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.




d’var torah
Don’t Wait to Atone
Rabbi David N. Goodman
I Parshat Aharei Mot
hope you had a happy and fulfi ll-
ing Passover. Those preparing their
homes for Pesach know there is
cleaning and there is cleaning.

On an ordinary day, we wash dishes,
sponge off surfaces, maybe sweep up.

But the approach of Passover has many
people down on hands and knees,
scrubbing fl oors, scouring shelves and
counters, searching for any trace of
unleavened food.

What’s all this got to do with this
week’s Torah portion? Quite a bit,
actually. Aharei Mot (“After the Death”
of Aaron’s two sons in a sacrifi cial
accident) presents the sacrifi cial rites
for Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement,
in this account, is a time for intense,
collective moral housecleaning.

Aaron, the chief priest, fi rst sacri-
fi ces a bull to atone for his own and his
family’s sins. “He shall then slaughter
the goat that is the people’s sin off er-
ing … and so he cleanses the holy
place (Tabernacle) from the impuri-
ties and misdeeds of the Israelites”
(Leviticus 16:15-16). The Israelites
themselves are to practice self-denial
that day.

This aims to cleanse the accumulated
“moral pollution” of the past year. The
Torah asserts the need for periodic
personal and communal refl ection,
repentance and renewal.

Today, bulls and goats have nothing to
fear on Yom Kippur. But fasting, sexual
abstinence and long hours of gathering
in holy places remain part of contempo-
rary Jewish religious life. As when the
Temple stood in Jerusalem, today Yom
Kippur off ers a path back to a better life
to Jews who sincerely repent.

But wait. Or rather, why wait? With
Yom Kippur fi ve months away, why
not avail ourselves of opportunities
to do a “light cleaning” on a regular
basis? Why not fi nd tools to do a moral
check-in, to make amends and to get
back on track?
The message from the Torah and
tradition is simple: Don’t wait. In Leviticus
5:5, we read that as soon as a person
realizes they have sinned — whether
against God or a fellow human being
— they “shall confess the way that they
have sinned” and make amends through
the appropriate sacrifi ce. For an act that
caused a loss to another person, the
guilty party shall fully compensate the
victim, plus a 20% penalty.

In other words, in the biblical world,
there was no reason to wait for Yom
Kippur. Today, our daily prayer books also
urge us to act now, not later. The fi fth
and sixth blessings of the weekday
Amidah — recited three times daily —
ask God to help us return to the right
path, and to forgive our wrongdoing.

Twice daily, the Tahanun prompts us
to seek forgiveness and mercy. God,
it says, please “don’t recall our past
sins.” Instead, please “forgive our sins
for your name’s sake.”
So, if you spoke harshly to someone
in a moment of anger, if you failed to
repay a loan or return a borrowed item,
if you took a loved one for granted,
don’t wait. Make it right, right now. And
seek help from a higher power to do
better in the future.

Now the fl ip side of making amends
is receiving them. Just as we fail to
acknowledge our mistakes, those who
harm us don’t always rush to say, “I’m
sorry.” That’s where our prayer book
off ers this guidance: Let it go.

“Look, I forgive anyone who has
angered me, annoyed me or sinned
against me.” This statement precedes
the bedside recitation of the Shema.

And while not making everything right,
saying these words can help ease
some of the hurt that inevitably comes
from living in a human community. ■
Rabbi David N. Goodman is the rabbi
at Nafshenu, a Reconstructionist
community in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

He travels next month to the Holy Land
to take part in a delegation engaging
in Jewish-Palestinian reconciliation
work. The Board of Rabbis of Greater
Philadelphia is proud to provide diverse
perspectives on Torah commentary
for the Jewish Exponent. The opinions
expressed in this column are the
author’s own and do not necessarily
refl ect the view of the Board of Rabbis.

F TAY-SACHS
REE & CANAVAN
SCREENING CALL (215)887-0877
FOR DETAILS
e-mail:ntsad@aol.com visit: www.tay-sachs.org
Screening for other
Jewish Genetic Diseases
also available.

This message is sponsored by a friend of
Nat’l Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases
Association of Delaware Valley
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 23