A
lpena’s Temple Beth-El is Michigan’s only synagogue east of
I-75 from Bay City to Sault Ste. Marie.
“We are an oasis of Judaism along Lake Huron,
” said
Ken Diamond, who’s been president of the congregation for almost
three years.
Temple Beth-El’s rich history dates to the late 19th century when
Julius Myers, a merchant who was among the first Jewish residents
of Alpena, settled in the area sometime before 1867. Myers would
serve as one of the founders and presidents of Alpena’s Hebrew
Benevolent Society, founded in 1875 for the purpose of securing
a cemetery and providing support for Jewish families in the area.
That cemetery is still available and viable — the Hebrew Benevolent
Society Cemetery.
By 1887, some 45 Jewish adults had settled in the area, finding
great opportunity in the booming lumbering trade.
The Hebrew Benevolent Society began to organize for a syna-
gogue, forming a congregation known as Beth Tefelol. Once that
entity formally separated from the Society and acquired a corporate
existence, it adopted the name Temple Beth-El. The first organiza-
tional meeting of the new congregation was held on Oct. 19, 1890.
In 1891, Temple Beth-El moved into its building on East White
Street and has held services there ever since. The interior of the
Alpena’s Temple Beth-El has been in
the same building since 1891.
Thriving on
Michigan’s Coastline
DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
18 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022
OUR COMMUNITY
SYNAGOGUE SPOTLIGHT
Alpena’s
Temple
Beth-El
Dedication of the bimah cover to Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The stained glass at Temple Beth El