B'nai Abraham

B'nai Abraham was one of Newark’s two long-established Conservative temples and, by 1940, its most splendid. Its move from a former Baptist church to a circular, Greek-style building near the homes of Jewish doctors and lawyers reflected the congregation’s prominence among the city’s prosperous Jewish families. Under Rabbi Prinz, the temple also became a setting for a historical outlook shaped by the rabbi’s recent experience of Nazi persecution.

Building and Congregation

The congregation had originally been housed in a former Baptist church. It later moved several miles west, into a district where Jewish doctors and lawyers lived. The new temple was a circular building, austere in what was called the Greek style, yet vast enough to hold a thousand worshipers during the High Holidays. Its scale and architecture made it the most splendid of Newark’s temples.

Rabbinic Leadership

The year before the events described in the novel, Rabbi Prinz replaced the temple’s retiring rabbi. An émigré expelled from Berlin by Adolf Hitler’s Gestapo, Rabbi Prinz brought a broad social outlook to his work. His perspective on Jewish history was marked by his recent experience of Nazi persecution, giving his leadership a forceful quality distinct from the more ceremonial public image associated with some of Newark’s other rabbis.

Place in Newark’s Jewish Life

B'nai Abraham’s standing was tied to changing patterns of affiliation and class. As B'nai Moshe lost well-to-do congregants, some joined B'nai Abraham, while others left Conservative Judaism for Reform congregations. The temple’s location among Jewish professionals’ homes and its capacity for a thousand worshipers underscored its position in the city’s communal life. Its connections extended beyond its own congregation: Lionel Bengelsdorf publicly described his friendship with B'nai Abraham’s retiring rabbi, placing the temple within Newark’s wider network of religious leadership.