle, December 16, 1892, p. 1.
• "A New Rabbi for Baith Israel: Rev. M. Friedlander succeeded by Rev Joseph Taubenhaus.", Brooklyn Eagle, May 1, 1893, p. 10.
• "Ancient Hebrew Testament. Spirit and Will of God to Rule the World Above all Race and Creed.", Brooklyn Eagle, November 24, 1900, p. 5.

New York Times, no byline.

• Template:PDFlink, The New York Times, July 11, 1884, p. 8.
• Template:PDFlink, The New York Times, June 29, 1885, p. 8.
• Template:PDFlink, The New York Times, October 6, 1897, p. 5.
• Template:PDFlink, The New York Times, February 23, 1898, p. 7.
• Template:PDFlink, The New York Times, March 14, 1909, p. 6.
• Template:PDFlink, The New York Times, February 26, 1910, p. 6.
• Template:PDFlink, The New York Times, April 23, 1912, p. 24.
• Template:PDFlink, The New York Times, June 19, 1912, p. 9.
• Template:PDFlink, The New York Times, April 28, 1914, p. 8.
• Template:PDFlink, The New York Times, November 29, 1914, p. 13.
• Template:PDFlink, The New York Times, February 8, 1919, p. 11.
• "Landman Takes New Post.; Jewish Editor Will Also Be Rabbi of a Brooklyn Congregation.", The New York Times, May 30, 1931, p. 2.
• "Rabbi Lyons, 71, Brooklyn Leader; Sought Cooperation Between Christians and Jews--Dies in His Residence Aided St. John Cathedral Civic Worker and Promoter of World Peace--With 8th Ave. Temple for 37 Years", The New York Times, June 7, 1939, p. 29.
• "Rabbi Landman, 65, Reformist is Dead; Brooklyn Preacher a Leader in Hebrew-Christian Moves for Religious Friendship", The New York Times, September 5, 1946, p. 20.
• "Taubenhaus-Carrie", The New York Times, August 6, 1960, p. 19.
• "Sack, Eugene J., Rabbi.", The New York Times, June 13, 1999.

Synagogue website

• Synagogue website. Accessed November 9, 2008.
• "Origins", Synagogue website. Accessed November 9, 2008.
• "Timeless Symbolism", Synagogue website. Accessed November 9, 2008.
• "New Century", Synagogue website. Accessed November 9, 2008.
• "The Temple House", Synagogue website. Accessed November 9, 2008.
• "Another Renaissance - The 1970s'", Synagogue website. Accessed November 9, 2008.
• "Continued Growth - The 1980's", Synagogue website. Accessed November 9, 2008.
• "Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein", Synagogue website. Accessed November 9, 2008.
• "Rabbi Daniel Bronstein", Synagogue website. Accessed November 9, 2008.

