Congregation B'nai Israel The Rose Street Shul

In the late 1800's, several Jewish families in the Congress Avenue, Washington Avenue,Commerce Street and York Street area felt the need to establish an additional orthodox congregation. The existing synagogues were already overcrowded with the great influx of Jewish immigrants in the 1880's following the Russian pogroms. In 1891 they formed a group for the purpose of worship and study, praying in private homes and hiring a teacher for their Chevra Mishnais.

In June of 1892 the group purchased land for a Cemetery in Hamden's Highwood section under the name "Chevra Benai Israel." Articles of Association were filed with the State of Connecticut on July 1, 1892 as the Congregation Benai Israel. Israel L. Sachs was elected as their first Rabbi. He continued to serve the congregation until 1896. Their first president, who had already been serving since the formation of the "Chevra" was Samuel D. Pickus.

In December of 1894 the congregation purchased a house at 10 Rose Street and construction of a synagogue building started that winter. The following year, in 1895, the then largest orthodox synagogue in New Haven was dedicated. It would be known as the "Rose Street Shul." Mrs. Rachel Hurwitz (known as Bobbe Rashe), a midwife and keeper of the Mikveh, donated the first Torah to the new Shul.

The Synagogue suffered financial problems during those early years. Their primary sources of income were from the sale of seats and dues which had been set at 10 cents per member per week. in 1901, under the leadership of president Joseph Racow, the group reorganized. It became the Congregation Beth Hamedrosh Hagodol B'nai Israel and refinanced through the Middletown Savings Bank.

B'nai Israel remained the largest orthodox synagogue in the area for many years. Many well-known and respected Rabbis such as Abraham A. Rosen and Judah H. Levenberg, and Cantors such as the renowned Cantor Malavsky and Charles Sudock at one time made the congregation their home. It was rare indeed that a visiting orthodox Rabbi or Cantor of distinction left New Haven without delivering a sermon or "davening" at Rose Street.

Over the years, the Synagogue maintained a religious school, an active Sisterhood, a Chevra Mishnais, Chevra Chayai Adam and Ain Yaakov and a Chevra T'hillim.

The Oak Street Renewal Project and College Street Extension claimed B'nai Israel's building in 1957. The last services were held there during Sukkoth of that year. Population shifts and ideological differences led to the splitting of the congregation, with one group becoming the Congregation Beth El (Conservative). The other, maintaining orthodoxy, remained B'nai Israel and met regularly at the Cedar Street School for several years under the guidance of the late Rabbi Aaron Shuchatowitz, who had served the congregation since 1935.

Finally, after abandoning plans to build a new synagogue on Howard Avenue, the Congregation B'nai Israel with Lewis Berman as president, merged with the Beth Hamedrosh Westville Synagogue on March 27, 1974.

Werner S. Hirsch