Congregation B'nai Israel (Millburn, New Jersey)

B'nai Israel is an architecturally notable Conservative synagogue in Millburn, New Jersey.

It was founded in 1924, and hired Max Gruenewald as rabbi in 1946. He had been the rabbi of the Haupt Synagogue in Mannheim, Germany when it was destroyed during the Kristallnacht pogrom of 1938. In 1950, two stones from the Haupt Synagogue were retrieved and placed in the walls of the sanctuary.[1] Rabbi Gruenewald served the congregation until his 1970 retirement, and also ran the Leo Baeck Institutes in New York, London, and Jerusalem.[2]

Percival Goodman's design for B'nai Israel, constructed in 1951, has been called "the first truly modern synagogue",[3] and "a revolutionary moment in American synagogue design."[4][5] Goodman became known for his integration of modern sculpture and art into modernist buildings.[6]

Adolph Gottlieb designed the curtain for the Torah Ark, Robert Motherwell designed a mural, and Herbert Ferber created an exterior sculpture for the new building.[7][8] Goodman's use of cutting-edge artists caused a sensation in the American Jewish community, causing other congregations to rush to commission modernist buildings with works of art by contemporary artists.[7] Motherwell's preparatory study for his mural is in the collection of The Jewish Museum in New York.[9] The Gottlieb-designed curtain for the Torah Ark was stitched by the women of the congregation.[10] Gottlieb's wife supervised the sewing of the curtain, which was made of velvet in two-tiers, with appliqués and metallic thread embroidery. By 1987, the curtain required extensive (and expensive) restoration, and the congregation decided to donate it to the Jewish Museum, which carried out the restoration and displays the curtain in special exhibitions.[11][12]

In 2009, historic preservationists objected to renovation plans thought likely to negatively impact the building’s architectural integrity.[1][13] The Motherwell and Ferber artworks were taken down for the renovation, and loaned to The Jewish Museum in New York for an exhibition reuniting them with the original Gottlieb curtain.[4][5]

As of 2016, the rabbi is Steven Bayar and the cantor is Lorna Wallach.[14]

References
  1. Mike Rispoli, "Renovations to Percival Goodman-designed synagogue raises ire", The Star-Ledger, March 24, 2009.
  2. "Max Gruenewald, 93, A Rabbinical Scholar", The New York Times, December 29, 1992.
  3. George James, Places of the Heart; Historic Houses of Worship, From Soaring Spires to Simple Quaker Meeting Houses, The New York Times, March 28, 1999; see also Matthew Baigell, Jewish Art in America: An Introduction, p.108 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006).
  4. "New Exhibition at the Jewish Museum Focuses on Abstract Art and Modern Synagogue Architecture" Archived 2010-08-31 at the Wayback Machine, The Jewish Museum website, March 1, 2010, accessed March 19, 2010.
  5. John Zeaman, "Jewish Museum exhibits modern art commissioned by Millburn congregation nearly 60 years ago", The Star-Ledger, March 18, 2010.
  6. Michael Z. Wise, "America's Most Prolific Synagogue Architect Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine," The Forward, March 9, 2001.
  7. Jewish art in America: an introduction, Matthew Baigell, Rowman & Littlefield, 2006, p. 108.
  8. Janay Jadine Wong, "Synagogue art of the 1950s: a new context for abstraction," Art Journal (Winter 1994)
  9. Tablets of Moses, Jacob's Ladder and Burning Bush, The Jewish Museum website, accessed March 19, 2010.
  10. Caroline T. Cobb, William Halsey: Abstract Expressionist in the South Archived 2008-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 19, 2010.
  11. Michelle Falkenstein, "Jersey Footlights", The New York Times, July 18, 2004.
  12. Torah Ark Curtain, The Jewish Museum website, accessed March 19, 2010.
  13. Goodman-designed synagogue in Millburn faces questionable renovation, April 3, 2009.
  14. Congregation B'nai Israel website, accessed November 21, 2010.

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