synagogue spotlight
283-Year-Old Congregation Mikveh
Israel Remains as Relevant As Ever
Jon Marks
28 MARCH 23, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
Jokes.” “The tunes were not familiar
to me — not the tunes I grew up with.

“But what drew me to the congrega-
tion and the reason I kept coming back
was I really enjoyed the people and
the rabbi with his sense of humor. It’s a
very friendly, warm, inviting congrega-
tion. Just what you might expect from
Mediterranean Jews.”
Evoking such feelings is one of
Mikveh Israel’s goals. Another is
remaining connected with the Spanish
and Portuguese Jewish community. In
that respect, Congregation President
Eli Gabay said the pandemic served as
an enhancement.

“Throughout the pandemic, we’ve
maintained a strong relationship
with other Portuguese synagogues
in the world,” Gabay said. “London,
Amsterdam and others. We have a
strong bond with those original
synagogues.” Yet on a personal level, Gabay felt
the impact of COVID-19.

“There were 50 people invited to
one bar mitzvah, but only 11 showed
up,” he recalled of a December 2020
simcha. “So we drove all the food
that was left over to a shelter on Race
Street and fed 50 people.

“We couldn’t bring the food into the
shelter, so I laid trays of food on the
trunk of my car and brought plates. It
was a very meaningful bar mitzvah, a
special kind of tzedakah, and the bar
mitzvah boy, who happened to be my
son Noam, was a participant.”
At the same time, Gabay noted
how far the congregation has come
since then.

“We’ve been able to forge forward
with all the programs we had before
and add some with the educational
aspect of Zoom. That’s enabled us to
stay in touch with congregants. But
it’s diffi cult to bring back people to a
house of worship. Our numbers are
lower. The pandemic got people out of
their routines and, as a result of that,
they got into diff erent routines.”
The pandemic also put a crimp into
Mikveh Israel’s hope of generating
enough funds for major repairs at its
three cemeteries, which date back
centuries. Hoping to raise $50,000
through a GoFundMe page it set up,
only $5,600 has come in so far.

“It’s still ongoing,” Gabay said. “We
got some money to refurbish, but we’re
waiting for someone to see it as an
important act of charity to remember
our fallen heroes and the fi rst Jews in
Philadelphia.” Rabbi Yosef Zarnighian with his
wife Marian and their daughter
Mikveh Israel also is in the midst of
another transition, as Gabbai prepares
to make way for his ultimate successor,
Rabbi Yosef Zarnighian.

The new rabbi arrived in February
2021, back when few people were
vaccinated and attendance at services
was low. Since then, he’s become
convinced that he’s come to the
right place.

“I knew to some degree what I was
getting myself into,” said Zarnighian,
now enjoying fatherhood since the
birth of his daughter nine months ago.

“What was surprising was experienc-
ing the services and the people in
person. “When you’re taken back in time
reliving the melodies, the rituals, the
customs as our ancestors practiced,
it’s kind of humbling. There are really
only a handful of houses of worship in
the United States — churches included
— that have preserved close to 300
years of tradition.

“For me, that’s something not only
humbling, but I think all our members
should be proud of what an amazing
job they’ve all done to preserve that. It
really is a group eff ort.” ■
Jon Marks is a freelance writer.

Courtesy of Rabbi Yosef Zarnighian
From left: In 2019, Eli Gabay and Rabbi Albert Gabbai of Congregation Mikveh
Israel look at the remains of the fi nal resting place of Henriette Marx, whose
tombstone in Mikveh Israel Cemetery was smashed by a falling tree branch.

Photo by Eric Schucht
S o how does the third-oldest
synagogue in the country — the
one whose nearby cemetery
was deemed a national shrine by
Congress — remain relevant 283 years
after its inception, especially coming
out of a pandemic?
Well, maybe because this wasn’t the
fi rst time that Congregation Mikveh
Israel dealt with a pandemic.

“When the Spanish fl u hit, we had
to close the doors,” said Rabbi Albert
Gabbai, a mainstay for 35 years.

“Otherwise, since 1940 we have not
missed any Shabbat whether due to a
pandemic or snow.”
Of course, in 1740 the Sephardic
Jews who’d crossed the Atlantic from
Spain and Portugal to set up shop in
Philadelphia learned to adapt to their
times. So has the current iteration.

“We’re getting better and better with
the passing of time,” Gabbai said. “We
still have not reached our full potential,
but it’s much better than it was before.

“Our Shabbat dinners and lunches
never stopped. For Purim, we had
regular services, a full meal and a Purim
party. And every last Friday of the
month, we have a Shabbat dinner with
a theme. We’ve had an Italian evening.

Coming up, we’ll have them for Spanish
and Syrian Jews and others.”
Inclusivity has always been a staple
at Mikveh Israel, whose founders
included Nathan Levy, the man who
helped bring the uncracked Liberty
Bell to town. Whatever your ethnic-
ity, whatever country you’re from,
whatever your Jewish background,
you’re welcomed.

“Being Ashkenazic [and] going a
to Sephardic synagogue, I wondered
what it would be like,” said longtime
congregant Sharon Geller, a comedic
actress who’s appeared on “Saturday
Night Live” and is in the national
touring company of “Old Jews Telling