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On the 20th day of March, 1910, two years before Arizona became a state, thirteen members of the Tucson Jewish community gathered at the home of Mrs. Joseph Ferrin to organize and elect the Board of Directors for the first Jewish congregation in the territory of Arizona. The official name of this new congregation was The Hebrew Benevolent Society, a name later changed to Temple Emanu-El.
The Hebrew Benevolent Society built its first synagogue (which was also the first house of Jewish worship in Arizona) on South Stone Avenue for a cost of $4,712. Fundraising for this structure had begun in 1905, so it was with great joy when the building was completed in time for the first service, Rosh Hashanah eve, October 3, 1910. Women played an important role in the creation and development of Temple Emanu-El in its early years. In particular Terese Marx Ferrin and Clara Ferrin Bloom were instrumental in raising the funds needed to build the Stone Avenue Temple. In 1904, before there was a congregation, the women created the first Jewish communal organization in the territory, the Hebrew Ladies Aid Society. It was this group that "spearheaded the movement to establish a permanent House of Worship and study and build an edifice and carry on all the essential functions of an organized Jewish community." Years later the Ladies Aid Society would become Sisterhood of Temple Emanu-El. In September 1949 the Congregation held their last service in the Stone Avenue synagogue and subsequently held their first Rosh Hashanah Service in the new edifice on North Country Club.
This beautiful structure was built in stages with a multipurpose auditorium completed first, followed by school classrooms (1952), the chapel and adjoining Board Room and offices (1957), and finally the Sanctuary in 1962. |
