History

Temple Emanu-El was founded in 1964 by Rabbi Morton J. Cohn. The first members were 10 to 15 families drafted during a door to door search for Jewish families in the College area by Rabbi Cohn, who had been the rabbi at Temple Beth Israel.

During the early years, Mort and Sally Cohn headed a "Mom and Pop" operation. Sally led the Sisterhood and fundraising efforts and Mort did everything from Friday evening Bar and Bat Mitzvahs to tying the Temple bulletin. Board meetings were held at a bank and fistfights were not unusual during heated discussions of Temple business.

Martin S. Lawson was hired as the Assistant Rabbi in 1976, when Temple Emanu-El had grown to 120 families. Rabbi Lawson had been the Assistant Rabbi at The Temple in Atlanta, Georgia, a congregation of 1,400 families, which was actually featured in the movie "Driving Miss Daisy".

Rabbi Cohn happily welcomed assistance in the physically demanding tasks of taking down the crosses from and schlepping the arks to Rolando Methodist Church every week. Rabbi Lawson ran the Torah School and initiated the first teacher-training program. When Rabbi Lawson and Steve Saltzman built the first puppet theater in 1977, a tradition was born that led to the arrival of many new families to Temple Emanu-El.

The Temple's current site was purchased in 1978, the year Rabbi Cohn retired. The building consisted of the current social hall and a smaller version of the sanctuary. The summer of 1978 was spent refurbishing the "new facility, which was in such a state of disrepair congregants preferred to hold Friday evening services outdoors. Temple Emanu-El was now gaining a reputation for dynamic programs and leadership, resulting in a gain of 100 new families in the summer of 1978. As membership grew, the existing facility became inadequate. Space was rented at Hearst Elementary and Patrick Henry High for Torah and Hebrew School.

By the early 1980's, membership of 250 to 300 families necessitated a long-range master plan for enlargement. The resulting plan and campaign spanned 1984 through 1989. Phase 1 was completed in 1990, consisting of new classrooms and offices. The Price Family Preschool opened in September 1990, inaugurating use of the new facilities.

The road to completion of Phase 1, was literally and figuratively a "rocky" one, as dinosaur-size boulders, undetected in soil studies, were discovered and removed with dynamite. The $400 per hour cost to remove the boulders was one of the many trials presented to the Temple's leadership during the Phase 1, which eventually exceeded original cost projections by $400,000. Implementation of Phase 2 - a new sanctuary, social hall, kitchen, bride's room, storage facility, memorial area, lobby, and courtyard were completed in September of 2008.

The evolution of Temple Emanu-El from the first 15 families to the current membership of over 500 families has resulted in a more sophisticated organizational structure. Rabbi Lawson and the board have implemented a committee foundation for responding to the needs of the Temple. Committees gather information and make recommendations to the board of directors on issues ranging from personnel to fundraising and educational programs. Collaboration among the board, committees, staff and the congregation at large is apparent.

Click on the link below to download a copy of Temple Emanu-El's Bylaws.