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Temple Emanuel Sinai (Hebrew: עִמָנוּאֵל סִינַי, ''God is with us Sinai'') is a medium-sized Reform (progressive) Jewish synagogue located in Worcester, Massachusetts, New England's second largest city (population 181,045). A product of the 2013 integration of Worcester's two original Reform congregations (Temple Emanuel and Temple Sinai), the synagogue traces its roots to 1921 and is affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), a network of over 900 progressive congregations representing the largest denomination (38%) of affiliated American Jews. The congregation worships and studies in a pair of buildings at 661 Salisbury Street, adjacent to the Worcester Jewish Community Center, where Temple Sinai acquired property for its permanent home in 1962. Temple Emanuel's building at 280 May Street was sold to the Worcester State University Foundation in 2013, though the terms of the sale allowed the congregation to use the building for two additional years, until June 2015.〔O'Connell, Scott. "Worcester State completes purchase of former Temple Emanuel" Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Jun 25 2015.〕 Planning to determine a final siting for the synagogue concluded during the fall of 2014, resulting in a plan to expand and renovate the Temple Sinai facility at 661 Salisbury Street (rather than share a campus with Conservative Congregation Beth Israel at Beth Israel's location on Jamesbury Drive).〔Temple Emanuel Sinai Community News, Vol. 2 No. 2, October 2014.〕 Temple Emanuel Sinai's first rabbi, Matthew Berger, also served as the last rabbi of Temple Emanuel, who hired him in 2009. In February 2014, Rabbi Valerie Cohen, spiritual leader since 2003 at Jackson, Mississippi's Beth Israel Congregation accepted an offer to replace Berger at the end of his contract in June 2014.〔Anonymous. "Rabbi Cohen leaving Jackson's Beth Israel, "J.C." leaving Jacobs Camp" Southern Jewish Life. Feb 24 2014.〕 A near-unanimous vote in favor of ratifying Rabbi Cohen's contract was held during a special congregational meeting at the May Street campus on March 9, 2014. ==Temple Emanuel== Founded in 1921, Emanuel was the first of two Reform congregations founded in Worcester and was the largest synagogue (of any kind) in the city from the 1940s until 2013 when it integrated with its own offshoot, Temple Sinai. The congregation's third and most majestic home was constructed and consecrated in 1949 and greatly expanded in 1961 to accommodate a burgeoning religious school enrollment of nearly 1,000 students.〔(Worcester ), Jewish Virtual Library website. Retrieved January 4, 2010.〕 Membership peaked at 1,340 families in 1957, making it one of the largest Reform congregations in the country at the time.〔, Worcester Jewish Federation, 1958, p. 11.〕 As late as 1982, Temple Emanuel was still the second-largest Reform congregation in New England.〔Anonymous. "Nov. 21 concert at Beth Am Temple honors rabbi" NorthJersey.com Nov 17 2010.〕 As of 2009, membership was at 425 families.〔Kush, Bronislaus. "Ready for challenges: Worcester Temple has faith it will survive" Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Sep 26 2009.〕 Notably, Temple Emanuel had two long-tenured rabbis who were influential in the larger Worcester community, and in the Reform movement. Levi Olan (1929–1948) became the first Jewish president of the Worcester Ministerial Union and grew Temple membership from less than 200 families to 610 families during his tenure. Joseph Klein (1949–1996) continued Olan's tradition of interfaith leadership and also served as president of the Worcester Ministers' Association and the Greater Worcester Clergy Association. Membership grew during his tenure from 610 families to 1,340 families in 1957, before seeing a gradual decline.〔Feingold, Norma and Sadick, Nancy. Temple Emanuel 1921-1996 75th Anniversary. Published by Temple Emanuel, 280 May Street, Worcester, Mass. 1996.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Temple Emanuel Sinai (Worcester, Massachusetts)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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