(By our Youngstown correspondent)
Dedication of the new Temple Anshe Emeth, Conservative Congregation, will take place during this month.
Several years ago a wing of the Children of Israel Congregation withdrew and founded the Congregation Anshe Emeth Temple. Progress on the new building has been slow, the section composed of the auditorium and class rooms having been completed five years ago. When additional funds became available last summer work was resumed and now the entire structure has been completed. Prominent in this undertaking have been the Frankle brothers.
The spiritual leader of the congregation is Rabbi Eugene Kohn, who succeeded Rabbi B. H. Birnbaun upon the latter’s resignation in 1926. Rabbi Kohn is taking an active interest in local Zionist activities and directing the work of the young Judaea clubs recently organized in the city.
There is an active Zionist organization here. The successful drives of the United Palestine Appeal have been directed by Oscar Altshuler, president of the district, D. I. Fish, Samuel Drabkin and A. Kamenetsky.
Among the other functioning Jewish organizations here are the Council of Jewish Women, the B’nai Brith and the Hadassah.
Recently under the leadership of Rabbi Miller, Temple Emanuel undertook to establish a Jewish Community House. A large building was acquired for this purpose but when the venture proved too large for the congregation to handle alone it was taken over by the entire Jewish Community.
A membership drive was held in 1927 in which the membership was increased with 1300 new members. Harry Levinson was chosen to head the new organization with Max Brunswick, Nathan Grosshandler, Louis Regenstreich, president of Temple Emanuel and Clarence J. Strouss assisting him.
The Jewish community of Youngstown numbers about 8,000.
The first Jewish settlers came from Germany, arriving here in the early thirties of the nineteenth century. The descendants of the early immigrants are the most influential Jewish group in the community. They are prominent in the social and business life of the city and include Herman Ritter, I. Harry Meyer, Bert Printz, I. G. Goldsmith, Emanuel Hartzell and Julius Kahn.
The reform congregation is the city’s pioneer Jewish religious body. The temple was erected in 1913 under the leadership of the present Rabbi Dr. I. E. Philo.
An important feature of the activities of the Temple is the Annual Good Will Get Together affair participated in by the Christian leaders of the city. Dr. Dieffenback, editor of the “Christian Register” was the principal speaker upon the last occasion.
The orthodox element, mainly composed of the more recent arrivals, show great interest in Jewish communal affairs. They participate in the various Jewish drives, the B’nai Brith, Jewish education, Palestine, etc. Leaders of local activities invariably come from the ranks of the Orthodox congregations of which there are three, the Temple Emanuel, the Children of Israel and the Sharey Tzedek.
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.
