Mission Statement

Union Temple is an egalitarian, inclusive Reform Congregation,

spanning the generations. Founded in 1848, ours is the oldest Jewish
congregation in Brooklyn. We are a house of worship, using our strong
musical program to enhance the meaning of our services; a house of study
for adults and children of our religion and our heritage; and an intimate
community of mutual support for our members. We reach out to the
diverse communities of Brooklyn and warmly welcome individuals and all
types of families to join us. As a congregation we are dedicated to Tikkun
Olam, the repairing of our world, through the pursuit of social justice and
active participation in the larger Jewish and general communities.

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP
Belonging to a diverse and lively Jewish community.
Top-notch religious education for your children at our Sunday School.
(Family membership is required after Grade 4)

Personal Bar/Bat Mitzvah instruction for your child from Rabbi Linda Goodman.
Rabbi Goodmans service for funerals, hospital visits when your family is in need.
(Non-Temple members may contract separately with the rabbi, depending on her
availability.)
Pastoral counseling and community support in times of distress.
Your loved ones names read at services for Yahrzeit.
First preference to Temple members for openings in the Union Temple Preschool
program.
Discounted rates for your business to advertise in the monthly Temple newsletter.
Free parking for Temple events in the garage adjoining our Temple building.

Historical Overview
Union Temple is the first Jewish congregation to have been established in all of Brooklyn and
Long Island, officially founded in 1848 by a small group of German and Alsatian Jewish immigrants living in Williamsburg. We are a member congregation of the Union of Reform Judaism, and understand
our tradition as a dynamic, ever-expanding and evolving faith. We invite you to celebrate our past,
share our present, and be a part of shaping our future.
As the first Jewish congregation established in Brooklyn and Long Island, Union Temple has a
long and proud history of service to the Jewish community, and to the Brooklyn community at large.
Officially founded in 1848, the congregation originated in what was known as the Village of Williamsburg, one of a number of principalities that at the time comprised what we now know as the Borough of
Brooklyn.

Though Jews had been living in New York since 1654, the polls show that by 1848 the Jewish
population was still relatively small. The census of 1859 showed about 50,000 Jews in the United
States, out of a total population of about 23 million. The first Jewish inhabitant of Williamsburg, one
Adolph Baker, settled there in 1837. A handful of Jews followed in subsequent years, crossing over
the East River from Manhattan, settling in the vicinity of lower Grand Street. According to the congregation's oral tradition, the more pious of these early Williamsburg Jews would row across the river to spend Shabbat
with their families in Lower Manhattan, then row back after dark
on Saturday evening. However by 1846, these Jews had established themselves as a community, and took to holding Shabbat
services in various private homes. They were of German and Alsatian descent.
The congregants designated as their first synagogue the home
of Moses Kessel on North Second Avenue, now known as Marcy
Avenue. They named the synagogue Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim
and elected as their first officiating minister, David Barnard,
who previously had been listed in the Village Directory as a Hebrew teacher. Nathan Klotz was elected the first president. At
the time the congregation worshiped according to Orthodox ritual.

Beth ElohimThe Keap Street Temple

In 1860 the congregation purchased and remodeled a

church building on South First Street, and subsequently opened a
Day School. The Day School offered elementary education in
English and German, and included both secular and religious
subjects. The school closed when free public education was
instituted in Brooklyn.

