Jews vow to rebuild at site of temple fire
Their Torahs were destroyed, along with their library, prayer books, and seats where generations of Gloucester Jews sat on holy days.
But the collective spirit of Temple Ahavat Achim wasn't extinguished during last December's fire, which killed a man and left dozens of people homeless. Earlier this week, temple officials said they would rebuild on the downtown fire site where Jews had held services since 1951.
"It's really the heart and the soul of the Jewish community," said Rabbi Samuel Barth, who, along with other temple members, stood in front of the charred remains of the 179-year-old building earlier this week. Because asbestos was found in some of the remains, cleanup of the site had been delayed. But cleanup crews were expected to clear the site over the next several days.
Barth and Carole Sharoff, the temple's co-president, said the congregation's historical ties to the Middle Street site and its downtown location made relocating impractical.
"This wasn't a thing where the older people wanted to stay here and the younger people wanted to go somewhere else," said Barth. "The teenagers felt as strongly about it as their grand parents; they just had a sense that this is where the core of the Jewish community of Cape Ann is."
Sharoff estimated it would take up to three years to rebuild on the site. Although the temple has received about $2 million in insurance funds and donations, she said additional fund-raising would be necessary to cover the costs, and estimated that the new building would cost "millions."
For more than 100 years, Jews have had a presence in downtown Gloucester. In 1904, a fledgling Jewish community established a Jewish cemetery, and in 1915, it purchased a synagogue downtown. In 1951, it moved to the former First Parish Church on Middle Street and has grown to 220 families.
Since the fire, the site has continued to be a place for meditation and prayer for many congregants.
For Amy Farber, who has been a member for 30 years, the site still provides comfort. Farber's children were named in the temple, went to Hebrew school there, and held their bar and bat mitzvahs in the sanctuary.
"After the fire I couldn't not go by this. There was something that drew me to go by," said Farber. "Every time I was downtown, I'd stop and think and remember some of the wonderful experiences that we had here as a family, and all of the people who mean so much to us."
Life changed for members of the shul in the early-morning hours of Dec. 15, when flames from a fast-moving fire that began in an adjacent apartment building leaped over to the temple, engulfing the synagogue.
Within hours the house of prayer was gutted, with its Torahs turned to ashes. Robert Taylor, 70, a handyman, died in his apartment.
Despite the tragedy, Barth and other members quickly organized a Sabbath morning service at a nearby church even as the fire was still smoldering. Congregants decided to focus on the community first, raising $23,000 in emergency donations for those who were left homeless.
Until this week, the temple continued its mobile operations, holding Sabbath services at a Gloucester church, and Hebrew School classes at a Manchester church. But beginning this Sabbath, services will be held at its new temporary location at 33 Commercial St. Temple officials are calling that site the "temp temp," and it includes 4,000 square feet of space, enough for offices, a temporary sanctuary, and classrooms.
Since the fire, 13 families have joined the temple. Sharoff said more people want to be involved with the temple now than ever before.
"There's a tremendous amount of volunteerism at a much higher level than prior to the fire," she said. "Everybody wants to be part of it. I think for many, you have to work through the emotions of the event, and being a part of the next step and a part of the future is one way to be positive."