Other

• Abelow, Samuel Philip. History of Brooklyn Jewry, Scheba Publishing Company, 1937.
• Abramovitch, Ilana and Galvin, Seán. Jews of Brooklyn, University Press of New England, Nov 1, 2001. ISBN 1-58465-003-6
• American Jewish Committee. Template:PDFlink, American Jewish Year Book, Jewish Publication Society, Volume 2 (1900–1901).
• American Jewish Committee. Template:PDFlink, American Jewish Year Book, Jewish Publication Society, Volume 7 (1905–1906).
• American Jewish Committee. Template:PDFlink, American Jewish Year Book, Jewish Publication Society, Volume 14 (1912–1913).
• "IRZ – The ARZA Institute for Reform Zionism", Association of Reform Zionists of American website. Accessed November 9, 2008.
• Bergman, Edward F. The Spiritual Traveler, Hidden Spring, 2001. ISBN 1-58768-003-3
• Bronstein, Dan. "Our Cause is the Same", Veterans Day Sermon, Congregation Beth Elohim, November 9, 2007. Accessed November 9, 2008.
• Cohen, Naomi W. The Americanization of Zionism, 1897-1948, University Press of New England, 2003. ISBN 1584653469
• Yearbook of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1939.
• Desantis, John. "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: BROWNSTONE BROOKLYN; Reform Synagogue to Open Private School", The New York Times, July 17, 1994.
• Erenberg, Lewis A. The Greatest Fight of Our Generation: Louis Vs. Schmeling, Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 0195177746
• Fingerhut, Eric. "Chicago rabbis organize nationwide Rabbis for Obama group, 300 sign on", The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, September 9, 2008.
• "Forward 50", The Forward, December 12, 2007.
• Gross, Geraldine K. "Spiritual Pioneers: Three Brooklyn synagogues and one on Staten Island among those feted for more than a century of service to New York Jewry.", The Jewish Week, December 15, 1999.
• "Faculty As of June 23, 2008", Jewish Theological Seminary of America website. Accessed October 12, 2008.
• Kamil, Seth & Wakin, Eric. The Big Onion Guide to Brooklyn: Ten Historic Walking Tours, NYU Press, 2005. ISBN 081474785X
• Kaufman, David. Shul with a Pool: The "synagogue-center" in American Jewish History, Brandeis University Press, University Press of New England, 1999. ISBN 0874518938
• Keys, Lisa. "Enterprise Zone. Resistance is Futile: 'Star Trek' is Invading N.Y.C.", [New York Post]], September 30, 2006.
• Kolsky, Thomas A. Jews Against Zionism: The American Council for Judaism, 1942-1948, Temple University Press, 1992. ISBN 1566390095
• Landman, Isaac. The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Universal Jewish Encyclopedia Co. Inc., 1940.
• Lando, Michal. "Reform Judaism is undergoing a radical revamp", The Jerusalem Post, September 20, 2007.
• Lyons, Alexander. Template:PDFlink, The New York Times, October 29, 1913, p. 10.
• Lyons, Alexander. Template:PDFlink, The New York Times, June 13, 1920, Section: Editorial, p. 26.
• Morrone, Francis & Iska, James. An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn, Gibbs Smith, 2001, ISBN 1586850474
• Norsen, Francesca. "Congregation Beth Elohim Set to Install New Rabbi", Brooklyn Eagle, October 20, 2006.
• Nussbaum Cohen, Debra. "The New Gen-X Judaism", The Jewish Week, August 2, 2002.
• Olitzky, Kerry M. & Raphael, Marc Lee. The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook, Greenwood Press, June 30, 1996. ISBN 0-313-28856-9
• Reich, Bernard, "The United States and Israel: The Nature of a Special Relationship", in Lesch, David W. The Middle East and the United States: A Historical and Political Reassessment (Fourth edition), Westview Press, 2007. ISBN 0813343496
• Shaw, Paul. "Lettering Grows in Brooklyn", Voice: AIGA Journal of Design, January 23, 2008.
• Sleeper, Jim. In Search of New York, Transaction Publishers, 1989. ISBN 0887387675
• Stiles, Henry Reed. A History of the City of Brooklyn: Including the Old Town and Village of Brooklyn, the Town of Bushwick, and the Village and City of Williamsburgh, Volume III, 1870.
• "Zion, Ten Years After", Time magazine, April 4, 1932.
• Union for Reform Judaism, Template:PDFlink, 2007. Accessed November 9, 2008.
• University of Illinois at Chicago, Isaac Landman Papers, Inventory of the collection, University of Illinois at Chicago website. Accessed November 9, 2008.
• Washington Post, Andy Bachman, On Faith, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive. Accessed November 9, 2008.
• Women of Reform Judaism Atlantic District, District 5 history, Women of Reform Judaism Atlantic District website (excerpted from the District Manual of 1976). Accessed November 9, 2008.
• Women of Reform Judaism Atlantic District, District 5 history (cont.), Women of Reform Judaism Atlantic District website (excerpted from the District Manual of 1976). Accessed November 9, 2008.
• Zauderer, Mark C. "Remarks of Mark C. Zauderer, FBC President, on the Award of the Council's Learned Hand Award to the Honorable Robert D. Sack, U.S. Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals", Law Day Celebration, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York, May 2008.
• Zeidman, Ben. Template:PDFlink, North American Federation of Temple Youth website, Fall 2007. Accessed November 9, 2008.

External links

• Synagogue website
• Rabbi Andy Bachman's website
• Template:PDFlink, summary of a sermon given by Rabbi William Sparger of Congregation Beth Elohim, in The New York Times, May 31, 1886, p. 2.
• Template:PDFlink, summary of a sermon given by Rabbi G. Taubenhaus of Congregation Beth Elohim, in The New York Times, October 7, 1897, p. 7.
• Template:PDFlink, letter to the editor by Rabbi Alexander Lyons of Congregation Beth Elohim, in The New York Times, October 12, 1902, p. 6.