Our History

Temple B’nai Tikvah celebrated its 36th anniversary in 2015. From modest beginnings, it has grown into an important part of Calgary’s Jewish community.

April 1979: In the Beginning

by Ron Bing

The first temple Shabbat service was held on April 6, 1979 in my family’s living room. Norm Yanofsky led the music on his guitar and Henry Zimmer read the Torah portion. We were 33 people — 13 families, including children.

The roots of the congregation trace back to Temple Emanu-El in Montreal, Quebec, where I attended weekly Shabbat services, celebrated my bar mitzvah and was confirmed as a Reform Jew in the 1950s. My parents grew up as religious Jews in Frankfurt, Germany. They immigrated to Montreal in 1933 and 1934, respectively, where they joined Temple Emanu-El where my mother’s uncle, Joseph Aron, was a member.

I moved to Calgary from Montreal with my wife Judy in 1974 and joined the Beth Israel Conservative congregation. We were members for three years when Judy decided this was not the type of Judaism that she wanted for our growing family. I asked my late mother to contact the Canadian Council of Reform Judaism (CCRJ) to send someone to Calgary. Shortly after, we received a letter from the late Arthur Grant, who was the part-time director of the CCRJ.

Marilyn Glass, Judy and I phoned people and invited them to meetings at our house to be held on March 20 and 26, 1979, with Arthur Grant. At the second meeting it was decided to hold Shabbat services every second Friday evening at 8:15 PM in our living room. Arthur brought some old prayer books and we were off and running!

The year 1979 saw many firsts. We incorporated as the Calgary Liberal Jewish Congregation, received our charitable tax number from Ottawa, prepared a constitution and bylaws and elected a board of trustees. Jewish information classes began, as did religious school classes which were held at the home of Dr. Joel and Sandy Fagan (Sandy was the first principal). We even hired our first student rabbi, Avi Schulman, to conduct High Holiday services held at the I.L. Peretz School gym on 36 Avenue in Altadore, using a Torah loaned to us by the Calgary Hebrew School.

In 1980 we changed our name to Temple B’nai Tikvah (Children of Hope), a name suggested by Steven Switzer. Our neighbour Saul Kustan would bring folding chairs over to our house for services. We would roll the glass coffee table behind the drapes and set up the chairs in our living room. Judy and I constructed a wooden ark to hold the Torah and I built a fold up table to act as the bimah. Jack Switzer used to stroke his beard and stare at the stuffed deer head that hung over the fireplace. Our daughter, Lisa, who was a toddler at the time, would tear off pieces of her diaper and offer them to guests. Dr. Fagan called her “The Shredder”.

After the first year, the Fagans renovated their basement so that we could hold services in their home. I had to cut the ark in two so that it would go down the stairs into their basement. We continued our services at the Fagans’ for two years. The following year we rented the Shaganappi Library Auditorium for $25 a night — including a security guard! In 1981 we began to hold services on the second floor of the Calgary Jewish Centre, overlooking the swimming pool. Later we moved into the main auditorium when the House of Jacob moved into their own building across the street.

On Saturday February 21, 2004, we walked our Torahs to our new home in Britannia where we shared the building with Living Spirit United Church for the next four years. The inaugural service was held on February 27, 2004. Following renovations, the dedication service of our new sanctuary was held on March 25, 2011. We thank Martin Cohos for turning a church building into a unique Jewish prayer hall, while respecting the original 1960 architecture.

The History of Our Congregation’s Torahs

Written by Ron Bing

In March 1980 I received a phone call from a member of the Jewish community who said his friend wanted to make a donation towards the purchase of a Torah. My wife Judy was secretary of Temple at the time, so she telephoned Israel’s in Toronto to see if they could assist, but they weren’t very helpful. Then we phoned Kline’s in New York City. I remember the gentleman on the phone said “So you want to buy a Torah?” I said “Yes.” He told me the Torah would cost US$7,000 and that he would send it by air to Calgary. The understanding was that we had ten days to come up with the money or we’d have to return it.

