Anshei Israel Synagogue is an historic former
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
building, located at 142 Newent Road, (
CT 138), in
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, in the United States. The synagogue was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1995 as part of a multiple property listing of fifteen historic synagogues in Connecticut.
The Orthodox congregation was founded with 15 families and constructed the synagogue in 1936. It was built by George Allen & Sons. The interior is a single room that is lined with five benches before the sacred
ark
Ark or ARK may refer to:
Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva''
* Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood
* Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses
Hebrew ''aron''
* ...
. The congregation's membership dwindled throughout the 1940s and 1950s, limiting the services to holidays before finally closing in the early 1980s. Rules in the congregation were not as strictly enforced as in the
Old World
The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...
, as there was no curtain to separate the sexes and distant members were allowed to drive part of the way to its services. The Town of Lisbon took ownership of the property in the 1980s. The synagogue is currently maintained by the Lisbon Historical Society.
Construction
In the early 1800s of Connecticut, people of the Jewish faith were few, with just twelve persons in the whole of Connecticut. In 1843, Jewish public worship was first permitted after a petition to the Connecticut General Assembly. Early Jewish services were held in private homes or in rented halls and later in the first synagogues, which were usually adapted from churches. Rural synagogues like the Anshei Israel Synagogue were modest structures and "reflect the need of Jewish farming and summer congregations for buildings suitable for worship that were within their limited financial and geographic boundaries."
The land upon which the synagogue was built was donated by Harry Rothenberg around 1936. The congregation, pooled their money to construct the synagogue.
Constructed by George Allen & Sons in 1836, the Anshei Israel Synagogue is a gable-roofed clapboarded building with a by central projecting tower with a
Magen David
The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles.
A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...
at its top. Flanking the tower on each side is a pair of 2-over-2 windows. Paint remnants show that the sash was previously painted a bright blue.
After passing through the tower, the single room has a raised
bimah and
ark
Ark or ARK may refer to:
Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva''
* Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood
* Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses
Hebrew ''aron''
* ...
at the front. The original bema and ark remain. The interior of the ark is concealed by a gold
parochet
A ''parochet'' (Hebrew: פרוכת; Ashkenazi pronunciation: ''paroches'') meaning "curtain" or "screen",Sonne Isaiah (1962) 'Synagogue' in The Interpreter's dictionary of the Bible vol 4, New York: Abingdon Press pp 476-491 is the curtain that c ...
; and a menorah rests on the podium. Chairs and five wooden, backless benches were provided for seating, which was described as "an unusual arrangement in historic Connecticut synagogues".
Though the building had electricity, it had no heat or plumbing; though a wood stove was used to provide heat and an outhouse was previously behind the synagogue.
Use
The founding congregation of 15 families came from
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and lived in the surrounding towns of
Plainfield,
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
,
Griswold, and
Jewett City
Jewett City is a borough in New London County, Connecticut, in the town of Griswold. The population was 3,487 at the 2010 census. The borough was named for Eliezer Jewett, who founded a settlement there in 1771.
Geography
According to the Uni ...
.
Rothenberg became the first cantor of the Anshei Israel Synagogue and the service would continue to serve the Orthodox congregation for decades.
The congregation's membership dwindled throughout the 1940s and 1950s, which limited services to holidays. The synagogue finally closed when it could no longer steadily gather a minyin, ten men, in 1987.
The town of Lisbon acquired the synagogue in the 1980s from the synagogue's last six members.
In 2004, the synagogue was open during "Walking Weekend" events.
Caroline Read-Burns, president of the Lisbon Historical Society and Jerome Zuckerbraun, a member of the synagogue, discussed the Orthodox congregation's rules and noted that some rules were not as strictly enforced as in the Old World.
As an Orthodox congregation, members were to walk to the synagogue, but some distant members would drive and "walk the last mile or so."
The synagogue did not use curtains to separate men and women, as was the norm for Orthodox services in Poland and Russia.
The women's seating was at a table on the right side of the sanctuary, near the door.
The structure is well-preserved, but not currently in use.
Importance
The Anshei Israel Synagogue was one of fifteen Connecticut synagogues added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995
and 1996 in response to an unprecedented multiple submission, nominating nineteen synagogues.
It is recognized as an architecturally significant example of "a small country Jewish house of worship".
Its architecture is the "epitome of simplicity" and it remains an important pre-1945 Jewish house of worship that is in a rural setting and possessing integrity in its design.
''The Day'' reflected Read-Burn's comments that the synagogue may "only one of its kind in the country".
In 2001, the building was featuring on ''Connecticut Journal'', a program of
Connecticut Public Television
Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) is the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) member network for the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting, a community-based non-profit organization that holds the licenses ...
.
In 2005, the building was in need of some repairs due to neglect and damage from squirrels.
The Lisbon Historical Society received a $5,000 grant from the Quinebaug Shetucket National Heritage Corridor to make repairs on the synagogue.
Repairs would be done to repair the structure and the electrical wiring would be replaced for free by the students at the Norwich Regional Vocational Technical School.
See also
*
References
{{Good article
20th-century synagogues in the United States
Buildings and structures in New London County, Connecticut
Lisbon, Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in New London County, Connecticut
Synagogues completed in 1936
Former synagogues in Connecticut
Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Synagogues preserved as museums