Temple Anshe Amunim () is a

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

congregation and

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

located at 26 Broad Street, in

Pittsfield Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsf ...

Berkshire County Berkshire County (pronounced ) is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,026. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield. The county was founded in 17 ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, in the United States. The congregation was founded by German Jewish immigrants in 1869 as

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 ...

, and adopted Reform practice in 1879. It is the second-oldest Reform congregation in the United States and its temple is the oldest synagogue building in

Western Massachusetts Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as "western Mass," is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and univ ...

. In 1904, Anshe Amunim joined the

Union of American Hebrew Congregations The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms establ ...

. It is also affiliated with the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires.

History

A group of around 40 German Jewish immigrant families established Society Anshe Amunim in

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfi ...

in November 1869. The congregation originally subscribed to

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...

, but by 1879 had realigned itself with Reform practice. The congregation first convened in private homes and later rented space for its activities, including a building owned by founding member Moses England at Fern and North Streets. In 1927 the congregation purchased an

Adventist Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Willi ...

church building on the corner of Fern and Willis Streets and redesigned it as a temple. In 1959 the England-Blau families gifted to the temple a property at Broad Street and Wendell Avenue for the construction of a new edifice. The new temple building was completed in the summer of 1964 and formally dedicated in 1965.

Architecture

The block-like temple building, designed by architect Henry L. Blatner in the

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

style, stands atop a graded slope. The entrance is fronted by two bulky stone pillars. The effect for arriving worshippers, Blatner said, is to "symbolize the journey of Moses up Mount Sinai to receive the Tablets of the Law". The 280-seat sanctuary is topped by a circular dome which affords a view of the sky. The Ark was sculpted by Emanuel Milstein. Other facilities include a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

, library, and ten classrooms. Among the interior decorations are several boldly colored oil paintings by American painter Mark Milloff, which he donated in memory of his mother. ''The Journal of Israeli Architecture'' cited the temple building as "one of the eight synagogues of the world". The design won two awards from the

American Institute of Architecture The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

in 1964 and has featured in several books.

Programming

The temple's Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society was established in 1882; it would later become the Women for Reform Judaism. The temple's Men's Club was established in 1932. In 1887, the temple's

Sunday School ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

program was developed; it would evolve into the modern-day Religious School program. Anshe Amunim also operates a Youth Group for teens in eighth through twelfth grade. Anshe Amunim hosts the annual Hilda Vallin Feigenbaum Lecture Series, established in 1967 by Dr. Armand Feigenbaum and Dr. Donald Feigenbaum in honor of their mother. This lecture has featured prominent speakers such as author

Isaac Bashevis Singer Isaac Bashevis Singer (; 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Poland, Polish-born Jews, Jewish novelist, short-story writer, memoirist, essayist, and translator in the United States. Some of his works were adapted for the theater. He wrote and publish ...

, politicians

Barney Frank Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a retired American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Frank served as chairman of th ...

Julian Bond Horace Julian Bond (January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015) was an American social activist, leader of the civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the ea ...

, and

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, consultant, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 20 ...

, and journalists

Sander Vanocur Sander Vanocur (; born Alexander Vinocur, January 8, 1928 – September 16, 2019) was an American television journalist who focused on U.S. national electoral politics, primarily for NBC News and ABC News. Life and career Vanocur was born i ...

and

Bernard Kalb Bernard Kalb (February 4, 1922 – January 8, 2023) was an American journalist, moderator, media critic, lecturer, and author. Early life and education Kalb was born in New York City on February 4, 1922, the son of Bella (Portnoy) and Max Kalb ...

. After Donald Feigenbaum died in March 2013, the Feigenbaum Foundation created a $1 million endowment to keep the lecture series going in perpetuity. At the same time, the Foundation gifted a second $1 million endowment to contribute to the salary of the temple's rabbi. Since the 1960s, Anshe Amunim has maintained an

interfaith dialogue Interfaith dialogue, also known as interreligious dialogue, refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religion, religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spirituality, spiritual or humanism, hum ...

with the Church on the Hill, a

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

congregation in neighboring Lenox. Rabbis and priests have spoken at each other's pulpits and joined each other on missions to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. In 2013, when

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

and the first day of

Hanukkah Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd ce ...

fell on the same secular date, the church invited Rabbi Joshua Breindel of Anshe Amunim to light the

Hanukkah menorah A Hanukkah menorah, or hanukkiah, is a nine-branched candelabrum lit during the eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Eight of the nine branches hold lights (candles or oil lamps) that symbolize the eight nights of the holiday; on each night, ...

at the church's Thanksgiving dinner. Rabbi David Weiner of Congregation Knesset Israel of Pittsfield also participated. On

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., and often referred to shorthand as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed on the third Monday of January each year. King was the chief spokespers ...

, January 15, 2016, Breindel and Pastor Sheila Sholes-Ross of the First Baptist Church of Pittsfield conducted a joint worship service.

Rabbinic leadership

Rabbi Harry Kaplan, a graduate of the

Jewish Institute of Religion The Jewish Institute of Religion was an educational establishment created by Rabbi Stephen S. Wise in 1922 in New York City. While generally incorporating Reform Judaism, it was separate from the previously established Hebrew Union College. It ...

, assumed the pulpit of Anshe Amunim from 1926 to 1935. Rabbi Perry Nussbaum was the temple's spiritual leader from 1949 to 1954. Rabbi Harold I. Salzmann served as senior rabbi from 1954 to 1984; he served as Rabbi Emeritus from 2017 until his passing in 2018. Rabbi Barbara Kipnis Cohen was the temple's spiritual leader from 1994 to 2005; she was also the Director of Religious Education. Rabbi Joshua Breindel, a graduate of

Hebrew College Hebrew College is a private college of Jewish studies in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. Founded in 1921, the college conducts Jewish scholarship in a pluralistic, trans-denominational academic environment. Its president is Rabbi Sharon Cohen ...

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...

, served as the Temple's rabbi from 2009 to 2018.

References

External links