When the Torah arrived at the Calgary airport, I went to pick it up from the customs office. It was packed in a wooden box. I brought it home and immediately phoned my new friend. He asked that I bring the Torah to his friend’s home the next day. I arrived with the Torah in hand expecting I would receive a cheque for US$7,000. Instead he told me the following story: “An old man on his deathbed told his three sons that he had buried gold in his orchard but did not tell them the location. The first year after he died his sons dug up 1/3 of the orchard but could not find the gold. After the second year they dug up another 1/3 of the orchard but found no gold. In the following third year they dug up the final 1/3 of the orchard and again found no gold. However, their digging caused the fruit trees to flourish, producing an excellent crop. So the gold came to them as a result of their hard work.”

I asked what this had to do with me. I was told that the two gentlemen would donate US$3,500 and that I had to come up with the remaining US$3,500 in ten days! So I had to do some digging to find the gold to pay for the other half of the Torah. An emergency meeting was held and all our members called in order to raise the remaining US$3,500. I remember Dr. Norm Schachar saying to me, “Don’t you ever do that again.” We were able to raise the money and keep the Torah.

A Torah dedication service was held in May 1980 in the Fagan’s basement. The photo above shows me holding the newly acquired Torah before purchasing crowns or a breast plate. This was an extremely emotional time for me that was comparable to the birth of our first child, Esther.

Judy and I built an ark to hold the Torah that was kept in our living room during the first year of services. I constructed it out of plywood and she covered the inside with blue velvet fabric. The bottom half was decorated with two Stars of David made out of blue and white tiles.

After Dr. Joel and Sandy Fagan renovated their basement, the ark was cut in two so it would go down their stairwell to its new home. The top portion of the original ark is now mounted on the west wall of our social hall. The “Ner Tamid” or eternal light attached to the ark was illuminated by a red light bulb, based on the tradition where I grew up at Temple Emanuel in Montreal.

Our second Torah was a gift from Temple Emanuel Beth Shalom in Montreal. This is a “Westminster” Torah that was salvaged from the Holocaust after World War II. The Torah was dedicated in January 1984 at a service held on the second floor of the Calgary Jewish Community Centre. The photo above shows Norm Yanofsky holding the Torah with Dr. Lewis Poch to his right who brought it from the Montreal congregation. Student Rabbi David Meyer is standing to the right of Ron Bing. In 2012 this Torah was permanently loaned to Temple Or Hadash in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Our third Torah was a gift from long-time members Dr. Leo and Bea Lewis from their synagogue that closed in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

Our fourth Torah was a gift from Temple Beth Tikvah, Regina, Saskatchewan. I believe it belonged to a congregation in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The late Joel Brodsky and his wife, Jackie, built a beautiful ark to house that Torah.

In the photo below, Judy and Ron Bing are holding the Torah with breastplate they donated in honour of the Temple’s 8th anniversary. The Bings left Calgary in 1985 to live in Regina. They returned to Calgary in 1994.

Temple B’nai Tikvah’s Rabbis

On July 3, 1979 Temple received a letter from Rabbi Leonard Thal, Associate Dean of Hebrew Union College — Jewish Institute of Religion, advising that Student Rabbi Avi Schulman would lead our first High Holiday services in Calgary. The High Holiday contract had the student rabbi remain in Calgary for two weeks. Services were lay-led during 1979-1980.

Rabbi Schulman wrote for Temple’s 10th anniversary celebration: “Those two weeks in Canada were exhilarating, exciting, and at times exhausting. From morning through night I was busy planning services, rehearsing music, assisting with organizing the religious school and meeting local Jewish machers. Every night I had dinner with a different congregational family. By the time I came back to the Yanofsky home, I was barely coherent. But Marlene and Norm would sit me down with a glass of cognac and we would relax and sift through the day’s events.”