Soon K.K. Beth Elohim had outgrown its building, and a new synagogue was built on Keap Street in 1876. For many years it was
the largest synagogue in Brooklyn, acquiring the nickname of
The Keap Street Temple.
While K.K.Beth Elohim was growing, a number of Jews in
central Brooklyn establish a congregation in keeping with the
Reform Movement, brought to America by Rabbi Isaac Mayer
Wise. This congregation was founded in 1869, and incorporated
in the following year as Temple Israel. Services were held in
the Y.M.C.A. building on the corner of Fulton Street and Galatin
Place until 1872, when the congregation purchased a former
church building on Greene Avenue. In 1891 the congregation
Temple Israel on Bedford and Lafayette
consecrated its magnificent new building on the corner of Bedford and Lafayette Avenues, and several years later, added a second building for school and youth activities.
Temple Israel built a reputation as one of the finest synagogues in the Eastern United States. It flourished under the rabbinic leadership of such giants as Rabbi Leon Harrison, later of St. Louis, and Rabbi Martin A. Meyer,
later of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco. Also among the congregations rabbis were Rabbi Nathan Krass
and Rabbi Judah Leon Magnes, each of whom subsequently was called to the pulpit of Congregation Emanu-El, in
Manhattan. Dr. Magnes ultimately went on to become the founder and first president of Hebrew University in
Jerusalem.
As Temple Israel grew in size and stature, K.K. Beth Elohim continued to flourish as well, eventually
adopting the reforms introduced into American Jewry by Isaac Mayer Wise. During the tenure of Rabbi Isaac
Schwab in the mid-1870's, and in response to the wishes of many of the younger congregants, K.K. Beth Elohim
adopted as its official prayer book, Minhag America, written by Dr. Wise, who by that time had established himself in Cincinnati as a giant in the building of the Reform Movement of Judaism. He became the founding rabbi of
the Isaac Mayer Wise Temple on Plum Street, the founder and first president of the Hebrew Union College, for
the training of Reform rabbis in America, and the founder of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the
brain trust of the Reform Movement in North America, now known as the Union for Reform Judaism.
Both congregations, Temple Israel and K.K. Beth Elohim, had prominent and active memberships. They
were active in all areas of communal endeavor. They created various agencies of Jewish philanthropy in Brooklyn,
such as: the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, the Jewish Hospital, the Brooklyn Federation of Jewish Charities (which
later merged with the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies), the Hebrew Educational Society, the Hebrew Free
Loan Society, and the Ladies' Hebrew Benevolent Society.
In 1921 Temple Israel and K.K. Beth Elohim decided
to merge into single Reform congregation, and incorporated
into what is now known as Union Temple of Brooklyn. By
that time, the center of Brooklyn Jewry had shifted away
from Williamsburg, and moved westward toward Flatbush.
The newly-merged congregation decided to build a new
home at 17 Eastern Parkway. The newly-built eleven-story
community house was dedicated on the eve of Sukkot in
1929. It was also in 1929 that Dr. Sidney S. Tedesche began his long and distinguished ministry as rabbi of Union
Temple. Once the community house was dedicated, a grandscale sanctuary had been planned for the corner of Eastern
Parkway and Plaza Street. Unfortunately the stock market
crash in 1929 scuttled those plans, and a parking lot for use
by Temple members was built instead. Worship took place within the Community House, and during the High Holy
Days the congregation worshiped at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. In 1942, a theater on the lobby level of the
Community House was converted into a sanctuary, modeled after the synagogue in Essen, Germany, which had
been burned by the Nazis.

The Temple is situated in a prime location in Brooklyn. Across the street is the Brooklyn Library, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The Grand Army Plaza is a large
traffic circle, built around an impressive arch, branching off into numerous boulevards and Prospect
Park from its various directions. The planners of the entire area intended for the scheme to be reminiscent of the Champs Elyses in Paris. They succeeded.
Union Temple's membership always has engaged in pursuits of tzedakah, justice, and gemilut
chasadim, acts of loving kindness. During the Second World War, the Sisterhood Sewing Group was

