From the start, we have been a collection of individuals. Brith Sholom is not centered on any one person; this community is about the people you find here. It’s people from all walks of life working together to build something special, something uniquely Jewish.
It began with the founding in 1890 of a congregation made up of Eastern European immigrants who set up shops to serve the burgeoning population of Bethlehem Steel workers, themselves immigrants. Some of the early Jewish immigrants also worked at the Steel. They all worked hard to make a good life in this new country, provide new opportunities for their children, and contribute to the city that made all of this possible.
As a community, Brith Sholom has had its ups and downs over the years, but it’s resilient. One thing that has stayed steady is the presence of Brith Sholom, first on the Southside of Bethlehem and now in its current location on West Macada Road.
On June 17, 1889, the first Jewish congregation, Brith Sholom (which they spelled Breeth Sholom) was formed under the leadership of Joseph Morris, President, and H. Cohn, Vice President, and met in the home of Solomon Brown on the Philadelphia Pike (now Wyandotte Street).
Around the same time, teashop proprietor Yehoshua Gilles and his sons were among those who chartered a second synagogue, “Talmud Torah,” which met in Sloyer Hall – also on the Philadelphia Pike. The two synagogues, both of mainly Eastern European Jewish immigrants, tried with fits and starts to merge into a single congregation, but this wasn’t easy for them.
Following Yehoshua’s death in 1893, the two congregations at last fulfilled his dream and became one. As a community, they built what came to be known as “the 1897 Synagogue,” the cornerstone of which is on display in Brith Sholom today.
From the early 1900s and through most of that century, Bethlehem Steel was the city’s main employer. Starting in the 1910s, some of the Jewish men worked as laborers at “The Steel.”
A Jewish woman of Bethlehem was one of the first female employees. Emma Frankel was the secretary to Charles Schwab, who was the founder of Bethlehem Steel. Emma eventually moved into accounting and worked there for her full career.
Mostly, however, Jewish men and women operated shops serving the workers and their families: the Palace Theatre, Goodman’s Furniture, Phillips Sporting Goods, Podber’s, Kroope’s and many more.
Hearing other families’ tales of immigration can resonate because many families went through similar times, yet maybe your grandparents or great-grandparents didn’t share their stories of hardship or maybe adventure — but you wonder. Maybe they did share and no one wrote them down.
One Brith Sholom member, Leon Roth, in the 1980s recalled of his childhood that his family had escaped unimaginable poverty: “I will always remember the hunger and the cold,” Leon said.
Rachel Glasawitski who later became great-grandmother to one of our congregants, arrived as a teen with her parents and siblings and would go to Philadelphia by “streetcar” to buy kosher meat for the community.
Morris Black arrived as a peddler and established a business that is still going strong today. Sam Born arrived in the 1930s. With brothers-in-law Jack and Irv Shaffer and family he produced a candy brand that is still much-loved today. As a teen, Charles Schiff arrived with his two brothers; the trio came to family friends (who had already settled here) and stayed, in Charles’s case, for a lifetime. He married a lovely girl named Lena from Philadelphia and the couple raised a multi-generational family in Bethlehem.
In 1924, seeking unity and a place for their children to learn, play, and grow as Jews and as Americans, many of the Jews of Bethlehem built the Brith Sholom Community Center, a conservative synagogue and Jewish community gathering place fondly known as “the Center.” A second group of Jews around this time also built an Orthodox synagogue, Agudath Israel, known as “the Little Shul.” There was much visiting back and forth between the two, and for many years morning minyan was combined and held at the Little Shul. There were also active groups such as the Sisterhood within the Center and Hadassah in the Jewish community at large.
At the time the Center opened, there were some 200 Jewish households in Bethlehem and some 1,000 Jews here, though it was not a wealthy community. In the Great Depression of the 1930s there wasn’t even a rabbi. Instead, religious school director Abraham Weissman kept the huge building, which still stands at Brodhead and Packer Avenues, operating. Besides the fourth floor sanctuary, it included classrooms, offices, a caretaker’s apartment, a gym, and a swimming pool.
The Center and its offerings were integral to its members’ lives, but also to Bethlehemites at large, as many learned to swim there.
The 1930s to the 1950s were a kind of Golden Age for Jewish Bethlehem. Though many families were moving to the Northside, Brith Sholom continued truly as the “Center” of Jewish life.
The 1940s brought worldwide conflict and destruction in the form of World War II and the Holocaust. In 1948, when the Jewish people established a new homeland in Israel, the Bethlehem Jewish community demonstrated its solidarity and support for Israel and Diaspora Jews through rallies, United Jewish Appeal campaigns, and Israel Bond drives.
In the years following the war, as Americans once again grew strong and prospered, so did the Community Center, under the leadership of Rabbi William Frankel (1953-1964). Many of the women of the community taught in the Hebrew School and began to work in other professions such as nursing, social work, real estate, and more.
In 1955, Rabbi Frankel wrote the “History of the Early Jewish Community of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.” It appeared in the Brith Sholom Community Center 30th anniversary yearbook. The history begins with the earliest Jewish settlers and concludes with the construction of the first permanent synagogue building in 1897.
Major renovations were undertaken in the early 1960s and were intended to enable the Community Center to serve the needs of its members well into the future. On December 21, 1970, burglars broke into the Center and set fire to the building, gutting the offices and destroying many artifacts and records. The damage was repaired and a gala series of events heralded the 50th anniversary of the Brith Sholom Community Center.
Rabbi Allen Juda came to lead the congregation in 1975, at a time when both the local economy and the growth in the local Jewish population had begun to slow. “The Steel,” as it was called, was on the decline. A majority of families were now living on the north side where there was more and modern housing available; the Center had inadequate parking now that the congregation would have to drive rather than walk over. By the 1980s, it was evident that a congregational move was necessary. In 1983, we sold the Community Center building to Lehigh University, where it now is called “Mohler Lab.”
Included in the sale agreement was that Brith Sholom would gain a 5.6-acre wooded lot on the corner of Jacksonville and Macada Roads in North Bethlehem, which, in 1986, became the new home of Congregation Brith Sholom. This was conveniently near Highway 22, which connects with the Lehigh Valley’s other cities. The congregation from then on included many congregants from across the Valley and beyond.
The early 2000s saw new changes. Increasing numbers of congregants attending Shabbat and holiday services, and well-attended social, educational, and cultural programs and events, led to a renewed need for the synagogue to expand its physical structure, programming, and activities.
The culmination of a successful fundraising campaign in 2001 not only made possible this expansion, with additions to the social hall, kitchen, and parking areas, but also strengthened the synagogue in other ways, providing for continued growth for future generations.
After 39 years of religious and communal leadership, Rabbi Allen Juda retired. The vibrant Rabbi Michael Singer arrived in 2014, and Congregation Brith Sholom continues to grow and thrive. Rabbi Michael Singer says of the community, “We treasure what is past and look forward to a bright future.”
In 2024, Brith Sholom celebrated the centennial of the groundbreaking of the original Brith Sholom building (the Brith Sholom Community Center in south Bethlehem). The celebrations began January 1, 2024 with a “Roaring ’20s” party and continued with a progression of parties and storytelling throughout the year. We happily welcomed friends, extended family, and elected leaders throughout the year for this major occasion.
There’s much more to this story. We invite you to join us and discover for yourself the rich history and wonderful community.
As one member said, “You feel it in your heart; you know when it’s the right place” – one that, in her experience and many others – “completes your identity as a person. Until then, you’re incomplete.”
