In the 1850’s the New Brunswick Jewish population was still very small (less than 100 people). Over the preceding decade most of them had come from Germany, the birthplace, 50 years earlier, of Reform Judaism.
- In 1852 a group began meeting for member-led services at their various homes.
- In 1855 they took the name “Congregation Anshe Emeth” (Men of Truth), referring to the verse from Parashat Yitro where Yitro tells Moses to find “anshe emeth,”- men of truth and integrity – to help him govern.
- In 1859 they applied to the County for a charter to establish the congregation as a legal entity.
The process followed all the contemporary laws:
- Notices and advertisements of the intention to apply appeared 10 days before the open public meeting on October 10, 1859.
- At that meeting the group elected six representatives from five families (two were brothers).
On October 11, 1859, Congregation Anshe Emeth of New Brunswick became the first incorporated congregation in Middlesex County, and only the fourth in New Jersey. Of the seven oldest Jewish congregations in New Jersey, Anshe Emeth is the only one that remains in the city of its founding.
For 11 years the congregation met in a hall at 9 Peace St., thought to be the store of one of the founders. It was not until 1871 that the congregation moved to a more permanent site on Neilsen St., and in 1897 the congregation built its first synagogue, on Albany St.
There they stayed until 1929, when with a membership of 80 families and annual dues of $60 per family, the congregation built its current home on Livingston Ave.
In 1926 the congregation voted to change the Temple’s name to “Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple,” in honor of the Jewish dead of WWI, and that is the name carved on our Livingston Avenue entrance to the sanctuary.
(References: The American Synagogue, by Kerry M. Olitzky and Marc Lee Raphael. Greenwood Press, CT, 1966. The Jewish Scene in New Jersey’s Raritan Valley, 1698-1948, by Ruth Marcus Patt. Jewish Historical Society, New Brunswick, NJ, 1978.)
October 16, 2009 / 28 Tishrei 5770
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