turned into a Red Cross Workshop, which produced thousands of surgical dressings for our servicemen and women. The Temple also ran a Red Cross Blood Bank Station, and held itself in a state of
readiness as an Emergency Disaster Relief Center. In addition, a number of congregants served in
the armed forces, nine of whom made the supreme sacrifice. A notable highlight during the postWar years was the connection with the Brooklyn Dodgers, whose home, Ebbets Field, was located
near the Temple. Each year on Thanksgiving, the entire Brooklyn Dodgers team would come to the
Temple to share Thanksgiving with hundreds of Jewish orphans that the Brotherhood would bring to
the Temple for the day. That tradition of tzedakah and gemilut chasadim continues to this very day,
through the exemplary devotion of the members of our Social Action Committee, and indeed,
through all the members of our remarkable congregational family, in such programs as: support of
the HOPE Program, a job training foundation based in Brooklyn. The annual food drive at Key Food ,
Food Pantry Collections during the High Holy Days and Sukkot, clothing drives, volunteering at the
Hebrew Union College Soup Kitchen and the congregation also contributes generously to the annual
Passover Appeals conducted by the Federation Joint Passover Association and the New York Board
of Rabbis.
Union Temple's rabbinate has included some of the most distinguished scholars of our time.
The following is a record of those who served the congregation from the time of its merger.
Rabbi Simon R. Cohen, 1921-29 (Emeritus 1929-42)
Rabbi Sidney S. Tedesche, 1929-54 (Emeritus 1954-62)
Rabbi Alfred L. Friedman, 1954-64
Rabbi Jay H. Kaufman, High Holy Day Rabbi, 1950-1970
Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler, High Holy Day Rabbi, 1971-1996
Rabbi Dr. A. Stanley Dreyfus, 1964-1979 (Emeritus 1979 - 2008)
Rabbi Charles Mintz, 1979-81
Rabbi Jay J. Sangerman, 1981-83
Rabbi Neal Borovetz, 1983-88
Rabbi Dr. Selig Salkowitz, 1988-92
Rabbi Dr. Linda Henry Goodman, 1992-present
Rabbis Kaufman and Schindler served the congregation in their capacities as Acting President and
President respectively of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform
Judaism) during the High Holy Days in order to accommodate the large overflow crowd at that time
of year. Even when the overflow service was no longer needed, Rabbi Schindler continued to lend his
wisdom and expertise to the High Holy Day services as he shared the pulpit with the congregation's
rabbis each year until his retirement from the Union in 1996.
Our late Rabbi Emeritus, Rabbi Dr. A. Stanley Dreyfus, was truly one of the giants of the Reform
Movement. As Instructor of Rabbinics at the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in
New York, Dr. Dreyfus had helped to educate several generations of rabbis. The former chair of the
Liturgy Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, he had authored and edited many
of the Reform Movements prayer books and Torah commentaries. As the expression would have it,
he was a gentleman and a scholar, and we were blessed by his presence.
Our current spiritual leader, Rabbi Dr. Linda Henry Goodman, was called to our pulpit in 1992 as
the first woman to serve as Rabbi of our congregation. Rabbi Goodman is a musician, a social activist,
a teacher to our children and adults alike, and works with great devotion to nurture our congregation, imparting her own love of our Jewish heritage, and her commitment to social justice.

Rabbi Linda Henry Goodman

As the Rabbi of Union Temple, I am delighted to welcome you to our wonderful
congregational family, and to tell you a bit about myself. I hope you will find
fulfillment and joy here in our midst.
The source of my inspiration as a human being, and as a Jew, flows from two
streams. One is music. Before I entered Rabbinic School, music was my professional pursuit, both as a pianist and teacher of techniques of music (theory, ear
training, keyboard harmony, and the like). I was privileged to serve on the faculties of the Mannes College of Music and SUNY Purchase. At a certain point, however, the other stream of my inspiration began to sound a bit more loudly. That was the call for social
justice, and the call for us to do whatever we can to create a better society for ourselves and future
generations. It is one of the foundation stones of Prophetic Judaism, upon which the Reform Movement
is built, and it continues to inspire me and move me to action. This, coupled with my passionate desire
to study the history and texts of Jewish tradition, continues to drive my Rabbinate, and my love for Judaism and the Jewish People, and my desire to serve it.
I am a proud native New Yorker. As such, it is a particular honor for me to have been elected as the
first woman to serve as President of the New York Board of Rabbis. I have fought for many years for
womens rights, particularly in the areas of reproductive choice and health care. I also am an outspoken advocate for marriage equality, in New York State and around the country. I also serve on the
Clergy Advisory Board of Concerned Clergy for Choice in Albany.

After my ordination by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 1985, I
became the first woman to serve on the rabbinic staff of Temple Emanu-El of New York, where I learned
an enormous amount. From there I went on to serve as Rabbi of the Nassau Community Temple of West
Hempstead and Hillel Director and Jewish Chaplain at Adelphi University, and also on the Jewish Studies
faculties of Molloy College and New York Theological Seminary. I also have served on the Board of Trustees of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and also on the CCARs Committees on Jewish Sexual Values and Resolutions, and also on the Board of the Womens Rabbinic Network. I also hold an M.A.
in Hebrew Literature and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Hebrew Union College. Since 2005, my husband Steve (Rabbi Stephen Wise Goodman) and I have been studying each summer at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. I have just begun a 3-year program, the Rabbinic Leadership Initiative, at
the end of which I will become a Senior Fellow of the Hartman Institute. Steve and I have a gorgeous (!)
son named Philip, who is a graduate of Binghamton University.

