Temple House of Israel

Temple House of Israel was founded in 1876 in Staunton, Virginia by Major Alexander Hart,Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 16, p. 164. who had fought for the Confederate States of America in the American Civil War.Rosen (2000), p. 362. Hart served as the congregation's president and minister until at least 1893.Ginsberg (1969), p. 85.

Services were held in members' homes for more than eight years. In 1884 the congregation acquired the Hoover School building at 200 Kalorama Street,Our History, Temple House of Israel website. at the corner of Market Street,American Jewish Year Book, Vol. 1, p. 267. and in February 1885 began holding services there. The building still stands, diagonally opposite the Hotel 24 South. That same year the synagogue joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism).

The congregation purchased land north of Staunton for a cemetery in 1886, and held its first burial there in 1887. The cemetery, on North Augusta Street between Woodland Drive and Lee Street, is still used for burials today.Staunton: Augusta County, International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies website.

At the turn of the 20th century, House of Israel had no rabbi, but held services twice a week, Friday nights from 8:00 to 9:00 pm, and Saturday from 10:30 to 11:30 am. The congregation also ran a religious school.American Jewish Year Book, Vol. 2, p. 482. By 1907 Staunton's Jewish population was an estimated 40 people. House of Israel had fifteen member families, and still held services twice a week. However, the congregation still had no rabbi, and the religious school no longer functioned.American Jewish Year Book, Vol. 9, p. 422.

Fannie Barth Strauss, instructor and later assistant professor of Latin and German at Mary Baldwin College from 1918 to 1954, re-established the Hebrew school at House of Israel in 1916.Morton (1964), p. 965. In 1919, though the synagogue still had no rabbi, the school held classes once a week, and had two teachers and twelve students.American Jewish Year Book, Vol. 21, p. 576. Strauss would serve as the school's principal from its re-establishment until at least 1964, and also served as the synagogue's treasurer from 1946 until at least 1964.

By 1924 the congregation had outgrown its Kalorama Street building, and it purchased a lot at 115 North Market Street from Mary Baldwin College for $7,150 (today ${{formatnum:{{inflation|US|7150|1924|r=-3}}}}).Temple House of Israel website. Sam Collins of T.J. Collins and son designed a new Moorish Revival building there,Troubetzkoy (2004), p. 112. constructed at a cost of $17,000 (today ${{formatnum:{{inflation|US|17000|1925|r=-3}}}}).

The one-story stucco building had a twin gable roof with 3 bays. Decorated with "Early Assyrian motifs", the facade presented "[f]lanking twin towers with suppressed buttresses", and a "[l]arge arched opening in [the] central bay, supported by unusual columns",Gospel Hill Historic District Nomination Form, National Register of Historic Places, p. 26. and included Mercer tiles. All the windows, and a glass screen, were created by Charles Jay Connick of Boston, who also created famous windows for a number of religious buildings, including the rose windows of St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City. The windows (sixteen in total) and screen cost $700 (today ${{formatnum:{{inflation|US|700|1924|r=-3}}}}), and featured fruits or plants grown in the Land of Israel, including "olives, grapes, citron, pomegranate, and others".

In 1947, a kitchen and small social hall were constructed at the back of the building, and a south bay was added to the sanctuary; Sam Collins was again the architect. To provide more room for the religious school, the social hall was expanded in 1965. The building was a contributing property to the successful 1984 National Register of Historic Places nomination of Gospel Hill as a historic district.

During the early 1970s, Frank M. Waldorf was the congregation's rabbi. He went on to serve for 30 years as rabbi at Temple Sinai in Brookline, Massachusetts.Rabbi Emeritus Frank M. Waldorf, Temple Sinai Brookline website. After Waldorf, Temple House of Israel entered into a "joint rabbi" arrangement with Congregation Beth El of Harrisonburg, Virginia, where rabbis would serve for two-thirds of their time at Beth El, and the rest at House of Israel.Harrisonburg, Virginia, Institute of Southern Jewish Life (2017). The first rabbi hired under this arrangement was Robert Kraus (also in the early 1970s).

The congregation remained small; in 1983, membership was only 28 families.Rosen (1983), p. 419. That year Douglas D. Weber was hired as rabbi of both Temple House of Israel and Beth El, and the "joint rabbi" arrangement became "permanent".Central Conference of American Rabbis Ninety-Third Annual Convention (1984), p. 410. From 1984 to 1988 Lynne Landsberg filled that role.Amann (2005).Rabbi Lynn F. Landsberg, St. James Episcopal Church of Richmond Virginia website. The 30th female rabbinic graduate of the Union for Reform Judaism, she had previously served as student rabbi at Temple House of Israel from 1979 to 1981, then as associate rabbi of Manhattan's Central Synagogue until 1984.Calello (2017) She subsequently took on a number of roles at the Union for Reform Judaism, and, after a serious and disabling accident in 1999, became the senior adviser on disability issues at the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism.

Rabbis Daniel Fink and Laura Rappaport jointly led Temple House of Israel and Beth El from 1988 to 1992. During the 1990s the two congregations were served by Jonathan Biatch, then Jacqueline Romm Satlow,Clergy, Temple Beth El Madison website. followed, from 1997 to 2003, by Ariel J. Friedlander as rabbi.

File:Montes-Bradley and Rita Dove.jpg and Eduardo Montes-Bradley in the Temple House of Israel sanctuary for the filming of Rita Dove: An American Poet]]

In 2003, Joe Blair became the rabbi of Temple House of Israel and Beth El;Meet the Rabbi, Beth El Congregation website. the two congregations combined had 120 member families.Mitchell (2008-07-19).About us, Temple House of Israel website. Blair received B.A. and Master of Computer Science degrees from the University of Virginia, and a Juris Doctor from The College of William & Mary Law School.MBC news, October 12, 2004. After working in the computer field for 15 years, and briefly as a general practice attorney, he returned to school, attending the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, from which he graduated with a Masters in Hebrew Letters in 1996.Meet Rabbi Joe Blair, Temple House of Israel website. In 2004 he was appointed an adjunct professor of religion at Mary Baldwin College. A member of Toastmasters International, to which he attributed his speaking abilities,Bowman (2006). he also moderated a conversion forum on Jewish.com.Trent (2008). In 2008 Blair was one of 18 rabbis chosen nationally to participate in the Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal elite training program.Graham (2008-07-03). Blair left Temple House of Israel in 2018, to become the rabbi of Temple Israel of Charleston, West Virginia.Kersey (2018).

Peter Grumbacher joined as part-time interim rabbi in 2018.Calello (2018). After receiving his ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1972, he served as full-time rabbi of Congregation Beth Emeth in Wilmington, Delaware until his retirement in 2009, and subsequently as interim rabbi of Beth El Congregation in Winchester, Virginia.Rabbi Grumbacher, Temple House of Israel website. Rabbi Randi Nagel was elected as Rabbi of the congregation in 2019.

Temple House of Israel served as a location for the documentary film Rita Dove: An American Poet produced by Heritage Film Project. Filming took place in December 2013.Montes-Bradley.

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{{Synagogues in the United States}}

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Category:National Register of Historic Places in Staunton, Virginia

Category:Moorish Revival architecture in Virginia

Category:Moorish Revival synagogues

Category:Reform synagogues in Virginia

Category:Jewish organizations established in 1876

Category:1876 establishments in Virginia

Category:Synagogues completed in 1925

Category:1925 establishments in Virginia

Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States

Category:Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia

Category:Historic district contributing properties in Virginia