Our History

Informally Organized between 1884, Formally Organized in 1888

We are Maine’s oldest active Jewish congregation.  Our Center Street synagogue, lost in the Great Bangor Fire in 1911, was the first synagogue built in the state.  Our congregation had its roots in a loose association of the earliest Lithuanian Jewish immigrants to Bangor, chartered as “The Independent Order of the Sons of Benjamin” in 1884, also creating a cemetery.  Meeting in homes of early members, and later in a hall on Exchange Street, for over 130 years, Congregation Beth Israel has served the Jews of northern Maine.

Review a timeline below, or view this video by Rachel Wiseman.

  • 1882

    Ezriel Lemke Allen arrives in Bangor

    Ezriel Lemke Allen, the first of Beth Israel’s founding fathers, arrived in Bangor in 1882.  A “Grodner landsman,” Ike Wolper, was peddling in the Old Town area, and induced Allen to leave Boston and seek his fortune in the more sparsely settled regions of Maine.

  • 1884

    Bangor Jews Borrow Torah from Ohavei Shalom in Boston

    For the High Holidays in 1884, Lemke Allen, Ike Wolper and Joe Bornstein, in a formal note, acknowledged they had “borrowed and received a Scroll of the Law” from Ohavei Shalom in Boston.

    1884

  • October 1888

    Beth Israel Society Created

    Joe Bernstein, Harry Cohen, Nathan Cohen, Jacob Altman, Israel Frank, Yechiel Cooperstach, Ike Wolper, Simon Kominsky, David Snyder, Ezra Sarhazy, Philip Hillson, Nathan Hillson, Marks Godlman, Israel Goldman, Joe Byer, Solomon Harris meet at the home of Lemke Allen and found Beth Israel Society.

  • 1897

    Center Street Synagogue Dedicated

    With the cornerstone laid on August 22rd, 1897, the first formal synagogue building in Bangor and Maine came to be.  The building was dedicated on December 19th, 1897.

    1897

  • April 30, 1911

    Great Bangor Fire Destroys Center Street Synagogue

  • March 9, 1913

    York Street Building Dedicated

    March 9, 1913

  • December 9, 1923

    Building Mortgage Paid

  • 1948

    Becomes Conservative Congregation

    Adopts mixed family seating during services.

    1948

  • 1949

    Rabbi Avraham Freedman

  • 1980

    Building Renovations

    1980

  • May 18, 1982

    First Conservative Rabbi Hired

    Rabbi Joseph P. Schonberger is hired as Beth Israel’s first non-Orthodox rabbi.

  • June 1985

    Women Allowed on Bima with Husbands

    While we are reflexively egalitarian today, it took time for us to grow into parity for men and women in our services.  This was, for our traditional congregation, a major step forward.

    June 1985

  • 1987

    Women Allowed to Receive Aliyot (with Husbands)

  • 1988

    Endowment Fund Created

    Endowment fund and annual appeal created by President Norman Minsky and current Board of Directors

    1988

  • 1989

    Sidney and Helen Epstein Fund Expansion

    A 4,000 square foot addition is constructed on the Adams Street side of the shul.

  • 1990

    Women Counted in Minyan

    1990

  • 1996

    Full Equality of Women in Services at CBI

  • 2020-2021

    Carol Epstein Funds Renovation of Expansion

    Following in the footsteps of her parents, Carol Epstein funds and spearheads renovation of the Epstein Complex part of the building, including moving the kitchen upstairs.

    2020-2021