2 Area Synagogues Join Together

WINDSOR/SOUTH WINDSOR, CT — Two area synagogues have joined together.

Last week, Congregation Beth Ahm, located at 362 Palisado Ave. in Windsor closed its doors after 68 years and merged with Temple Beth Hillel, located at 20 Baker Lane in South Windsor.

“Decline in membership and changes in demographics in the area were some of the reasons for Congregation Beth Ahm’s difficult decision to close, but our members’ relationships and determination to stay together are strong,” explains Marla Adelsberger, a member of Congregation Beth Ahm’s Executive Committee who has belonged to the synagogue for her entire life. “For the past year, members of our Board have visited other area synagogues, seeking another congregation with which we could be compatible, both spiritually and socially.”

“From our earliest conversations and visits to Temple Beth Hillel, we knew there was a special connection,” says Adelsberger. “Over the past few months, many of our congregants have attended their services and special events and agree that this is a very good fit.”

Congregation Beth Ahm was founded in 1951 by 16 Jewish families and was then known as The Jewish Community of Greater Windsor. Initially, the group held services and started a religious school at a local church, waiting for the Synagogue’s own facility to be constructed. In September 1960, Congregation Beth Ahm finally opened the doors at a newly built building in its current location at 362 Palisado Avenue in the heart of the Windsor Historic District.

“It has been an honor and pleasure to be a part of the team dedicated to bringing the two synagogues together,” says Jason Wasserman, President of Temple Beth Hillel in South Windsor. “The Congregation Beth Ahm members I’ve met already feel like family and I’m looking forward to our future together as we join hands and walk into this new adventure.”

Temple Beth Hillel was formed in 1960 and moved into its current building on the corner of Governors Highway and Baker La. in South Windsor in 2000, carrying a Torah from the old building to the new. Affiliated with the Union of Reform Judaism, the synagogue holds services in English and Hebrew, has an active religious school, and is very involved in social action and social justice.

Rabbi Jeffrey Glickman has been the religious leader of Temple Beth Hillel since 1996 and is an active member of the Greater Hartford community. “We welcome our new members as part of our family,” he states. “Both congregations are looking forward to this exciting new chapter in our lives.”

With the closing of the Windsor synagogue, Rabbi Alan Lefkowitz, Congregation Beth Ahm’s religious leader for the past 19 years, will become the Chaplain of The Hebrew Center for Health & Rehabilitation (formerly the Hebrew Home) in West Hartford and will serve as Rabbi for Hoffman Summerwood in West Hartford. He will continue in his role as the Jewish Chaplain at the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain, as Rabbi at Seabury in Bloomfield, and a Chaplain of the Connecticut House of Representatives in Hartford.

On June 24, in a symbolic act of blending, a Torah Tiyul (walk) stepped off Congregation Beth Ahm in Windsor as members of both congregations carried a Torah scroll along the 10-mile route to Temple Beth Hillel in South Windsor.

Photo Credit: Temple Beth El