'Congregation on the move' celebrates centennial

MUNSTER | Generations of Reform Jews from the Calumet Region have called Temple Beth-El their spiritual home, and Saturday the yearlong celebration of the synagogue's 100th anniversary will culminate with a dinner and musical entertainment.

"We've been celebrating for a year. Each month highlighted a decade," said Rabbi Michael Stevens of the congregation.

Throughout that year, art exhibits and performances at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts in Munster have focused on the contributions of Jewish songwriters who created the American musical theater and some of America's most enduring melodies.

An American Library Association traveling exhibit debuted at the art center Sept. 11. A Fine Romance: Jewish Songwriters, American Songs, 1910-1965 showcased talents of Jewish composers Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Harold Arlen and Lerner and Lowe.

Friday's centennial shabbat or Sabbath service featured guest speaker Rabbi Dan Freelander, senior vice president of the Union for Reform Judaism in New York. His selection as a speaker was right in step with Temple Beth-El's salute to the Jewish contribution to American musical history.

Freelander is the composer of some of the music performed Friday by the Temple Beth-El adult and junior choirs under the direction of Nancy Friedman.

Saturday's gala dinner will feature entertainment by the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band from Chicago. Klezmer is a Yiddish musical tradition of the Ashkenzaic Jews of Eastern Europe, and features such instruments as violin, clarinet, saxophone, piano, accordion and drums.

During Saturday's celebration a 20-minute video will be unveiled "encapsulating the history of the congregation," Stevens said.

Temple Beth-El remains a warm and friendly congregation 100 years after its founding Sept. 18, 1911, he said.

"It would not be an exaggeration to say that Temple Beth-El is a congregation on the move," he said.

After incorporating as a Reform congregation in 1911, services and Hebrew school were held in rented facilities in Hammond. Following World War I, Temple Beth-El shared a facility with Knesseth Israel.

In 1924, Temple Beth-El set off on its own, purchasing the W.B. Conkey Mansion at the corner of Hohman Avenue and Mason Street in Hammond, where the congregation worshiped for the next 30 years.

By 1953, the congregation had grown so much that a new building was planned. On March 25, 1955, the first service was held in the sanctuary of the new Temple Beth-El at 6947 Hohman Ave.

As the needs of the congregation again changed, the Temple Beth-El membership voted to build a new spiritual home at 10001 Calumet Ave. in Munster.

"Today we have over 200 member households representing a broad spectrum of Reform Jews, including many interfaith families," Stevens said. "Blessed with a dedicated professional staff and beautiful facilities, our story continues to evolve."