Kol Ami was built on the foundations of two legacy congregations, Temple Emanu-El and Congregation Or Chadash.
Temple Emanu-El
On Rosh Hashanah Eve, October 3, 1910, the unpaved major Tucson thoroughfare, Stone Avenue, became home to the first Jewish place of worship in the Arizona Territory: Temple Emanuel. Were it not for the water wagons with their sprinkling equipment, the red brick building might have been obscured by the huge dust clouds that made vehicle travel on the street treacherous. Paving occurred in 1911. Rabbi E.M. Chapman of Albuquerque, N.M. was hired to conduct the services and preside at the dedication. After conducting High Holy Day services, the rabbi was offered a one-year contract with a salary of $1000, which he accepted. The building on Stone Avenue fulfilled many dreams and many needs. It became the Stone Avenue Temple, lost its red brick facade to white plaster, and is presently the home of the Jewish Heritage Museum.
In May of 1951, the final plans for the Religious School were approved. The proposed eleven-room school building would be the largest Jewish school in the Southwest at the time. The total cost of the building, including furnishings, was projected at $60,000.
In December of 1955, Temple awarded a contract to the Murray J. Schiff Construction Company for a new Temple annex. This addition would include a chapel with a pulpit, ark, choir area, and organ. The wing would also have administrative offices and a library. The building was to have "innovative sealing features for floors and ceilings" to make "the unit almost dustproof." The proposed cost for the complex was $150,000. The dedication of the Convocation Building, housing the Schlanger Chapel, meeting room, library, offices, and rabbi's study, took place on March 22, 1959.
In 1962, the Sanctuary building with its mosaic windows was completed and dedicated by Gov. Fannin on February 24. The school building was dedicated in May, with excitement that "film strips, visual aids and tape recorders will supplement older methods of teaching." At that time, 500 students attended.
In 1966, the Nogales, AZ branch of Temple Emanu-El Religious School opened with 25 students. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gordon established the Carol Gordon Fist Gallery of Judaica, including treasured art and religious objects.
In the early 1970s, Tucson was emerging from its laid back, small town, desert image. As more people moved West, Tucson was growing into a metropolitan community. With this growth, more synagogues were started. The membership of Temple Emanu-El doubled, and members could now attend services at their newly completed building on Country Club Drive.
In September 1972, Rabbi Joseph Weizenbaum assumed temple leadership. Rabbi Wiezenbaum had earlier led a 1971 delegation of POW/MIA families to Paris and to Laos where they met with the North Vietnamese.The congregation celebrated Rabbi Bilgray's 25 years of service in November. When he retired from Temple Emanu-El, the rabbi was recognized as a leader in interfaith relations. He was elected Rabbi Emeritus at his retirement, and the congregation had grown to 600 families.
In 1994, the leadership passed from Rabbi Weizenbaum to Assistant Rabbi Thomas Loucheim on an interim basis. For the next five years, there were several other Rabbis, and Temple appeared to be on the verge of closing. A core group of members decided they wanted to avoid this. Major funds were pledged, a new Board of Directors was formed, and Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon was hired. A new era in Temple's history was beginning.
March of 2000 initiated the celebration of Temple's 90th anniversary. A Heritage Shabbat was held March 11th at the Stone Avenue Temple, and on the 17th, Joan and Donald Diamond were honored for the unqualified support they provided, without which it was written, "we wouldn't have a Temple today."
It was during this year of 2000 that Rabbi Baruch Cohon began assisting at both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to accommodate our growing congregation. Rabbi David Freelund arrived as Assistant Rabbi to the open arms of members, and he was installed that August. The Temple Preschool was dedicated on October 20th.
Summer 1995, Twelve (12) families approached Rabbi to be the rabbi of a new congregation. “More than 150 people attended the Or Chadash, New Light, first Friday Shabbat service on August 18” at the Zenith Center, 330 East 7th Street. Part of the congregation’s vision, according to Rabbi Louchheim, was to reshape the Shabbat ritual experience and to “offer a new perspective on our spiritual search for value and meaning.” (Arizona Jewish Post, September 1, 1995)
August 1996, Goldie Silverman made a donation, in memory of her husband Jake, to purchase a Torah scroll. The Board of Directors of B’nai Sholem, an Orthodox congregation in St. Joseph, Missouri, decided to “gift” their scroll, which Marcia Louchheim’s great-grandfather, Rabbi Joshua Frumhoff, brought from Kharkov, Russia (near the Black Sea) to B’nai Sholem. The congregation attended the scroll’s dedication Friday evening, January 29, 1999. Mary Ann Danin created a mantle and Fran Braverman donated two yaddim October 1996 Fifty-six (56) students enrolled in the religious school program with Marcia Louchheim, the first Director of Education. Classes were at the JCC.
In 1997, over 100 students enrolled, and in 1998, classes moved to the Temple Emanu-El building.
In the 1999-2000 year, over 140 students enrolled with classes located at the Tucson Hebrew Academy. In spring, 2000, the congregation hired Brenda Landau as the new Director of Education.
April 2002, The congregation purchased the 4.2 acre property from Libby Ross for $900,000, with the seller donating $200,000 to the congregation. Bank of Tucson provided financing of $700,000. The property was appraised at $1,000,000. The Congregation renovated the existing 4,000-square-foot house into functional office space, allowing the house to function as administrative office space, a small meeting room, a chapel housing the Torah scrolls, a library hall, a gift shop, and a kitchen. The congregation undertook a $1.8 to $2.2 million capital campaign.
December 7, 2009, Rabbi Thomas Louchheim and Cantor Janece Cohen, and the Board of Directors of Congregation Or Chadash formally received Scroll MST-1408, a Holocaust Scroll. The Scroll is on long-term loan from the Czech Memorial Scroll of Westminster, United Kingdom. A special dedication took place on Friday, May 21, 2010. The generosity of Sue and Herb Cohn made the Torah project possible.
April 22, 2012, Grand Opening of the Or Chadash Library with over 1000 volumes organized and cataloged by Roberta and Marty Greene. The library has a check-out system for members and others and a special shelf dedicated to authors who are Or Chadash members or relatives of members, including David Levy, Lauren Grossman, Michael Tauber, Amy Lederman, Robert Klein, Naomi Benaron, Sol Resnick, and Bonnie Marson.
In May 2012, Rabbi Louchheim received his Doctor of Divinity from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, CA, for 25 years in the Rabbinate.
In June 2012, Or Chadash installed the Etz Chaim Wall of Gratitude, designed by Lynn Rae Lowe, to recognize everyone who contributed to the past Capital Campaigns. The tree is a rustic metal vine with room to attach metal leaves with the donors’ names engraved on each.
Congregation Or Chadash
The first meeting to consider joining Tucson’s two largest reform synagogues was breakfast at the Blue Willow restaurant in January 2019. The president of Temple Emanu-El (Mona Gibson) had contacted Ben Vogel (president of Congregation Or Chadash) in the Fall of 2018, asking if they’d be open to such a discussion. This case study describes the challenges we faced and lessons we learned in our journey together to create Kol Ami Synagogue over three years, including concurrently adapting to the Covid pandemic and an economic downturn. Our goal was to ensure Reform Judaism would thrive now and in the future in Tucson and Southern Arizona. We did it! Kol Ami is a home of joyful Judaism for all.
