Temple Beth-El 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 ...

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 5 Old Mill Road in the village of

Great Neck Great Neck is a region contained within Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, which covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine incorporated villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Poin ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, Nassau County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, in the United States. Founded in 1928, it is the oldest synagogue in Great Neck. , it had a membership of 875 families. Since 2023, the senior rabbi is A. Brian Stoller. Their cantor emerita is Lisa Hest, the mother of singer-songwriter

Ari Hest Ari Hest (born June 16, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter from the Bronx borough of New York. Early life and education Hest's father is a college music professor and his mother a cantor. His older brother, Danny, is Hest's former manager ...

History

The temple was founded in 1928 when 86 organizing members began meeting at local church. Rabbi David Goodis served as the congregation's first rabbi, but was in that role only briefly before he died in 1930. His successor, Rabbi Jacob Phillip Rudin, served for four decades establishing the temple as one of the most prominent synagogues in the United States. The temple erected its original building on Old Mill Road in 1932. The temple began an adult study program that later became a

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...

extension program. The building expanded in 1950, and again in 1970. Rabbi Rudin retired in 1971; Rabbi Jerome Davidson, who had been assistant rabbi since 1958, took over and served as senior rabbi until 2007. Rabbi Davidson's son, Rabbi Joshua Davidson, born in the Great Neck congregation, went on to lead

Congregation Emanu-El of New York Congregation Emanu-El of New York is the first Reform Jewish congregation in New York City. It has served as a flagship congregation in the Reform branch of Judaism since its founding in 1845. The building it uses – (called " Temple Em ...

. Some members of the congregation left in 1940 to form a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

synagogue, Temple Israel of Great Neck, which was led for many years by the prominent rabbi

Mordecai Waxman Mordecai Waxman, KCSG (February 25, 1917, in Albany – August 10, 2002, in Great Neck, New York), was a rabbi in the Conservative Jewish movement for nearly 60 years. He served as rabbi of Temple Israel in Great Neck, New York for 55 years from ...

. A Reform spinoff, Temple Emanuel of Great Neck, formed in 1953. The original Temple building was enlarged three times during the past 60 years. It went through drastic renovation due to a fire that damaged some of the property. Since the fire, Temple Beth-El has continued to go through renovations. In 1994 the congregation hired Karen Bender, a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

, as an assistant rabbi. When she and her life partner decided to celebrate a

commitment ceremony A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicities, races, religions, denominations, countries, social classes, and sexual orientations. Most wedding ...

in California, Davidson agreed to officiate at a blessing ceremony at Temple Beth-el. Controversy within the congregation over this decision led to Davidson's well-publicized decision not only to continue to officiate for gay unions, but also to begin officiating at interfaith weddings and to push for the Reform rabbinate to pursue means of Jewish support for mixed marriages. Temple Beth-El of Great Neck has a rich cantorial tradition. Cantors who have served at the temple include: John P. Hardt, Robert Harmon, Robert Bloch, and Barbara Ostfeld, the first woman to be ordained a cantor. Additionally, Temple Beth-El of Great Neck's Early Childhood Education Center is award winning and led by Karen Wasserman.

Notable members

* Sol Atlas (1907–1973), real estate developer *

Oscar Brand Oscar Brand (February 7, 1920 – September 30, 2016) was a Canadian-born American folk singer-songwriter, radio host, and author. In his career, spanning 70 years, he composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums, among them Can ...

(1920–2016) American-Canadian singer * Joshua Davidson, a rabbi who led

Erica Groshen Erica Lynn Groshen (born August 6, 1954) is the former Commissioner of Labor Statistics and head of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the independent, principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad fields of labor e ...

(1954–) Former Commissioner of Labor Statistics and head of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics * Sidney Jacobson (1918–2005), American businessman *

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. He has sometimes been called an "anti-humor, anti-comedian". He disdained telling jokes and engaging in comedy as it was tra ...

(1949–1984) Comedian and actor *

Alfred J. Koeppel Alfred J. Koeppel (September 14, 1932 – January 19, 2001) was an American real estate executive and attorney. Koeppel was a member of one of the oldest real estate families in New York, and a board chairman at Trinity College (Connecticut), Tr ...

(1932–2001), real estate developer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beth-El (Great Neck, New York) 1928 establishments in New York (state) 20th-century synagogues in the United States Great Neck Peninsula Jewish organizations established in 1928 Reform synagogues in New York (state) Synagogues in Nassau County, New York Synagogues completed in 1932