Temple B'rith Kodesh (Rochester, New York)

Temple B'rith Kodesh is a Reform synagogue in Rochester, New York. It is the oldest synagogue and the largest Reform congregation in the greater Rochester area.[1]

History

Temple B'rith Kodesh was founded in 1848 as an Orthodox congregation with 12 members.[2][3] By 1894 the congregation had grown to over 250 members and a building was purchased in downtown Rochester. During this period, a gradual change from Orthodoxy to Reform began.[4] On Simchat Torah in 1962 a new building in the suburb of Brighton was dedicated.

Felix A. Levy was rabbi of the Temple from 1907 to 1908.[5]

Architecture

The Temple's current building was designed by architect Pietro Belluschi. The sanctuary is roofed with a domed wooden drum intended to evoke the Wooden synagogues of Poland.[6][7] Sculptor Luise Kaish was commissioned to create the Temple's ark, which Samuel Gruber calls “one of the major works of the last half century . . . even today the presence of Kaish’s figures on the ark is an exciting shock” in American Synagogues: A Century of Architecture and Jewish Community.[8]

Menorah collection

The Temple has a collection of menorahs by artists including Salvador Dalí.[9]

Image

References
  1. Affirming the Covenant, by Peter Eisenstadt, 1999
  2. Affirming the Covenant, by Peter Eisenstadt, 1999
  3. Olitzky, Kerry M.; Raphael, Marc Lee. The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook, Greenwood Press, June 30, 1996, pp. 267–268.
  4. "TBK History - Temple B'rith Kodesh".
  5. Landman, Isaac, ed. (1942). The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York, N.Y.: The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Inc. p. 10 – via Google Books.
  6. The Blueprint: How a 1959 book changed the architecture of American synagogues, Samuel D. Gruber, Nextbook, 01.07.09
  7. "Temple B'rith Kodesh, Rochester, NY - Our Building". www.tbk.org. Archived from the original on 2007-11-05.
  8. Gruber, Samuel (2003). American Synagogues: A Century of Architecture and Jewish Community. Rizzoli. ISBN 9780847825493. American Synagogues: A Century of Architecture and Jewish Community.
  9. http://www.tbk.org/_kd/go.cfm?destination=Page&Pge_ID=1218

43°7′28.2″N 77°34′45.9″W

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