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Terese Marx Ferrin and Clara Ferrin Bloom:
Founders of Emanu-El
By Maggie Jones

The pioneer Jewish women of Tucson took the initiative to build the first synagogue and start a Sunday school in the territory of Arizona after years of having religious services in their homes. Terese Marx Ferrin, on a trip back from San Francisco, brought to the Tucson community the idea to start a branch of the Hebrew Benevolent Society in 1890. Although the Jewish community still had no synagogue, this was the next best thing. The establishment of this society brought the Jews of Tucson together as a synagogue would have, and Terese was named president of the Hebrew Benevolent Society of Tucson.

Terese immediately moved to accomplish the Society's main goal: to build a synagogue in the town of Tucson. This would be the first synagogue in the entire Arizona Territory. Terese immediately took her daughter Clara out into the town to try to collect money for the new temple. Clara and Terese wrote letters and spoke to the townspeople about monetary donations. Terese convinced the wealthiest man in town, Albert Steinfeld, to donate a large sum of money. Steinfeld, who was Jewish as well, donated five thousand dollars which covered just about two thirds of the cost of building the temple. Terese and Clara had collected enough to get the synagogue built. Terese witnessed the laying of the cornerstone of the temple by the Masonic order on March 10, 1910. She died shortly after that, and was buried by the Temple in an honorary place. Terese never did get to see any services held in the synagogue that she had made possible. But it is thanks to Terese that Temple Emanu-El was built and still survives as one of the largest Jewish congregations in Tucson.

Soon after the synagogue was built, Sunday school classes were initiated. Clara and her sister Hattie, both being University of Arizona graduates, were the teachers in these classes. Clara by this time was married to Dave Bloom and soon had three boys and two girls. All the Bloom children attended the Sunday school, as did most of the Jewish children in Tucson at this time. This group of Sunday school attendees consisted of twelve students. The Sunday school was important to this small Jewish community to (help) keep the traditions and values alive throughout the generations.

As time went on Clara Bloom remained very active in the synagogue and with the Jewish community. The services in the synagogue were held on Friday night with fifty to eighty people attending. Eighty people was considered a huge crowd. As the number of Jews increased in Tucson, so did the number that attended services. This made Clara's work tougher and more time consuming. She continued to do fund raising for Temple Emanu-El and kept the Sunday school going in full force. Clara was an asset to the success of this still existing synagogue. Clara Ferrin Bloom died in 1973 as the oldest living charter member of Temple Emanu-El.

Maggie Jones wrote this for a Women's Studies class in April, 1999. Much of the information here is bases upon an interview with Ted Bloom, son of Clara Ferrin Bloom, grandson of Terese Marx Bloom.