Congregation Beth Elohim (Brooklyn, New York) - State Street

State Street

Though more seats had been added to the synagogue by narrowing the aisles, as a result of Sparger's innovations Beth Elohim outgrew its Pearl Street building, and a new one was sought. After a three year search, in 1885 Beth Elohim purchased the building of the Congregational Church at 305 State Street (near Hoyt) for $28,000 (today $720,000), and moved in that year.

In 1891, Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan offered Sparger a salary larger than Beth Elohim could match, and he moved there. Beth Elohim subsequently split the offices of cantor and rabbi, hiring G. Taubenhaus as rabbi and the Mauritz Weisskopf as cantor.

Born in Warsaw, Taubenhaus could read the Pentateuch fluently in Hebrew at age four, and began studying the Talmud at age six. He attended the "Berlin theological seminary" (likely the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums) for six years. Upon emigrating to the United States, he served at Kehillah Kodesh Bene Yeshurum in Paducah, Kentucky, Temple Israel in Dayton, Ohio, and Congregation B'nai Israel in Sacramento, California, before becoming the rabbi of the Shaari Zedek ("Gates of Hope") synagogue in New York. Differences with the latter congregation led to his resignation there shortly before being hired by Beth Elohim. Taubenhaus's brother Joseph would be appointed rabbi at Baith Israel, Beth Elohim's parent congregation, in 1893, and another brother, Jacob/Jean Taubenhaus, was a famous French chess master.

By the time of Taubenhaus's hiring, Beth Elohim was, according to the Brooklyn Eagle, "recognized as the leading Hebrew synagogue of Brooklyn". The views of the congregation regarding kashrut (the Jewish dietary laws) were by then quite liberal; in 1892, when Hyman Rosenberg was expelled as rabbi of Brooklyn's Beth Jacob synagogue for eating ham, Taubenhaus stated that he did not believe his congregation would expel him for doing the same.

In 1895, Samuel Radnitz succeeded Weisskopf as cantor, a role he filled until his death in 1944.

By the turn of the twentieth century English had replaced German in the services and official minutes, and the second days of holidays eliminated. The synagogue had 106 members and annual revenues of around $8,000 (today $220,000), and its Sunday School had approximately 300 pupils.

Taubenhaus left the congregation in 1901, and the following year Alexander Lyons was hired as the congregation's first American-born rabbi. Lyons went on to serve the congregation for 37 years, until his death in 1939 at the age of 71.

In 1907, the women's auxiliary was founded; until then, though seating was mixed, women had little say in the running of the synagogue. That year the congregation had 110 member families and annual revenues of $9,259.55 (today $230,000). The congregational school, which held classes one day a week, had 15 teachers and 200 students.