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I light candles and I go to services on Friday
night, because I know I'm Jewish and I want to keep my Jewishness.
-Goldie Atkin |
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Jewish community life has centered around its synagogues, the
education of youth in the traditions of the faith, and respect
for family in life and in death.
There were hundreds of Jewish people. We used to put a light
on if we needed a minyan in the Beth El, and people would stop
because hundreds of people would drive by to go to work downtown.
-Joel Demick
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First Commencement, Beth El Religious School, 1955
(Collection of Don Garber)
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My sister belonged to the Temple [Israel].
And my brother belonged to the Beth El. At one time, I belonged
to all three of them.... The rabbi from the Beth El said to me one
day, "How come you’re discriminating against me? You belong
there, you belong there, you don’t belong to us." So,
I decided, okay, I was going to join all three.
-Milton Kadish |
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Temple Israel Congregation, Willow St., 1932-33
(Collection of Leo and Ethel Goldberg)
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The synagogues in Waterbury
have reflected the evolution of Jewish religious practice throughout
the United States. Religious observance has taken several forms,
among them Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. These disciplines
have maintained different practices regarding appropriate dress,
such as prayer shawls and head covering; whether seating within
the synagogue is segregated by gender or permits families to sit
together; the use of music, Hebrew and English within the service;
and other issues. |
In those days, we were all younger and the
couples would come on Friday night, get babysitters for their kids.
Come to services on Friday night, have a kiddush, tea and cookies
and cake and a social hour downstairs. And people would talk and
stay until ten o'clock sometimes. From there we would go to each
other's houses if there was a very, very exciting topic that we
were involved with or if the rabbi's sermon brought it up that night…making
it so social made it necessary to go to services. And it became
like anything else you might do, it became a habit. You didn’t
say, "Are you going?" You said, "Do you want me to
pick you up?"
-Mollie Cooper Birenbaum |
I became President of the National Council
of Jewish Women.... I had voiced my opinion a number of times on
the role of women in a synagogue. I felt that they should be permitted
in the minyan and this was a time when conservative Judaism had
not yet moved ahead into that. There were some synagogues who did
permit women on the bimah. Our synagogue [Beth El] did not for a
very long time.
-Anita Rosenbaum Liebeskind |
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Beth David classroom
(Collection of Leo and Ethel Goldberg)
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Education has been highly
valued in Jewish communities, emphasizing religious training and
academic accomplishment. The establishment of Jewish schools has
been undertaken at the earliest stages of the organization of a
congregation, with great effort made to secure appropriate scholars
to teach in the schools, and great respect accorded to those who
serve as Jewish teachers. |
We had an arrangement in my home. I was able
to get to college. I, in turn, gave my salary, excepting for a very
small part, back to my parents for my sister. Saw her through and
now it was my brother's turn and he was still in school.
-Jeannette Matzkin |
| The first acts recorded
by Jewish organizations in Waterbury have been the purchase of land
for Jewish burial. These sacred resting places have been and are
protected by the descendant community even after the original sponsors
have lapsed and remain a silent testament to the long history of
the Jewish people in Waterbury. |
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We lit yahrzeit [memorial] candles in memory
of the anniversaries of the people who died in the family. When
they died... we used to bring in the religious organizations and
sit by the casket.... They were buried [from] the house. That was
the right, Jewish thing to do. We covered the mirrors, and they
had the water outside to wash your hands.
-Norman Feitelson |
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