B'nai Abraham was founded in 1874 by Russian Jews fleeing from Czar Alexander II. The
synagogue met in temporary quarters until they moved into their current building in 1910. The
building was designed by Charles Lewis Bolton, a Philadelphia architect, and was dedicated
in 1926. It is historically significant as the oldest building in Philadelphia that was built as a
synagogue and has been in continuous use as such.
In 1891 B'nai Abraham, along with three other synagogues in the area, brought Rabbi Bernard
L. Levinthal from Lithuania to the United States to serve as the third rabbi of the congregation.
Rabbi Levinthal came to B'nai Abraham after the death of its previous rabbi, Rabbi Eleazar
Kleinberg, who was his father-in-law. Though officially the rabbi of B'nai Abraham, Rabbi
Levinthal actually functioned more as the unofficial Chief Rabbi of Philadelphia. By the early
20th century he was a frequent speaker throughout the city and only attended services at B'nai
Abraham intermittantly, although he continued to hold the pulpit on the High Holidays and other
occasions. When in attendance at the synagogue, Rabbi Levinthal gave his sermon in Yiddish.
In the early part of the century, Rabbi Levinthal, one of the founders of the Orthodox Union,
arranged for the second annual Orthodox Union conference to be held at B'nai Abraham.
Rabbi Levinthal held his position at B'nai Abraham until his death in 1952. From 1952 until
2000, when Rabbi Yochonon Goldman assumed the position, there was no official rabbi at the
synagogue. In the early 1980's Rabbi Musleah and, later in the 1990's, Rabbi Shraga Sherman
assumed the role of rabbi of the synagogue in an unofficial capacity.
In the early part of the 20th century Pesach Wapner was the shamos at B'nai Abraham. He
taught Hebrew lessons to children in the neighborhood a few days each week, sometimes at the
synagogue or at his home at 5th and Delancey Streets. He taught them to read Hebrew from the
Tanaach and the prayer book but was unable to teach translation as he himself did not speak
English well. The children called him Rabbi Wapner. Wapner had several children including
three sons, one of whom, Leon, eventually became the president of B'nai Abraham. Rabbi
Wapner served as shamos of the synagogue until his death during World War II.
Rabbi Wapner's parents also belonged to B'nai Abraham. Jerry Zaslow, whose family belonged
to the synagogue since the early part of the 20th century, recalled in a recent interview that
Pesach Wapner's father, who was 100 years old, wore a derby and a large tallit when praying.
Classes met in the street-level rooms. Bar Mitzvah parties were also held in there, according to
Mr. Zaslow, who had his Bar Mitzvah at the synagogue in 1938. Many of the services were held
in the street-level beis hamidrash as were even the regular Shabbat services. Services for the
Hagim and the High Holidays were held upstairs in the main sanctuary.
After World War II many of the Jewish families left the neighborhoods surrounding B'nai
Abraham to move to outlying areas like Wynnefield, Logan, Mt. Airy, Oak Lane or the
Northeast. The Zaslows were one of the last families to leave the neighborhood and the
synagogue in 1947.
Hence, from that time to the later half of the 20th century, the synagogue declined in membership
and participation. As people moved away, many still attended services at the synagogue—but
over time their connection to B'nai Abraham waned. As the practice of Conservative Judaism
expanded nationally, the synagogue board decided to allow mixed seating for High Holiday
services in the 1950's in a futile effort to increase High Holiday attendance. During these years
men and women reportedly sat together mostly in the back of the sanctuary. During this period
of time Jack Dickstein, uncle of the present president, served as president of B'nai Abraham. He
remained president until his death in 1971.
In 1971 Leon Wapner retired and later became president of the synagogue. Jerry Zaslow stated
in a recent interview, that, if not for him, the synagogue’s doors would have likely closed. In
1976, synagogue membership consisted of 92 members whose dues were $25 per year. By 1978
dues had reportedly increased to $50 per year.
During this period Leon Wapner and Willy Shulik, who was the synagogue treasurer, handled all
the synagogue business. To get a daily minyan they would often share people with Congregation
Kesher Israel. Mr. Wapner would also sit outside and ask male passersby if they were Jewish
so they might participate in the minyan. The two men, Mr. Wapner and Mr. Shulik, would each
year interview and hire a hazan from New York to lead the High Holiday services. During this
era the synagogue was not involved in other programming; even the High Holiday services were
not well attended.
In the 1980's Rabbi Menachem Schmidt developed a relationship with Leon Wapner and the
other leaders of the synagogue. When they needed someone to read the Torah on a regular basis,
he suggested Rabbi Shraga Sherman. For several years Rabbi Sherman had an office in the
synagogue and led services there, although he and Rabbi Schmidt were more involved with the
minyan at the Gershman Y. Little was done during these fallow times to maintain the physical
demands of the building, though some window restoration work on the sanctuary was completed
with the help of private funds and the Historic Religious Properties Program of the Preservation
Alliance for Greater Philadelphia.
In January of 2000, Rabbi Goldman became the rabbi of B'nai Abraham. When he became the
rabbi, the synagogue still had mixed seating during the High Holidays, compelling the rabbi to
attend services elsewhere. As attendance continued to decline, Rabbi Goldman suggested there
would be little to lose by an experimental return to the original practice of separate seating on
the High Holidays (since gender separation had generally been observed for the daily minyanim).
The synagogue then re-instituted its former long-standing traditional High Holiday practices,
and, since then, High Holiday attendance has slowly, but steadily, increased; this year, over 200
people participated.
In addition, for the past eight years, the synagogue has been the site of a preschool program
which started with only 7 students and now has over 25 students. The preschool is directed by
Rebbetzin Leah Goldman. Membership is also growing as a result of the increased “presence”
of the synagogue in the neighborhood. During the year, Shabbat dinners with speakers are held and are well attended as are the Singles Dinners, which occur occasionally. The adult education
classes in Talmud, Hebrew, Jewish mysticism and the weekly Torah portion reach over 50
people each week and are part of an initiative called the Zaslow Institute of Jewish Learning.
Weekly attendance for the Shabbat morning service is growing too. Thus, as B'nai Abraham
moves into its second century of operation in its current location, it is experiencing a rebirth,
once again offering Shabbat and holiday programming, classes for adults and children, and
attracting neighborhood people to participate in its daily and Shabbat minyanim.
Nancy Isserman, Ph.D. is the Associate Director at the Feinstein Center for American Jewish
History.
Sources for this article:
Philadelphia Inquirer: April 28, 1996; January 8, 1998
Jewish Exponent: September 29, 1976
Jewish Life in Philadelphia, 1830-1940 edited by Murray Friedman, Ishi Publications,
Philadelphia, 1983 pp: 50, 205, 255
Interviews with: Jerry Zaslow, October 10, 2005; Steve Dickstein, October 12, 2005.
Congregation B'nai Abraham would like to thank Nancy Isserman for researching and
producing this informative article for us.
