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Temple Beth Zion (Buffalo, New York)

Temple Beth Zion
Beth Zion synagogue, in 2011
Religion
Affiliation	Reform Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Synagogue
Leadership	Rabbi Brent P. Gutmann
Status	Active
Organ	Casavant Frères
Location
Location	805 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, Erie County, New York
Country	United States
Location in New York
Geographic coordinates	42°54′23″N 78°52′18″W / 42.9063442°N 78.8717827°W / 42.9063442; -78.8717827
Architecture
Architect(s)	Edward Austin Kent (1890) Max Abramovitz (1967)
Type	Synagogue
Style	Modernist
Creator	Ben Shahn with Benoît Gilsoul (stained glass, interior artwork)
General contractor	Siegfried Construction Co.
Date established	1850 (as a congregation)
Groundbreaking	June 21, 1964
Completed	1864 (Niagara Street) 1890 (599 Delaware Avenue) 1967 (805 Delaware Avenue)
Specifications
Capacity	1,000 worshippers
Height (max)	62 feet (18.9 m)
Materials	Alabama limestone
Website
tbz.org
Temple Beth Zion
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	3.81 acres (1.54 ha)
NRHP reference No.	100001965
Added to NRHP	January 16, 2018
[1]

Temple Beth Zion is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 805 Delaware Avenue, in Buffalo, Erie County, New York, in the United States. Founded in 1850, Temple Beth Zion is the largest Jewish congregation in Western New York and one of the oldest and largest Reform congregations in the nation. Originally an Orthodox congregation, TBZ reorganized as a Reform congregation in 1863.

The Max Abramovitz-designed scalloped oval Modernist building features ten scallop walls, each a symbol of the 10 commandments, and two 30-foot-high (9.1 m) commandment tablets.^[2] The synagogue walls rise 45 feet (14 m) from the entrance, flaring outward at 15 degrees, firmly anchored to a pedestal 50 feet (15 m) below ground level. Ben Shahn, an artist, painter and calligrapher, designed the sanctuary's stained windows, the Commandment Tablets, and the menorah.^[3][4] The synagogue contains a Casavant Frères 48-rank, 4000-pipe organ. The synagogue was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018,^[5][6] located within the Delaware Avenue Historic District.

The Benjamin and Dr. Edgar R. Cofeld Judaic Museum, co-located adjacent to the synagogue, features a rotating collection of Judaica.^[7]

The congregation was beset by sexual harassment allegations in 2020, allegedly perpetrated by Rabbi Jonathan Freirich.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Previous buildings[edit]

Before building their current synagogue, the congregation worshiped in two previous buildings. The first building was the old Niagara Street Methodist Church (between Pearl Street and Franklin Street). The church was renovated, rededicated, and used as the home of Temple Beth Zion until 1886. The second building was a Byzantine-styled, copper-domed temple built in 1890, designed by Edward Austin Kent,^[12] and located at 599 Delaware Avenue (now the site of the Clinical Research Center). That building was destroyed in a fire in 1961.^[13]

Gallery[edit]

• 
  Temple Beth Zion, 1896
• 
  Entrance to the modernist synagogue, in 2011
• 
  Sign adjacent to the synagogue

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website