Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 2004 East 22nd Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the United States.
Rabbis serving in this building have included Norbert Rosenthal (1951–1976), Charles Sherman (1976–2013),[3] and Karen and Micah Citrin (2013–2016),[5] Jim Simon (2016-2018),[6] and Michael Weinstein (2018–present).
[7] Its first religious leader was Abraham J. Feldman, who, at the time, was studying at the Reform Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati.
[7] That year the congregation occupied its first permanent building (until then services had been held in a series of temporary premises),[3] at a cost of $75,000 (today $1,320,000).
[11] It was eventually abandoned and fell into disuse, occupied only by the homeless seeking shelter, and was severely damaged by a fire on January 27, 2009, in which the roof and floors collapsed.
[17] During the early 1920s the Tulsa All Souls Unitarian Church (founded 1921) met for a time in Temple Israel's building.
[16] During Iola's tenure, in 1932, Temple Israel moved to another building, at 1602 South Rockford (at 16th Street),in what is now the Swan Lake historic district.
[20] More traditional than his predecessors, Shusterman wore a robe and tallit (not a business suit) during services, introduced bar mitzvah ceremonies to Temple Israel, added Torah readings to the Friday night services, and Hebrew language instruction in Temple Israel's religious school.
[9] In 1981, he assisted in the establishing of Temple Shalom of Northwest Arkansas, and served thereafter as its first rabbi, visiting every other week to conduct Friday services.
[7] In 1955, the congregation moved to its present home at 2004 East 22nd Place,[2][17] just south of the Utica Square Shopping Center.
[26] The South Rockford building was sold to Christ the King Catholic Church, which remodeled it so that it could be used as a fellowship hall.
In 1975 it was renamed Fletcher Hall, after the former parish priest, and in 1991 it was removed to make way for a playground for students at Marquette Catholic School.
[28] Goodman hired the sculptor Seymour Lipton to produce three works of ceremonial art for the sanctuary's bimah, "a ner tamid, a monumental seven-branch menorah, and an abstracted, vine motif that is placed along the top of the Torah Ark.
[31] In 1979, he presided over the bar mitzvah at Temple Israel of future NFL football player and professional wrestler Bill Goldberg.
[5] The Citrins moved to Temple Beth David in Westwood, Massachusetts in 2016, and were succeeded by Jim Simon as interim rabbi.