Beth El Temple and The Emanuel Synagogue, both in West Hartford, CT, are the two largest conservative synagogues in the Greater Hartford area. Both synagogues have their roots in Hartford in a building now housing a Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

Many cities throughout North America, large and small, experienced a huge influx of Jewish immigration in the late 1800s through early 1900s. They established their communities in the oldest, often rundown, parts of their respective cities where they worked hard to build a better life for themselves and their families. Hartford was no exception, with an immigrant community near the downtown center of the city. By the middle of the 20th century, Jewish families were moving to larger and newer apartments as well as to houses in the North End of Hartford. They were also moving to West Hartford which was beginning to establish a suburban Jewish community. Hartford was still the center of Jewish life with about a dozen synagogues and countless other Jewish institutions. One such synagogue was the Emanuel Synagogue (founded 1919) whose membership was increasing steadily and was outgrowing its space. By the early 1950s, many members had already moved to West Hartford and felt that a synagogue was needed there to address the overcrowding issue as well as to provide a place to worship close to where they now lived. Ultimately, a group of Emanuel Synagogue members founded Beth El Temple which was built in West Hartford in 1954. By the late 1960s, with continued Jewish migration to West Hartford, the Emanuel Synagogue moved from Hartford to West Hartford. The building that housed the synagogue in Hartford was subsequently sold to the Faith Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford (JHSGH) collects and preserves materials that document the Greater Hartford Jewish community. Their diverse array of activities has included bus trips as well as a bike ride through the North End of Hartford, which once was a vibrant Jewish community, with stops and visits at churches and other institutions that had been part of this community. The idea to have a jointly co-sponsored breakfast program at the now church was proposed to the Executive Director of the JHSGH in the spring of 2022 by a board member who happened to also be on the board of the Beth El Men’s Club and handled programming for both organizations. The vision for the program was as follows:
- The Beth El Men’s Club and Emanuel Brotherhood would co-sponsor a buffet breakfast.
- A panel discussion would follow with representatives from both synagogues as well as the church who were very familiar with the history of the building.
- A tour of the building would follow.

The Executive Director of the JHSGH was very enthusiastic about this potential program and reached out to her contact at the church. They were also interested in having this program.

The boards of both the Beth El Men’s Club and Emanuel Brotherhood were also excited about collaborating together for a buffet breakfast at the church. Several dates in October and November 2022 were proposed that worked for both Men’s Clubs and their respective synagogues. The JHSGH reached out to the church again and landed on a date that worked for all organizations.

An understanding of the key beliefs and practices of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church was important in our planning. It was fascinating to find out the similarities they have with Judaism. Some of the things learned from Wikipedia were the following:
- The Seventh-day Adventist Church is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregoria) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath.
- Part of Friday might be spent in preparation for the Sabbath; for example, preparing meals and tidying homes. Adventists may gather for Friday evening worship to welcome in the Sabbath.
- The major weekly worship service occurs on Saturday, typically commencing with Sabbath School which is a structured time of small-group bible study at church.
- Adventists place an emphasis on diet and health, and expects adherence to kosher food laws, particularly the consumption of kosher foods described in Leviticus 11, meaning abstinence from pork, rabbit, shellfish, and other animals proscribed as unclean. They advocate vegetarianism. The church discourages its members from consuming alcoholic beverages, tobacco, or illegal drugs. In addition, some Adventists avoid refined foods, sweeteners, and caffeine.

We checked with our contact at the church to confirm what would be acceptable to serve at the breakfast. Based on their beliefs, we knew we couldn’t have caffeinated coffee/tea (a staple at our breakfasts) as well as any alcoholic drinks. Everything else you’d typically have at a Men’s Club breakfast such as OJ, bagels, cream cheese, lox, scrambled eggs, fruit platter and pastries was fine.

We identified a current member of Beth El Temple as well as a current member of the Emanuel Synagogue (both board members of the Jewish Historical Society) who could speak about the early history of both synagogues. There were also two members of the church who could speak about its history. All four agreed to be panelists.

The next step was to publicize the program. At Beth El Temple, the Men’s Club sent out a publicity request e-mail which sets the wheels in motion for announcements in the bi-monthly newsletter, on the synagogue website, via various e-blasts, and inclusion in the weekly Shabbat leaflets. The Emanuel Synagogue and JHSGH also publicized this program through their various communication channels. While the church was typically closed on Sundays and did not have these types of programs, they encouraged their members to attend.

In the weeks leading up to the program, we had many communications amongst ourselves about the brunch planning, set-up, format of the program, building tour, manpower needs, etc. We arranged for a security guard to be at the church for the entire duration of the program as that is now common practice at our synagogues for large gatherings. We determined that parking was readily available directly across the street in a lot used by a large school during the week, and made sure that was communicated to those who signed up for the program.

Several of us met at the church 11 days before the program to look at the space (kitchen, social room, sanctuary) and tour the building. It was obvious that this church was once a synagogue with all the Jewish stars and Hebrew writing, both inside and outside the building. During this visit, we noticed that an office had a mezuzah on its doorway. The church elder who was leading us through the building told us that apparently the mezuzah was accidentally left on during a renovation decades earlier. Initially the church members did not know what the mezuzot in the building were and removed others, but once they learned more, kept that one in its place out of respect.

We secured many volunteers from both Men’s Clubs, the JHSGH and the church to help at the event. The Emanuel Brotherhood started the food prep at their synagogue on the Thursday evening before the program as well as early Sunday morning. Several people went shopping Sunday morning for food, coffee, etc. Everything was brought to the church where there was more food prep and cooking. Cookware and other supplies were brought to the church as needed to be sure we had what we needed and that everything met kashrut standards. Volunteers from the church worked with the Beth El Men’s Club and Emanuel Brotherhood in the kitchen as well as bringing everything out to the social room where the program was to be held.

We ended up with close to 100 attendees, far more than what either Men's Club typically draw for a Sunday morning breakfast program. What is impressive about this was that many people were still not attending gatherings such as this due to ongoing COVID concerns. Most attendees were members of Beth El Temple, the Emanuel Synagogue, and/or Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford. We were hoping to see more people associated with the church there, but those that were there were fully engaged and really appreciated learning from us about our shared history. Several from the church helped in the kitchen, in the social room set-up and building tour. The president of the JHSGH teaches Sunday mornings at the Emanuel Synagogue Religious School and he brought his entire class of students to the program.

Many attendees had been members of the Emanuel Synagogue when it was in that building in the 1950s and 1960s, and had not been there in over 55 years. There was one woman in attendance who had gotten married 67 years earlier, to the day, in the very room we were in.

People who grew up in that area enjoyed reminiscing about those days. Others learned about the rich Jewish history of Hartford from the panel discussion and Q+A. We all learned about the similarities between practices of Judaism and the Seventh-Day Adventists, particularly around Sabbath and kosher dietary traditions.

All involved agreed that this was a truly worthwhile and meaningful program for the community, and one that helped build bridges across divides of city-suburb, religion, and race.