On June 5, 1980 another letter was received from Rabbi Thal and Rabbi Morris Herschman confirming the hiring of student Rabbi Shulman for the 1980-1981 term. Rabbi Schulman would again lead High Holiday services and one weekend per month for a total of nine months. He continued as our student rabbi for the 1981-1982 term. The 
student rabbis would generally fly in from Los Angeles on a Friday afternoon and leave the following Monday. They were billeted in members’ homes on a rotating basis. These rabbinic weekends were busy with services, study groups, potluck celebrations and meetings. They were intense, exhilarating, and informative, with members bonding together and making lifelong friendships.

On May 20, 1982, President Norm Yanofsky received a letter from Rabbi Wolli Kaelter and Rabbi Morris Hershman advising that student Rabbi David Meyer would lead the High Holiday services plus nine weekends during the 1982-1983 season. He continued for the 1983-1984 term. Rabbi Meyer wrote for our 10th anniversary celebration: “Study… Sunday morning stories with so many school children, bagels and Torah with parents… Play…Getting lost in the mountains with Ron Bing following the
first Rosh Hashanah here; finding the path the following year; Flames games, Cannon games, Stampeder games…My heart is filled with profound joy and gratitude as I recall our years together.”

On May 15, 1984 a similar letter was received by President Ron Jacob, informing Temple that Student Rabbi Don Goor would be assigned to us for the 1984-1985 season. On May 17, 1985 President Joel Fagan was advised that student Rabbi Jonathan Kraus would be assigned to Temple for the 1985-1986 season. In addition to conducting High Holiday services, he would travel to Calgary twice a month to meet our rabbinic needs. Rabbi Kraus wrote for our 10th anniversary celebration: “My most enduring memory of Temple B’nai Tikvah is the warmth and enthusiasm that pervaded almost everything and everyone involved with Temple.”

On July 3, 1986 President Norm Yanofsky welcomed Student Rabbi Asher Elkin to our Temple family as our fifth student rabbi for the 1986-1987 season. Following is a paragraph from Student Rabbi Elkin’s final sermon to us in June 1987: “The Rabbi’s task as I see it is to model for the congregation the ability to lead a whole Jewish life. In the modern world, our lives tend to be very fragmented, we’re constantly playing different roles – parent, child, employee, supervisor, volunteer. We’ve always got a million different activities to run to – lessons, games, meetings, car pools, services. The operative adjective for most of our lives is “busy.” The Rabbi is busy – all the time – with something which for most everyone else is only one part of their lives. The Rabbi fulfills literally the words of the Shema which are recited every morning and evening.”

Temple had matured and grown and, following a two year search, newly ordained Rabbi Jordan Goldson was installed on Friday, September 11, 1987, as Alberta’s first full-time Jewish Reform Rabbi. Rabbi Goldson arrived on August 1st, 1987, when our membership was only 75 family units and Michele Gunn was president. On April 10, 1997, Temple celebrated its 18th (Chai) year. Rabbi Goldson remained our
rabbi for 13 years (until August 1999), when he decided to make aliya to Israel. Rabbi Jamie Korngold was our second rabbi from July 1999 until September 2001. She is now an “Adventure Rabbi” in Boulder, Colorado. Services were lay-led from September 2001 until August 2002.

Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman arrived in Calgary from Chicago with his young family on August 16, 2002. He remembers being excited about his new life here, wondering if he could build the congregation and raise a family at the same time. Membership was at 175 family units. He and President Adam Singer had a breakfast meeting at the Cohos home on the first Sunday after his arrival where they discussed the possibility of purchasing Riverview United Church. Rabbi Nancy Morris was our interim rabbi for six months in 2012 when Rabbi Howard was on sabbatical.

Rabbi Howard and his family left for Providence, Rhode Island in July 2015. After the 13 years of his tenure, Temple now had its own building and had become a strong Reform presence in Calgary.

Rabbi Teri Appleby served as the interim rabbi from July 2015 to June 2016. Her husband Jon Leo frequently provided beautiful musical accompaniment. They ensured that Temple B’nai Tikvah was strong and ready to accept the new permanent rabbi.

Rabbi Mark Glickman and his wife, Dr. Caron Nelson Glickman, arrived from Seattle, Washington in July 2016 to begin his new position.