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Worshipping History
A small but dedicated congregation carries on against the odds of time
In the late 1800s, Tupper Lake, New York was rightfully referred to as "The Little Wild West Town of the Adirondacks." With 36 bars and countless eager patrons, the turbulent climate seemed right for just about anything to happen--anything but the formation of a new house of worship. Yet it was this atmosphere that gave birth to Synagogue Beth Joseph--the oldest synagogue in the Adirondacks.
“It was quite the time period for this area,” says current Beth Joseph Synagogue President Janet Chapman. “But even though it was kind of a rough, rugged era, it was also a time of change, a time that brought our house of worship to life.”
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The story of this temple's history began in 19th Century Russia and Eastern Europe, when thousands of persecuted Jews fled to the United States. Many immigrants remained in New York City, but an 1892 railroad extension spurred a sizeable contingent to travel north to Tupper Lake.
The vast majority of these early Jewish settlers in the Adirondacks were "peddlers,” walking many miles in all kinds of weather while carrying heavy backpacks laden with wares they hoped to sell. “That was basically the only career Jewish immigrants had in this area at that time,” Chapman explains. “They were city folk, people who couldn't fish or farm. But they knew how to sell, and sell they did. In fact, there were so many peddlers in the Adirondacks that our temple was first known as the 'peddler's synagogue.'”
One of the most successful Tupper Lake peddlers was Moses "Mose" Ginsberg, a determined businessman whose success allowed him to open one of the town's first department stores. Ginsberg's Department Store grew into a thriving business, eventually reaching lofty status as one of the largest and longest-lasting department stores in the entire United States. After meeting a large number of fellow Jewish immigrants, Ginsberg began planting the seeds for an official Jewish congregation in Tupper Lake.
Chapman reports that private homes served as the earliest places of worship for Tupper Lake's Jewish community before the growing Jewish population decided to make the idea of a formal synagogue more than just a dream. Plans were made, money was raised, and a site on the corner of Mill and Lake Streets was selected. Yet in the summer of 1899--days before building was to commence--a terrible fire raged through downtown Tupper Lake. Before the blaze was extinguished, most of Tupper Lake's wooden homes and businesses had been reduced to ashes.
The Town of Tupper Lake responded quickly to this disaster, and a brand-new community--complete with a brand-new synagogue--emerged from the rubble. In July 1905, the doors to Synagogue Beth Joseph finally opened.
By the mid-1920s, the strict Orthodox congregation (women had to sit upstairs in a balcony while the men sat on the lower level) consisted of 35 active families. Yet this success was not to last. Ten years later, the active Jewish population began to decline dramatically. When the synagogue celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1955, only a few active congregants remained. Eight years later, with diminishing numbers of both congregants and money, the Temple was forced to close.
“There just weren't enough of us,” Chapman says. “The few who were left wanted to keep the synagogue open, but it would have taken a miracle to do that.”
During its period of closure, the building that housed the Temple was used for everything from town meetings to Girl Scout activities. The Baptist Church of Tupper Lake even used the synagogue's sanctuary for their services. And then, in the mid-1980s, the miracle Chapman was hoping for appeared. Appropriately, it came in the form of a traveler, a passerby who just happened to appreciate the unique beauty of "The Peddlers' Synagogue." Sharon Berzok, a non-Jewish summer resident of Tupper Lake , was deeply moved when she first saw the synagogue. Over the next two years, Berzok worked tirelessly to earn Temple Beth Joseph a spot on the National Register of Historic Buildings.
“Sharon was our savior,” Chapman says emphatically. “Without her hours and hours of work, this synagogue simply would not be here today.”
Then tragedy struck. In 1988, Berzok was killed in an automobile crash, just two weeks before her countless hours of devoted work were honored when Temple Beth Joseph was designated a National Historic Building. Yet progress in the temple did not come to an end after Berzok's sudden death. Four women from Tupper Lake answered the call to lead the restoration process. Muriel Ginsberg--Mose's daughter--wrote hundreds of personalized letters to community members, soliciting all necessary funds to restore the synagogue. Ester Futterman served as a religious advisor for the restoration committee, while Molly Sheren spent over 500 hours re-stitching Beth Joseph's intricate "parashot" (the curtain covering the synagogue's torah scrolls). Chapman planned and supervised the restoration, a duty which she still fulfills today. Under the direction of these dedicated women, along with the help of a staff made up entirely of volunteers, (including prisoners from Camp Gabriels and other Adirondack state correctional facilities), Temple Beth Joseph was restored to its present day beauty.
“It was a lot of work, for sure, and a lot of time,” Chapman says, “but we were all working for something we loved. And when you love what you are doing, the work isn't bad at all. We're just glad — and somewhat amazed — that we still have this beautiful temple around.”
Today, this important national landmark still holds Sabbath services at 7 p.m. during the summer months, as well as having Rosh Hashanah services in the fall and the occasional wedding or Bar Mitzvah. The Temple welcomes visitors for guided tours during July and August. The basement also houses an art gallery and a museum of Jewish life in the Adirondacks . Temple Beth Joseph is a living memorial to many "mitzvahs"--a "Profound Obligation fulfilled with Joyous Hearts"--performed by people who have dedicated their lives to worshipping their history and allowing future generations to do the same.
A Traveling Legacy
Look back through the history of any Jewish family in the Adirondacks and you're likely to find one thing in common: peddling.
For Jewish immigrants to northern New York near the end of the 19th century, this was one of the few available jobs they could do. After all, these were city tailors, bakers and shop owners, not farmers, fishermen or woodsmen. So when they arrived in the Adirondack wilderness, they found few options for occupations they felt comfortable doing. Peddling was the exception. If they couldn't open a store, many of these immigrants decided, they'd carry the store to others.
So on Sunday mornings, hundreds of men throughout the Adirondacks woke up at the crack of dawn, shouldered a heavy knapsack and set off on their week-long journey. Their trade routes took them through towns like Saranac, Bloomingdale, Jay--all accessible only by poor country roads, rude highways that were little more than cart paths. They'd travel all day and sleep where they could at night, often out in the open with the mountain sky as their roof. On Friday nights, the peddlers would arrive home in time for Sabbath services and spend one day with their families. Then, on Sunday morning, the cycle would resume again.
The work was hard, but the opportunity for advancement--however slim--was always there. Successful peddlers could eventually buy a horse and carriage to transport their wares. The most successful of these hearty men became store owners. Moses Ginsberg was one of these fortunate few. Remember Merkel's Departmentr Store in Plattsburgh, N.Y.? Its founder, Isaac Merkel, was also a pack-peddler who struck in rich.
So the next time you pass an Adirondack synagogue, pause a moment to remember the people who built it...and the backbreaking work they had to do in order to see their faithful visions become reality.