The local Reform synagogue, Temple B’nai B’rith, received restoration funds and a complete set of textbooks, audio-visual and other religious educational materials lost in the recent flood. Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler, vice president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, held meetings yesterday with local congregational leaders to determine additional assistance towards restoring the synagogue’s religious activities.
Funds are coming in from all over the country, Rabbi Schindler said, and he told of a contribution from 7 and 8 year old campers from the Jewish Community Council Camp in Skokie, Illinois, who baked cookies to raise funds for the flood victims. He turned over to the congregation leaders a check for $2500, which he indicated, was the first contribution from the UAHC’s Flood Relief Fund.
The Reform leader indicated that both young and adult members of nearby Reform synagogues have come to the community offering assistance after the flood disaster. Rabbi Schindler praised teen-age members of the UAHC Harlam Camp in Kresgeville, Pennsylvania, who helped with the city’s restoration needs.
The UAHC’s Pennsylvania Council regional director, Rabbi Lewis Bogage, provided personal assistance, mobilized others and collected funds. The Department of Synagogue Administration offered architectural guidance for restoration work. Synagogues all over the country have sent sufficient Sabbath and High Holy Day prayer books to all of the flood victim congregations. Rabbi Schindler told the assembled leaders that “we will continue to help you in the days to come until both the community and its religious life are fully restored.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
