Back to Congregation Brith Sholom
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The Beginnings | |
The Synagogue on French Street | |
Growth | |
The Center | |
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On November 29, 1897, a charter for a synagogue was approved by a local judge and recorded December 28 of that year...Congregation Brith Sholom was born.
In the early years of our Congregation, the place of worship was relatively unimportant, meetings and services taking place in various homes and rented halls. The first few years of the new century were spent looking for a suitable lot to build a shul or for such a building. Growing pains in the early days of our congregation came mostly from the quest for places to meet and the money necessary to sustain such places.
In August 1901 the first building was purchased at 324 East 18th Street. The wave of immigrants to this country in the early 1900s included Erie---and the Congregation increased so much by 1906 that once again the leaders were looking for a new location for their shul.
By 1904 the Congregation had become more firmly structured, sophisticated, and appreciative of their women. A committed was appointed for the purpose of collecting donations for a mikvah which was to be built at the shul as soon as there was enough money to go on. This mikvah, although mentioned frequently throughout the century, was never built.
In the summer of 1905 the leaders decided to sell the shul property to "build or buy one in a better location to suit everybody." Accordingly, in February 1906, the "Brith Sholom Church," as it was called, was sold, and the congregation moved to a lot on French Street, between 7th and 8th Streets. Building committees who were appointed were discharged with appreciation. Despite flaring temps, the constant influx of new people from different cultures, the struggle to stabilize life in a foreign country, despite the long working hours and the difficulty to earn a difficult living, this dedicated and determined group achieved their aims.