OUR STORY
This is our connection. This is our legacy. This is our future.
Since 1952, Beth El is where we have come together. To celebrate and to mourn. To educate our children and ourselves. To join together in worship. And to volunteer, care for, and love each other as we all do our small part to repair the world.
Year in and year out, we are here forming close, long-lasting friendships both in the building and beyond these walls.
And just as the High Holidays mark for each of us the passage of time, it is this place — this building, these people, this set of timeless traditions and values — that marks the roots of who we are as individuals.
Congregation Beth El Fairfield connects us to each other, and to ourselves.
Beth El is the link. Connecting generations, connecting families, connecting our past and our birthright to our future and the coming generations.
This is something special. We welcome you to join us.
Timeline
1952
Eleven families form the “Fairfield Jewish Community Group” and hold weekly services in members’ homes and elementary schools.
1954
First High Holiday services are held in the American Legion Hall under volunteer cantor Charles R. Feld.
1955
First Sunday school classes are conducted in Fairfield Woods School and Osborn Hill School with nineteen children.
1957
First rabbinical leader, Rabbi Arthur Haselkorn, is hired.
A Growth Spurt
1959
Rabbi Jack Bloom takes the pulpit.
1960
The Board of Directors approves a change of name to Congregation Beth El of Fairfield.
1961
Groundbreaking takes place for Beth El’s new home at 1200 Fairfield Woods Road.
1967
Beth El purchases fifty cemetery plots from Workman’s Circle, and fifty more just six months later.
A Time of Transition and New Leadership
1972
Rabbi Leon Waldman becomes rabbi, and leads the growth of a strong and involved congregation for the next thirty-two years.
1973
Beth El is recognized as the first truly egalitarian Conservative synagogue in Connecticut.
Beth El receives a Holocaust Torah from the Czech city of Kladno.
1974
Beth El Sisterhood is born, and sponsors its first interfaith Sukkot luncheon with just fifteen people.
1976
First female President of a Conservative synagogue in Connecticut, Hyla Loewith, is inaugurated at Beth El.
1981
With Beth El’s continuing growth, an enlarged, permanent sanctuary, synagogue offices, and an expanded kitchen are constructed.
1982
Rabbi Waldman leads the founding of Operation Hope, and serves as its first president.
1990
Still growing, another addition is built, offering a privacy room, gift shop, and new offices for the staff, Rabbi, and Cantor.
1998
Cantor Feld is honored in recognition of his retirement after forty-six years of service.
Capital Contributions and Outstanding Programs
1999
Beth El kicks off a $750,000 capital campaign to retire the mortgage and fund necessary improvements. Over $1 million is raised in the first year.
2004
Rabbi Daniel Satlow joins Beth El, making an immediate and wonderful impact with Friday night Kabbalat services at the beach.
2006
The Torah Project raises over $500,000 and commissions the creation of a new Torah, in which scores of congregants perform the mitzvah of writing a letter.
2006
K’tanim Preschool is established, bringing new life and laughter to Beth El’s hallways.
2012
Rabbi Marcelo Kormis comes to Beth El from his pulpit in Chile, adding much to our congregation with his personal warmth, dedication, and leadership.
2016
Hazzan Brian Shamash is welcomed to our community, inspiring a renewed spirit and enthusiasm, and filling services with song.
2017
Sixty-five years ago, our founders had the foresight, energy, and willingness to create and sustain Congregation Beth El. To honor their legacy, the Atid Campaign for Beth El’s endowment raises almost $1.5 Million — and counting.
2019
Dr. Samantha Stinson joins Beth El as the Director of Education, Ritual and Music. She brings a decade of experience in academia, vocal performance, and cantorial leadership to her new role at Beth El.