Young congregants sift through some of what was saved from Temple Ahavat Achim after last Saturday's service at the Unitarian Universalist Church.
(MARK WILSON/GLOBE STAFF)
Tonight, members of Cape Ann's Jewish community will return to the Gloucester site of the former temple on Middle Street where they have prayed, celebrated milestones, and mourned their dead for more than five decades. They will recite prayers again, but this time it will be in the biting cold of a winter and outside of the remains of their synagogue.
Since the fire that destroyed Temple Ahavat Achim, the synagogue has heard from Jews and non-Jews throughout the world, offering words of support and donations to help rebuild.
But before making plans to replace the building, members are helping lead a community drive to raise funds for more than 30 people who were forced out of an adjacent apartment building.
That building, where the fire began, burned to the ground during last week's eight-alarm fire.
"Religion is about a community of people that are charitable and respectful of human life, and the sanctity of human life and the conditions that people live in are so far more important than not having a building," said Carole Sharoff, copresident of the 220-family temple.
Sharoff said all money raised by temple members would go to The Gloucester Fund, which is coordinating the citywide fund-raising drive.
Following the outdoor gathering, the congregation will conduct an interfaith service at the nearby Unitarian Universalist church, where it held an emotional Sabbath service last Saturday that was attended by Governor Deval Patrick.
"The loss of the building is a deep hurt, but we're not broken," said the temple's rabbi, Samuel Barth. "It didn't destroy the community. It's a wound and we'll recover."
Barth and other members of the synagogue have spent the last week contemplating the meaning of loss. For Barth, it began around 3 a.m. on Saturday when he learned that the temple was on fire.
He rushed to the scene and found the building engulfed in flames. In the smoke and frigid air, he began to pray quietly, reciting psalms and prayers that Jews have said in times of trouble for the last 3,000 years.
As he prayed, he thought about Sabbath services that were scheduled to begin later that morning. By 7 a.m. he had contacted Pastor Wendy Fitting from the Unitarian Universalist Church, who agreed to allow the displaced congregation to meet in the church.
By midmorning, more than 150 Jews had arrived, and had heard about the loss of the five Torahs, and almost all of the artifacts in the synagogue. But many saw a sign of hope when they viewed the temple's prized menorah on the church's pulpit and realized it had been saved.
The menorah, which has been on loan to the temple for decades by synagogue member Barry Pett, had been left at the church earlier this month after an interfaith service that was attended by Barth.
Pett had been given the menorah by Walworth Barbour, a former US ambassador, who had received it as a gift from former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir.
"There may be some divine intervention here," said Pett, after discovering that the menorah had been saved.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
