Iredell in Transition :: Powered by statesville.com and mooresvilletribune.com

Those who identified with Judaism jumped 69 percent from 1980-2000

Russell Ledbetter | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) | April 30, 2008

In 1890, locally made bricks built the walls of the second oldest house of worship in Statesville, the Temple Emanuel at Congregation Emanuel.

Older members at the temple remain steadfast as other local venues for Jewish worship pop up throughout the county.

Many young Iredell County Jews choose to attend services at the more conservative Beth Shalom of Lake Norman or the reformed Lake Norman Jewish Community. The groups rent space to hold weekly or monthly Friday evening shabbat observances.

“Our congregation has been in existence for about 11 years,” said Beth Shalom board member Wendy Pake.

Beth Shalom hosts shabbat observances for about 60 families on the first Friday of each month at Davidson College Presbyterian Church.

“We’re still growing because new families are coming in every day,” Pake said.

But it is Statesville’s Congregation Emanuel — with a membership of 55 — that remains the architectural and historic jewel for its core of longtime members.

“We lose some and we gain some,” said long-time member Howard Adler, 90. “We hope there is a lot of growth into Iredell County, and we hope there are Jews who come along with it.”

From 1980 to 2000, those who identify themselves as Jewish jumped 69 percent in Iredell County, according to the Association of Religious Data Archives.

In the early 1900s, Congregation Emanuel was considered the most popular synagogue in the area for Jews to attend services. By the 1920s, as economic growth spread to Charlotte, so did the Jewish community, and Temple Emanuel was closed.

From 1920 to 1954, Dr. S. Wallace, a member of the board of trustees, maintained the building and rented it out to local Christian congregations.
Howard and Hannah Adler — a well-respected, longtime couple in the Congregation Emanuel — arrived in Statesville with their children in 1956, and the synagogue again became active.

Throughout the 1970s and ’80s, parents in Congregation Emanuel taught eager children and hosted a steady slate of bar and bat mitzvahs, Hannah Adler said. “It was a very exciting time,” she said. “Unfortunately, most of the young people did not return after completing their college education.”

Over the past decade, Congregation Emanuel has had a steady membership, Howard Adler said. Congregation Emanuel members are also considered members of Beth Shalom, and the two congregations share many observances, Pake said.

“We’ve got people coming from as far as Exit 18 and all the way from Statesville,” Pake said.

“It’s a little tough now for us,” Howard Adler said. “But we have to be optimistic. Judaism has existed for over 5,000 years, and we believe it will continue.”

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