Located on Pacific Avenue # 901. This Shul is directly across from the famous Taj Mahal casino and resort and the contrast between the two is pretty drastic. At one point this shul housed over a thousand people with a social hall and a senior citizens wing right next door. Atlantic City had a very large pre-casino Jewish population, with many Jewish owned restaurants, butcher shops and hotels. With the coming of the hotels and casinos the Jewish population moved as did the shuls. Rodef Shalom another Shul once located in the same area remains the only Orthodox shul still in service on the other side of town. This conservative Shul remains in it's location, the future unclear, but in the meantime a reminder of what was once a very strong (albeit secular) Jewish commmunity.
The Rabbi was Rabbi Aaron Krauss who led the congregation for 21 years, now heads the Beth El shul in Margate.
My great-grandfather Joe Shapiro founded the synagogue in the 1920's. It had a massive and beautiful sanctuary. It was probably the first conservative synagogue where men and women sat together as when Joe was showing where the woman would sit (in the balcony), my great grandmother said that since she helped raise the money to build it, she would be sitting with her husband in the good seats. And you did not argue with Rachel Shapiro!
ReplyDeleteWonderful memories of Benny the jitney-driving shofar blower, Rebbisten Rose Weilerstein who wrote the K'ton ton books, the whispers and then the announcement by Rabbi Krauss about the horrible news on Yom Kippur in 1973, my grandmother who was supposed to keep my brother and me quiet but making us laugh during services. And Rabbi Krauss, always there for a wise and kind word.
My dad in the early 1970's begged the board to move the synagogue downbeach but they could not get their act together. The memorials and torahs were moved to Beth El in Margate and the building was razed. Sad.
Paul Greenberg