Emma Goldin Lutz Student Cantor

As the new student cantor at Union Temple, I am overjoyed to welcome you to

our community and to share a bit about myself. I hope you will be able to find a
home away from home here at Union Temple, such as I am beginning to find.
I grew up at Congregation B'nai Tikvah in the San Francisco Bay Area. From a
young age, I was mentored by my cantor and was very active in my synagogue
choir. From my father, who was President of our synagogue and an advocate for
social justice in the community, I also learned the importance of community.
From my mother, who is a Jew-by-choice, I learned the importance of choosing
Judaism and actively incorporating my practice of Judaism into my daily life.
While my love for music undoubtedly began in the synagogue, I also began performing in musicals at age four. Beloved composers like Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Jason Robert Brown all contributed to shaping both my musical and Jewish identities.
I attended college at the University of California, Davis, leading weekly Shabbat services at Hillel and
also working as a cantorial soloist at Congregation Bet Haverim. While studying Religious Studies and
Music, I twice received the Don Kunitz Jewish Studies award for my undergraduate research and enjoyed
working as a research assistant for the UC Davis Sociology Department. After college, I spent two years
exploring: working as an actress, a cantorial soloist, a Hebrew School teacher, and spending time in Israel as a volunteer for the Israel Defense Force. In my heart, I knew I needed to follow my lifelong dream
of becoming a cantor. I am currently a fourth year student at the Hebrew Union Colleges Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music. I am thrilled to be joining Rabbi Goodman as a member of the clergy team
at Union Temple, and I am so grateful to have found such a warm and welcoming community to call
home.

Mindy Sherry
Director of Youth and Family Engagement

As I was growing up in Miami, FL, my thirst for Jewish Education began when I
was quite young, and continues today. My passion for working with people led
me to a Bachelors Degree in Social Work. After college, I worked at Temple
Judea in Coral Gables, FL, for over nine years before returning to school for
graduate study.
I now hold two Masters Degrees: one in Jewish Education from the Rhea Hirsch School of Education,
and the other in Jewish Nonprofit Management, both from The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of
Religion in Los Angeles. My experiences in developing a passion for Jewish Education taught me that
children learn by doing. Children appreciate the Jewish experience if they actively participate in it. I
believe that Jewish educators facilitate learning by providing students with opportunities for involvement in hands-on learning activities, and by mentoring them to appreciate the values of Judaism, they
are learning by doing. As children become adults in the Jewish community, they remember these experiences and stay connected with Judaism and Jewish causes. It is my hope to help our children develop
strong and enthusiastic connections. I look forward to working with each and every one of them.

Shabbat at Union Temple

Our Friday Evening Services take place during the course
of each month according to the following schedule:
1st Friday: First Friday Family Shabbat
6:00 Snacks
6:30 Kabbalat Shabbat
Pot luck dinner follows

2nd Friday: 6:30 Kabbalat Shabbat

Oneg to follow, and watch the schedule for guest speakers

3rd Friday: 6:30 Kabbalat Shabbat

Pizza to follow

4th Friday: Fourth Friday Late Shabbat

7:00 Dinner
8:00 Service
9:00 Oneg & Program
(Programs presented by members of our congregation.)
Please note: On the 4th Fridays of holiday weekends in November, December, and May, services are
early Kabbalat Shabbat services at 6:30, followed by an Oneg.

Dues, Fees, and Other Charges

2015 - 2016
DUES SCHEDULE
Category

Annual
Dues & Building Fund

Quarterly
Dues & Building Fund

Family over 30

1,410 + 160 = $1,570

352.50 + 40

= $ 392.50

Family under 30

810

202.50

= $ 202.50

Single Parent over 30

1,190 + 160 = $1,350

297.50 + 40

Single Parent under 30

750

= $ 750

187.50

= $ 187.50

Single over 30

750 + 160

= $ 910

187.50 + 40

= $ 227.50

Single under 30

255

= $ 255

63.75

= $ 63.75

Out of Town

225

56.26

=$56.25

= $810

= $ 225

$ 337.50

TRUSTEES
Trustee Fund
Trustee Contribution
MAZON

$120
$150
$ 3.60

(September $60 and March $60)

($37.50 Quarterly)
(Septemberone time payment)

HIGH HOLY DAY TICKETS

There is no charge for High Holy Day tickets. The Temple mails tickets to members, who
may request additional tickets at no charge for friends and family.
OVER

RELIGIOUS SCHOOL
Fees include all books and supplies.
Grade
Fee
Kinder Kef 3 Grade

$525 per student (members)

Kinder Kef 3 Grade

$725 per student (non members)

