Congregation Brit Shalom, State College, PA

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September 08, 2010 29 Elul 5770

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Our History

Early Days

Prior to World War II, the local Jewish community was quite small. Most Jews lived in Bellefonte and owned small businesses. Penn State University also was much smaller then, with very few Jews on the faculty during the 1930s. After the war, the G.I. Bill helped ex-servicemen to attend college. The university and the town of State College grew rapidly. The State College Jewish community grew as new academics, professionals and business people moved in.

In the 1930s, the Jewish families of Bellefonte and State College, Pennsylvania attended religious services at the Hillel Foundation, then located in the 100 block of West Beaver Avenue. The Avodah women's group organized and ran the first religious school.

The community contributed to the construction of a Hillel building on Locust Lane, dedicated on November 9, 1952. On April 18, 1954, local leaders convened a meeting to found an organization titled the Jewish Community Council of Bellefonte and State College (JCC). This new council formally incorporated in 1956. It provided for all of the needs of the Jewish community with the exception of religious services. During the next 8 years, the JCC Religious School met at the Hillel building. The teachers were Penn State students.

Our Building

Over those 8 years the Religious School outgrew the space available in the Hillel building. At a dramatic meeting in 1962, JCC members voted to erect a freestanding JCC building. The original building at 620 East Hamilton Avenue was dedicated on February 28, 1965. It included an office, all-purpose room and kitchen upstairs, with classrooms downstairs. The all-purpose room served as both sanctuary and social hall for 18 years. In 1983 an expansion provided a new dedicated sanctuary seating 220, a library, and additional classrooms.

The formal organization retained its identity as the JCC, but in 1979 it also took on a new name: the Congregation Brit Shalom. Congregation members use both names, interchangeably. The congregation's building is available for use by local Jewish groups which are not directly part of the congregation. Over the years, these groups have included: Hadassah, B'nai B'rith Women, B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, and the JCC Preschool, among others.

Movement Affiliation

For its first 30 years the JCC/Congregation Brit Shalom was the only Jewish congregation in Centre County. It began as a lay congregation and for many years could not afford to affiliate with any larger body in the American Jewish community. Moreover, both then and now, it needs to serve all interested Jews regardless of their background.

In the mid-1980s the congregation considered affiliation, conducting a careful study of the Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist movements in American Judaism. In 1987 the congregation formally affiliated with Reconstructionism. This decision honored Rabbi Eissenstat's personal involvement with the Reconstructionist movement. In addition, it was felt that Reconstructionism could serve congregants of all backgrounds without challenging old movement loyalties.

The congregation formally switched its affiliation to the Reform movement in the spring of 2001. This decision in part reflected the increasing acceptance of traditional ritual within the Reform movement.

Our Rabbis

In 1971 the congregation hired its first full-time rabbi. Rabbi Robert Kaufman trained in the Reform Movement. He served until the spring of 1976, then retired but remained in the local community until his death in 1979.

Rabbi Jeff Eisenstat first established himself in the congregation during his undergraduate years at Penn State University (1968-72). He was a teacher, and later became director of the Religious School. He also led services, including the High Holiday services. "Rabbi Jeff" became the congregation's second rabbi in the fall of 1976, directly after graduation from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He served until 1990, when he moved to another congregation.

During the 1990-91 year the congregation relied upon David Stein, a rabbinical student of the Reconstructionist seminary. In 1991 the Reconstructionist rabbi David Mivasair came to our congregation, serving for 5 years before moving to another congregation.

Rabbi Jonathan Brown served the congregation from 1995 to the spring of 2001. Rabbi Brown trained in the Reform Movement. He has gone on to a variety of other rabbinical responsibilities.

Rabbi Daniel Bronstein served the congregation in a part-time capacity from the fall of 2001 through the following summer. Rabbi Bronstein trained in the Reform Movement and currently is pursuing a doctorate in Jewish History from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.

In the summer of 2002 Rabbi Kennard Lipman joined the congregation. Rabbi Lipman graduated from Hebrew Union College in the spring of 2002. Prior to the rabbinate, Rabbi Lipman was an academic in the field of religious studies for 19 years. He is currently pursuing rabbinical responsibilities in California.

Rabbi David E. Ostrich joined the congregation in August, 2005. Originally from Lafayette, Louisiana, Rabbi Ostrich received his education at Northwestern University and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. During his twenty-plus years in the rabbinate, he has specialized in small congregations, serving in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Savannah, Georgia, and Pensacola, Florida. He brings to Congregation Brit Shalom a wealth of experience in spiritual development, teaching, programming, youth work, and social justice.

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