synagogue spotlight
Congregation Beth Solomon Continues
to Fill a Need in the Northeast
Jarrad Saff ren | Staff Writer
S ince opening in 1969 in Northeast
Philadelphia, Congregation Beth
Solomon has had two constants:
Rabbi Solomon Isaacson and his view of
a synagogue’s role in the community. A
shul is not merely a space for worship,
according to the rabbi. It’s a community
center. It helps people with whatever
they need.

For 30 years, CBS played that role
in Isaacson’s basement. But as it grew
into “the largest Russian synagogue in
the city,” according to Isaacson, with
about 2,000 people showing up for High
Holiday services, it needed a bigger
sanctuary. A $250,000 donation and
help from local unions gave it one in
2000. That home, at 198 Tomlinson
Road, is where congregants gather to
this day.

Today, much of CBS’ community
life remains the same: Isaacson, the
Northeast Philadelphia location and
the Orthodox members who live within
walking distance. Hundreds of people
still come for High Holiday services.

No one needs to pay, though Isaacson
acknowledges that the synagogue
“does a lot of fundraising” and has “a lot
22 APRIL 27, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
of friendly people who have helped us
over the years.”
“Everything has been fi ne for the last
couple years. No drama whatsoever.

God’s help,” Isaacson said.

Everything has pretty much been
fi ne for much of CBS’ existence, he
added. But there was one unsettling
period in the late-2010s when a spate
of antisemitic incidents threatened the
synagogue’s safety and peace of mind.

In 2018, a man pleaded guilty to ethnic
intimidation, institutional vandalism
and desecration of a place of worship
after urinating on CBS’ walls and steps,
according to a Jewish Exponent article.

Before that, the community saw the
Jerusalem stone of its mikvah vandal-
ized, its menorah stolen and the windows
of its van smashed. A synagogue leader,
Rabbi Akivah Pollack, who remains the
head of its Russian American Jewish
Experience program, told the Exponent
that the synagogue’s prominent place
in the community left it vulnerable to
attacks. “Unfortunately, that also attracts
people who don’t want to do the best
things for the community,” he said at the
time. Isaacson, Pollack and other synagogue
leaders responded by strengthening
Congregation Beth Solomon
the security. They added a lock at the
front door, bulletproof windows and an
alarm system. No one can get in without
knowing the code. Over the past 4½
years, “We haven’t had any problems at
all,” Isaacson said.

“Everybody feels secure when they
walk into the synagogue,” he added.

And many people continue to walk into
the synagogue. In addition to the High
Holiday crowds, it has a summer camp,
a Hebrew school, a day care center and
a Kollel, among other programs.

Isaacson, who lived in South
Philadelphia after emigrating from
Romania, moved to upper Northeast
Philadelphia, on the edge of lower Bucks
County, in the late-1960s to open CBS.

It was a growing area, he explained.

Developers were “building houses left
and right,” he added. It was during that
period that the synagogue grew into
the role that it has been playing for
decades now. As Isaacson recalled, “We
did everything we could to help.”
Beth Solomon aided people in paying
for food, clothing and furniture, as
well as rents and mortgages. It even
assisted immigrants in learning English
and fi nding jobs. Isaacson estimated
that CBS helped “thousands upon
thousands” of people.

The infl ux eventually slowed before
restarting again between 2005 and
2008, according to the rabbi. And
again, the community center did every-
thing it could to help people with basic
needs. Many came and went over the
years, but others still attend services at
Beth Solomon today. Some who were
babies in the 1970s are now showing up
with their grandchildren, according to
Isaacson. “We taught them many, many things.

And we watched them grow,” he said of
the congregants.

Today, the area is growing again,
according to Isaacson. Orthodox Jews
are looking for a community, and they
can fi nd one in the upper Northeast,
in the Somerton neighborhood, on
Tomlinson Road. Nearby, on Bustleton
Avenue, there is a kosher supermarket
called House of Kosher, the only kosher
market in Pennsylvania, according to the
rabbi, whose family owns it.

“This area continues to grow in popular-
ity. It went down but now it’s going back
up because of our synagogue and the
House of Kosher,” Isaacson said. “And
because our community, in general, is a
very nice community.” ■
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
Courtesy of Rochel Duskis
Rabbi Solomon Isaacson enjoys an activity with the kids.