Our Temple: About Us - History
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At first this small group held services at the Scarsdale Congregational Church. The school had fifteen students and three teachers. Soon additional families joined them, attracted by Rabbi Greenberg and the nucleus of dedicated members.

As the congregation grew, the members decided to build a Synagogue to house their future. One family donated the land, and the congregation took out loans to commence construction. True to Jewish tradition, the classroom building was built first in 1968. Services were held in the room we now call the Social Hall.

As the reputation of Scarsdale Synagogue grew, so did its congregation. During High Holy days, it was so crowded that a huge tent was needed, placed where the sanctuary now stands. When a second tent was needed, it was clearly time to build our own Sanctuary.

Fortuitously, at this point Tremont Temple came into the picture. In 1905, in the Tremont section of the Bronx, a small group of immigrant Jewish women, who had grown up in the Reform tradition of Germany, decided that they needed a Temple where their children could receive a Jewish education. They formed a Sisterhood even before they had a Temple. By the next year, they had organized the Tremont Temple Gates of Mercy, and by 1909 when the group had expanded, the families purchased land on the Grand Concourse, just above Tremont Avenue. The "Synagogue" was dedicated in 1910.

For the first few years, the congregation held services in the basement until they could afford to construct the rest of the building. By 1920 the whole Temple was completed, a magnificent neo-classic, columned building, with a daring, gigantic Star of David on the roof. The front doors had beautifully etched glass panes which were later removed and eventually placed in our Synagogue.

Tremont Temple became an important center of Jewish life in the area. However, by the 1960's the neighborhood had changed and many of the families had moved to the suburbs. During the 1970's, membership had declined to the point where the officers felt they had to consolidate with a congregation in Westchester to remain viable. The Presidents of both Temples came to an agreement to transfer the Tremont Temple membership and assets to Scarsdale Synagogue.

The Tremont Temple building was sold to a church group, and the religious objects, Sifrei Torah, and memorial plaques were brought to Scarsdale Synagogue. In December 1976 the name of the Congregation was officially changed to The Scarsdale Synagogue Temples Tremont and Emanu-El.

We now had a larger and invigorated membership, and the funds to build a Sanctuary. In October 1978, this new Sanctuary was dedicated with a great sense of accomplishment. The design, although very modern, was inspired by the famous wooden Synagogues of Poland that had been destroyed in the Holocaust. The cedar walls conjure up the Biblical Cedars of Lebanon, and the columns are reminders of the pillars in Solomon's Temple.

In 1980 Rabbi Greenberg left, and for the next year while we searched for a Rabbi services were conducted by members of the congregation. Then in the summer of 1981, Rabbi Stephen Klein assumed Rabbinic leadership. We were extremely fortunate to find Steve Klein, a brilliant scholar, and a warm-hearted human being who reaches out to every family in the congregation and to the community at large.

At that time our Cantor was Nico Castel, but because of his commitments at the Metropolitan Opera, he could not devote his full time to the Synagogue. In 1984 he was replaced by Cantor Kerry Ben-David, who retired - June of 2005. Our new Cantor, Chanin Becker, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the congregation, as we continue to move in new directions, even as we maintain our traditional values.

In 1992 we further improved and physically expanded our place of worship. We are currently in the fortunate position to be expanding our walls once again and updating our Synagogue. For the first time in our congregational history, we are establishing a Capital Endowment Fund which will ensure the long term fiscal stability of Scarsdale Synagogue Temples Tremont and Emanu-El.

Today our Synagogue is a thriving community operating seven days a week. The religious school’s enrollment of over 400 students is led by our Temple Educator, Rebecca Shubert, who has been here since 1986  when she came to our congregation.  Alan Hochberg joined our professional staff in 1988 as our full-time Temple Administrator to coordinate our very busy congregational life. And in 2001, we began our own congregational Nursery School, named Mazel Tots, under the leadership of our Nursery School Director, Jody Glassman.   We also host Rabbinic and Cantorial Interns who have proven to be wonderful assets to our congregational family and especially to our youth programs.

We are a very busy and active Synagogue, with a unique vision and a strong sense of community. There is, indeed, something for everyone.  We hope that you involve yourself in some aspect of congregational life.  There are programs; there are services; there are life-cycle events, such as an Adult Bar or Bat Mitzvah, or the reconsecration of one’s marriage vows on a milestone anniversary.  If you wish, you can find something of meaning for you. Yet, although we are so active, we are striving to become more than a synagogue with services, programs, and activities; we are becoming a congregation based upon real relationships. We are trying to enhance that sense of “connectedness”, between members and other members, and between our members and the synagogue itself. This is your Jewish home, the heart and soul of our people.  It is your connection to the transcendent, to that “something more” which we all need.  Share with us, for yourselves, for your children and for your children’s children, for today  and for tomorrow.