By Mark Wagman, Adas Kodesch Shel Emeth’s V.P. Community Affairs
There is a Jewish tradition to wish someone a long life by exclaiming “May you live to be 120,” the length of the life of Moses. By that measure, Adas Kodesch Shel Emeth has enjoyed quite a long life. After 140 years, the First Synagogue in the First State continues to play a vital role in sustaining Jewish life in Delaware. Our yearlong celebration of this milestone will kick off with an event open to the community on March 9.
AKSE is well known in our community as a keeper of tradition. But maintaining our roots, and passing Jewish practice and teaching from one generation to another, does not mean that the congregation has not seen many changes throughout its history. Indeed, no institution can flourish for 140 years without renewing itself to meet the challenges of a constantly changing community and world. AKSE’s history is rich in examples of the engagement of tradition with a progressive mindset—innovating and renewing itself to remain both rooted and relevant.
The story begins with new arrivals to Wilmington from Eastern Europe in the 1880s, who, by 1885, established a traditional synagogue, Adas Kodesch, to meet their religious and communal needs. For its first half century, Adas Kodesch thrived as an Orthodox congregation. Purchasing its first building, a church, in 1898 at Sixth and French Streets, it quickly outgrew it, razed the building, and built a new synagogue there, which was dedicated in 1908.
In the 1940s, Adas Kodesch implemented a series of changes to meet the needs of an increasingly Americanized Jewish community. The congregation introduced “mixed seating” and engaged an American-born rabbi, Rabbi Joseph Singer, who delivered his sermons in English (rather than Yiddish) and initiated a “late service” at 8 PM on Friday nights.
In 1947, Rabbi Leonard B. Gewirtz became rabbi of Adas Kodesch. With his dynamic personality and intellect, Rabbi Gewirtz brought a dedication to making traditional Judaism relevant to modern American Jews. Reacting to a debate in the congregation at the time concerning whether an Orthodox or Conservative rabbi should be engaged, Rabbi Gewirtz, an Orthodox rabbi, suggested that Adas Kodesch be considered “Traditional”—neither strictly Orthodox nor Conservative.
Over the next 42 years, Rabbi Gewirtz led a period of growth and innovation in the Jewish religious life of the congregation and community. He started several of the institutions we take for granted today, including the Rabbinical Association of Delaware (now DERECH), the Va’ad Hakashruth, and the “Rabbi Speaks” on WDEL. In 1956, he organized the first Bat Mitzvah in Delaware. Among Rabbi Gewirtz’s admirers and friends was President Joseph Biden, who as Senator fondly called him “my rabbi.”
Rabbi Gewirtz oversaw two major markers of congregational growth—a merger and a new building. In 1957, Adas Kodesch merged with the Sephardic congregation Chesed Shel Emeth, resulting in the current congregation Adas Kodesch Shel Emeth. Outgrowing its old building, AKSE engaged the leading American synagogue architect of the time, Percival Goodman, to design a beautiful new building on Washington Boulevard, which was dedicated in 1963.
Since 1989, four Spiritual Leaders have led and made their mark on Adas Kodesch Shel Emeth and the community—Rabbis Nathan Schorr, Sanford Dresin, Steven Saks, and Abe Rabinovich. Notable innovations include enhanced opportunities for women’s participation in services, expanded availability of kosher food locally, and extensive programming and advocacy for Israel. AKSE continues to serve the congregation and community at its current location, a beautiful historic mansion at 2412 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Much like an individual, AKSE has come to have a “personality” and to be guided by a set of values, which are well expressed by our tag line “Embracing. Engaging. Enriching.” We are warm and welcoming, attracting a diversity of congregants. Though our congregants vary widely in level of observance, we consider ourselves to be connected as Jews, part of the shared community of K’lal Yisrael, without a denominational label. No matter where we each are in our spiritual journey, AKSE provides numerous learning opportunities that enable us to grow Jewishly. We are equally at home with Torah and secular learning; for example, we have been at the forefront of engaging Judaism and science in our community. AKSE is also known as a musical congregation. For nearly half of our 140 years, we have organized an annual musical celebration of Israel called Café Tamar. Our current clergy, Rabbi Abe and Cantor Yehoshua Redfern, are an excellent fit with our congregation and fully committed to building on our embracing, engaging, and enriching reputation.
The community is invited to participate in our kickoff AKSE 140 event on Sunday, March 9 at 2 PM. This free program will include some reminiscences by longtime congregants and a dessert reception. Registration is required by March 2 at akse.wufoo.com/forms/akse-140. Stay tuned for additional events over the coming year to celebrate our 140 years. We welcome everyone in the community to join us in celebrating our milestone anniversary.