4th Grade

$825 per student (members)

4th Grade

$975 per student (non members)

5 - 7

$825 per student (members)

After grade 4, all students and parents must join the Temple

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Preparation

$ 550

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Hospitality

$ 275

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Social Hall Rental

$ 1,000

FINANCIAL CONCERNS?
We will discuss it with you in confidence.
BOOKS
The Torah: A Modern Commentary,
Editor, W. Gunther Plaut
Gates of Repentance (High Holy Day Prayer Book)
Mishkan Tfilah (Shabbat Edition)

$ 45
$ 25
$ 36

DISCOUNTS
Members receive substantial discount on Union Temple Preschool fees

Union Temple of Brooklyn

17 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Phone: 718-638-7600 Fax: 718-783-9151
info@uniontemple.org

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

(Please print all entries legibly)

Date__________________
1. Name

_
First

Gender__________

Last

Hebrew Name

Date of Birth______________________
month / day / year
Work Fax Number __________________________

Work Number

Occupation _______________________________
Cell Phone Number

Email Address _________________________

Anniversary ___________________________________
1. Name

Gender__________
First

Hebrew Name
Work Number

Last
Date of Birth______________________
month / day / year
Work Fax Number __________________________

Occupation________________________________
Cell Phone Number

Email Address _________________________

Anniversary ___________________________________
Home Address: Street
City________________________________________State_____________Zip Code________________
Home Telephone Number

Home Fax Number ____________________________

Secondary Address____________________________________________________________________
(summer/country home) City____________________ State__________ Zip Code_____________
Secondary Telephone Number
Do you have someone in your immediate family who is Jewish (one parent, child or spouse), or have
you converted or are you in the process of converting to Judaism? _____________________

OVER

CHILDREN'S INFORMATION
1. Name

_
First

Gender__________

Last

Hebrew Name

Date of Birth______________________
month / day / year

2. Name______
First

Gender__________
Last

Hebrew Name

Date of Birth______________________
month / day / year

3. Name______
First

Gender__________
Last

Hebrew Name

Date of Birth______________________
month / day / year

List other children on a separate page

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Please enter the name of a parent if he/she is not part of the membership unit:
Name

Mother
Father ______
First
Last
Address ________________________________________________________________________________
Home Number

Work Number ____________________________

Cell Phone Number

Email Address ___________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________

YAHRZEITS: Do you want to observe the Secular or Hebrew Date? (Please check one)
Secular

Hebrew _____
English Name

First

Hebrew Name
Last

Anniversary
of Death (Date)

Relationship
to Member

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The names will be recited during the Kaddish prayer as a token of loving remembrance at the Shabbat
services on Friday and Saturday morning following their Yahrzeit date.
PLEASE RETURN TO UNION TEMPLE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

UNION TEMPLE MEMBERSHIP DEPOSIT FORM

Category

DUES SCHEDULE
Annual
Quarterly
Dues & Building Fund
Dues & Building Fund

Family over 30

1,410 + 160

= $1,570

352.50 + 40

= $ 392.50

Family under 30

810

= $810

202.50

= $ 202.50

Single Parent over 30

1,190 + 160

= $1,350

297.50 + 40

= $ 337.50

Single Parent under 30

750

= $ 750

187.50

= $ 187.50

Single over 30

750 + 160

= $ 910

187.50 + 40

= $ 227.50

Single under 30

255

= $ 255

63.75

= $ 63.75

Out of Town

225

= $ 225

56.26

= $ 56.25

Name (Member 1):_________________________________

Name (Member 2):_________________________________
Applicable Membership Category: ___________________of the total yearly amount of: _________
I am making a Dues Deposit (2 quarters payment) of: ____________
Please mail deposit check to Union Temple, 17 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11
Payment Policy:
Dues are billed every 3 months, in September (the beginning of the Temples fiscal year), December,
March and June, for the three following months. Your deposit is applied to the first two quarterly bills,
starting with the next billing cycle, unless you are joining in the first 30 days of any given quarter (If you
are joining in September for instance, your deposit will be applied to the Sept & Dec. billing cycles. If
you are joining in October your deposit will be applied to Dec & March billing cycles). Any questions
please call the office 718-638-7600.
No one will be turned away because of inability to pay full dues. If there are financial concerns,
our Temple President or Treasurer will work with you in confidence to make alternative arrangements.
Please return this form with your application packet