[2] Since its founding, Temple Israel has been served by only five senior rabbis: Maurice H. Harris (1882–1930), William Rosenblum (1930–1963), Martin Zion (1963–1991), Judith Lewis (1991–2006), and David Gelfand since 2006.

[9] The founders were German Jews,[6] typically shopkeepers, traditionally observant, and first worshiped above a printing shop on East 125th Street in Harlem.

[1] In 1920, the members moved to a new Neoclassical building at 210 West 91st Street, designed by William Tachau;[2] the old building on Lenox Avenue was sold to the Seventh-Day Adventist Temple, which in turn sold it in 1925 to the Mount Olivet Baptist Church.

[7][6] The congregation was active during the Great Depression, and supported Jewish education programs for poor children of the neighborhood.

[13] At the time, the congregation's trustees had decided to relocate the synagogue from the Upper West Side to the Upper East Side of Manhattan,[6] and in 1964 began construction of a new building at Temple Israel's current location, 112 East 75th Street.

[6] In 1985, Judith Lewis became Temple Israel's Director of Education, and in 1991 she succeeded Zion as the synagogue's fourth senior rabbi.

[13] In 2006 David Gelfand succeeded Lewis, becoming Temple Israel's fifth Senior Rabbi in 2006,[6][10] after an acrimonious departure from the Jewish Center of the Hamptons.

[1] Melissa Buyer-Wittman joined the synagogue as Director of Lifelong Learning in 2011, and David Reinhart became Assistant Rabbi in 2019.

[17] In 2022 the congregation launched a $40 million capital campaign to undertake major renovations to the main sanctuary, expansion of the chapel and courtyard enclosure, enhancements to the building's upper levels, and updates to the ballroom.