The Only Synagogue West of the Cuyahoga

This is the first in a planned series of articles about the wide variety of religious establishments serving the spiritual needs of all Lakewoodites. We encourage our readers to submit articles about their religious experiences.

We live in Lakewood where we have two long-term mainstays of life – taverns and churches. Needless to say, they probably serve the same people, not that there is anything wrong with that!

But, this city is home to all kinds of denominations of Christianity. Catholic churches may dominate the landscape, but, we also have a Mormon church. And, just across I-90 we have Beth Israel – The West Temple. A synagogue on Triskett Avenue for over 50 years. It happens to be the only temple serving a congregation in the entire city of Cleveland with regular weekly services and an operating Sunday school.

And, it serves the entire Jewish community of western Cuyahoga County and the adjoining counties. We have members from as far away as Oberlin, Amherst and Medina. [Smaller congregations serve Lorain and Elyria.]

Our building provides a variety of services for our members and the general public. We have a wonderful library; we have classrooms for our young students. We have a recently refurbished sanctuary and a social hall for meetings.

Our membership includes approximately 135 families. We always welcome guests to our weekly services on Friday nights and Saturday mornings.

For those in need of some elementary information about Judaism, please note that we live by four general points: We live by the Five Books of Moses – called the Torah (as it has been interpreted by ancient Rabbis); we believe in the sanctity of one God and only one God; we do not understand scripture literally; and, that a Messiah, a direct descendant of King David and his son, Solomon, is expected, but has not arrived as of yet.

We have been around for a long time; we were slaves in Egypt about 3,500 years ago and it took Moses to get us to the Jordan River across from the Land of Milk & Honey – Israel. King Solomon built the First Temple in Jerusalem about 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus; the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70, and the remaining Western Wall still stands in Jerusalem.

Jews have lived all over the world for centuries. Jews from Ethiopia recently immigrated to Israel; Jews from Russia were allowed to leave for Israel only as the government allowed them.

A resolution of the United Nations partitioned Palestine 1947 to provide for both a Jewish state and an Arab state. The State of Israel was declared on May 15, 1948, 60 years ago.

The Arab state that was envisioned in that UN resolution was never formed, and the State of Israel has experienced almost constant warfare. Israel had to fight a war as soon as it declared its independence. Israel fought in formal wars in 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973. These four wars represent only a part of the story.

Peace is never simple; it is incredibly complicated in that area of the world. Peace with Egypt was gained in 1978; not one Israeli soldier has died on the Egyptian border since the peace treaty was signed. Not one. There is also peace with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

But peace with the Palestinians and rest of Israel’s neighbors continues to be a difficult task.

Ok, back to our little temple. We live by the tenets of Leviticus, 19:18, ”Love your neighbor as yourself." One of our great sages, Hillel, taught: “What is hateful to you do not do to anyone else."

Our temple practices Reform Judaism. Other temples in the east side of Cleveland serve Orthodox as well as Conservative Jews .

Future articles will discuss the holidays and customs of your Jewish neighbors and how Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Jews celebrate them.

My favorite phrase in the entire prayer book is really very simple. I believe it defines everything we live for; everything everyone lives for. It translates to ‘From one generation to the next’. We cherish our history, we live by our Books, and we teach the Golden Rule. We really aren’t much different than everyone else.