Congregation Beth Jacob Ohev Sholom (also known as Congregation Beth Jacob Ohev Shalom) () is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 284 Rodney Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in New York City, New York, United States. The congregation follows the Ashkenazi rite.
Founded in 1869 by German Jews as an Orthodox breakaway from an existing Reform congregation, it is the oldest Orthodox congregation on Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens), and one of the last remaining non-Hasidic Jewish institutions in Williamsburg.
The congregation constructed its first building on Keap Street in 1870. In 1904 it merged with Chevra Ansche Sholom, and took the name Congregation Beth Jacob Anshe Sholom. The following year it constructed a new building at 274–276 South Third Street, designed by George F. Pelham, consecrated in 1906. In the 1950s, this building was expropriated and demolished to make way for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The congregation combined with another congregation in a similar situation, and, in 1957, as Congregation Beth Jacob Ohev Sholom, constructed a new building at 284 Rodney Street, just south of Broadway.
Rabbi Joshua Fishman served as rabbi from 1971 until his retirement in 2014. With changing demographics, attendance at services, which had been 700 in the 1970s, fell to two dozen by 2010.
Since then, amidst a number of attempts at Rabbis, the congregation has pivotted to functionally lay led, in light of the failure of several subsequent Rabbis to do other than a range of calumnies, some of which are well publicized and still in court dispute https://northbrooklynnews.com/2025/05/01/open-the-gates/
Early history The congregation was founded as Beth Jacob in 1869,According to Geberer (2010), Brooklyn Eagle (September 27, 1891), p. 19, and Abelow (1948), p. 196, which says it "dates back to October 1, 1869, when the certificate of incorporation of Beth Jacob was obtained, approved October 13, 1869 by Justice Gilbert of the Supreme Court". According to Abelow (1937), p. 53, it was founded in 1864. According to the American Jewish Year Book (1899–1900), p. 184, it was founded in 1871. by more traditional members of an existing Reform German Jewish synagogue,Geberer (2010). the Keap Street Temple.Abelow (1937), p. 53. They objected to the installation and use of a pipe organ to accompany Yom Kippur services, which was forbidden by halakha (Jewish law), and seceded and created their own congregation. The new congregation was formally incorporated on October 1 of that year,Abelow (1948), p. 196. and first worshiped in a house.Brooklyn Eagle (September 27, 1891), p. 19. In 1870, Beth Jacob purchased a by lot at what is now 326 Keap Street (then Tenth Street) for $150 (today $) in cash and a mortgage of $1,050 (today $), and constructed a building there, at a cost of around $6,000 (today $). Men and women sat separately, and the sanctuary had seating for 164 men on the main floor and 135 women in the gallery. Services were generally held only on Shabbat and the Jewish holidays. The first spiritual leader was Rabbi Dresser, and he was succeeded by Lewis Lewinski (or Levinsky).Brooklyn Eagle (January 10, 1887), p. 4.
In its early years, the congregation's financial situation was precarious. The building was located ten blocks from where most of the congregants and potential congregants lived (on Grand Street, near the ferry docks), and attendance was low. Even on the High Holy Days, the sanctuary was rarely more than half full. The synagogue employed a rabbi, gabbai, and cantor, and annual expenses often exceeded the congregation's income (which came primarily from the sale of seats). To remain solvent, the congregation borrowed money against the equity in the building: $2,000 (today $) in 1888, and another $2,000 in 1894.
The congregation was also marked by public controversies and factionalism. In January 1887, during a heated discussion at a congregational business meeting, one member addressed two others with the informal German "du" (rather than the formal "Sie"), which was considered impolite. Despite attempts by then-rabbi Lewinski to intervene, the two men beat the first, knocked him to the ground, and "trampled upon" him. The two men were subsequently charged with "assault in the third degree".
Lewinski was succeeded that year as rabbi by Hyman Rosenberg, and in October of the same year a new secretary was elected, in a close-fought battle between two factions. When it was time for the former secretary to hand over the financial books, a member, Simon Freudenthal, was alleged to have grabbed them, jumped out a window, and ran away with them. When he returned, he refused to say why he took them, and insisted he would keep them. A warrant was issued for his arrest on the charge of larceny, and he was released on bail.Brooklyn Eagle (October 18, 1887), p. 6. Ten days later the synagogue president, American Civil War veteran Colonel Solomon Monday,Abelow (1948), p. 233. was arrested and charged in turn with libel, for allegedly claiming that Freudenthal stole "sacred books".Brooklyn Eagle (October 28, 1887), p. 6. Monday, in turn, had Freudenthal charged in November with stealing $8 (today $) worth of "sacred books" during "divine service".Brooklyn Eagle (November 16, 1887), p. 4. Later that month both cases were dismissed.Brooklyn Eagle (November 28, 1887), p. 3. In early 1888, another case was brought, and dismissed, over attempts by one faction to expel members of the other faction.Brooklyn Eagle (March 8, 1888), p. 6.Brooklyn Eagle (March 14, 1888), p. 2.
