Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek is a Reform synagogue in
Chester, Connecticut
Chester is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,749 at the 2020 census. The town center is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place (CDP). The name is a transfer from Chester, in Engl ...
. The congregation is noted for the architecture of its "spectacular" building.
History
Congregation Rodfe Zedek was founded in
Moodus, Connecticut
Moodus is a village in the town of East Haddam, Connecticut, United States. The village is the basis of a census-designated place (CDP) of the same name. The population of the CDP was 1,982 as of the census of 2020.
History
Prior to its purchas ...
in 1905. The fledgling congregation purchased and worshipped in a small, eighteenth-century house before building its first, modest synagogue in 1915.
Congregation Beth Shalom was founded in the 1930s. Calling itself the Jewish Community Center of Middlesex County, it worshipped at first in the home of chicken farmer and founder Isadore Romanof, then in a room in the
Deep River Public Library in
Deep River, Connecticut
Deep River is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, Middlesex County, Connecticut. The population was 4,415 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The Deep River Center, Connecticut, town center is designated by the U. ...
. In 1942 the congregation purchased a former church building for use as a synagogue.
The two congregations merged in the 1990s and in 1998 began plans to build a new synagogue.
Building
The congregation's building was designed by a congregation member, the noted artist
Sol LeWitt
Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including conceptual art and minimalism.
LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" (a term he pref ...
in close collaboration with architect Stephen Lloyd. LeWitt conceived the "airy" synagogue building, with its shallow dome supported by "exuberant wooden roof beams" an homage to the
Wooden synagogues of eastern Europe.
[ART; Art Takes a Prominent Spot In Chester's New Synagogue,
By WILLIAM ZIMMER,
New York Times, December 9, 200]
/ref>[Synagogue architecture in America: faith, spirit & identity,
By Henry Stolzman, Daniel Stolzman, Tami Hausman
Images Publishing, 2004, pp. 241-3] The spacious foyer is designed to be used as an art gallery, and has hosted exhibits by contemporary artists including Jane Logemann.
External links
*http://www.cbsrz.org/
References
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Buildings and structures in Middlesex County, Connecticut
Chester, Connecticut
Reform synagogues in Connecticut
Synagogues completed in 1998
1998 establishments in Connecticut