In December 1892, the congregation expelled Rosenberg, charging him with eating a piece of pork, which is not kosher. To augment his salary of $400 (today $) a year from Beth Jacob, Rosenberg also worked as an agent for a cigar company. While visiting a customer at a bar, he was alleged to have eaten the pork while partaking of some of the free lunch provided there.Brooklyn Eagle (December 16, 1892), p. 1.The New York Times (April 19, 1893), p. 1. Rosenberg initially said that while he had drunk a great deal, he had not eaten anything at all, and subsequently stated that he was sure he had not eaten pork, because the bar-keep had sworn in affidavit that there was none in the lunch provided that day.Brooklyn Eagle (December 17, 1892), p. 10. Rosenberg later averred consistently that if he had eaten any pork, it was inadvertently. He also alleged hypocrisy on the part of the members, stating "They are all reformed Jews in private, although orthodox Jews in public."
The rabbi's defenders strongly objected to the decision. His primary supporter, synagogue vice president Louis Jackson, who had broken the story to the press, described the congregation as a "collection of jackasses", with the "chief jackass" being the president Louis Schwartz, who Jackson accused of eating ham himself, and of stealing from the synagogue's charity boxes.Brooklyn Eagle (January 12, 1893), p. 5. Jackson was expelled from the congregation, and subsequently convicted of libel and fined $100 (today $) for making the accusations, while Rosenberg sued the synagogue for his salary.Brooklyn Eagle (February 3, 1893), p. 10. Rosenberg died of pneumonia in April 1893, at the age of 43, his "health and spirits", according to a contemporary New York Times report, "broken" by the expulsion. At the funeral, Jackson berated the congregation's members, who, he charged, had "hounded, hunted, driven [Rosenberg] to a grave of misery", and allegedly threatened to kill one of them with a stone taken from the newly dug grave. Charges were again brought against Jackson, but this time were dismissed, with the Justice stating "it looks as if it were an even thing all around."Brooklyn Eagle (May 25, 1893), p. 12.
A month later, Beth Jacob hired Abraham Salbaum as rabbi.Brooklyn Eagle (May 9, 1893), p. 10. The Brooklyn Eagle (September 5, 1894), p. 2, gives his name as "S. Baum". The following year, the synagogue's two-story frame synagogue building at 326 Keap Street, valued at $2,000 (today $), was struck by lightning and almost completely destroyed.Brooklyn Eagle (July 15, 1894), p. 1. The congregation decided to rebuild at the same location.Brooklyn Eagle (September 5, 1894), p. 2.
Early twentieth century Many working class German Jews moved from the Lower East Side to Williamsburg after the Williamsburg Bridge was completed in 1903, providing access to Manhattan. In January 1904, Beth Jacob merged with Chevra Ansche Sholom, a synagogue that had been founded the year before.According to Abelow (1948), p. 196. Abelow (1937), p. 53, calls it "Anshe Sholom synagogue", and says it was founded in 1902. The combined congregation took the name Beth Jacob Anshe Sholom. Chevra Ansche Sholom worshiped in a Masonic Temple, and had a number of assets, including two houses at 184–186 South Third Street valued at $6,500 (today $), with a mortgage of $4,500 (today $). At the time, Beth Jacob's own building was valued at $6,000 (today $), with a mortgage of $2,000 (today $).
Beth Jacob Anshe Sholom exchanged the deeds for houses at 184–186 South Third Street for a property at 274–276 South Third Street in June 1905.Abelow (1948), p. 198. It hired architect George F. Pelham to draw up plans for a new building, instructing him to copy the prominent Congregation Shaaray Tefila building on Manhattan's West 82nd Street, designed by Arnold Brunner, and known as the "West End Synagogue".Kaufman (1999), pp. 186–189. Features of the new design included seating for almost 1,000 in the main sanctuary,According to Kaufman (1999), pp. 186–189. A contemporary account, Brooklyn Eagle, September 10, 1906, p. 22, gives the seating capacity as 850. a Talmud Torah for Hebrew language instruction in the basement, electric lighting, and steam heating. Construction was expected to cost $75,000 (today $).Evening Post (New York), September 18, 1905, p. 7. Beth Jacob Anshe Sholom erected the building at 274–276 South Third Street, and sold Beth Jacob's building at 326 Keap Street to the North Side Chevre, a new congregation.
Ground was broken in June 1905,Evening Post (New York), July 29, 1905, p. 8. the cornerstone was laid in September, and the new building was dedicated by then-rabbi Dr. H. Veld on September 9, 1906,Brooklyn Eagle, September 10, 1906, p. 22. in time for High Holy Day services to be held there that year. The actual cost of construction was around $60,000 (today $), of which $35,000 (today $) was raised through sale of seats and donations, and the rest via a mortgage. The improved premises attracted many new members.
In February 1907, the congregation created a four-room Talmud Torah. In September of that year Samuel Rabinowitz was hired as rabbi for a three-year term, renewed in 1910 for another three years. A "junior congregation" was created from the members of the Talmud Torah. They elected, as their first "pupil rabbi", Harry Halpern, who later served for five decades as rabbi of the East Midwood Jewish Center.
Rabinowitz resigned in indignation in May 1912, stating the trustees did not live up to the terms of his contract, after Herman Heisman, chairman of the synagogue's board of trustees, hired an assistant rabbi, whose services Rabinowitz objected to.The Sun (New York), June 17, 1912, p. 5. Rabinowitz purchased for $50,000 (today $) a church building at South 5th Street and Marcy Avenue, and started his own synagogue there. His first Saturday services had an attendance of 1,200, a third of whom were his former congregants, and he stated that "his flock" would soon join him.