Early Rabbis and Leaders
The advertised intent of its first meeting in 1925 was "to organize a new congregation with an English-speaking Rabbi". The congregation, however, did not hire its first rabbi, Ben Zion Bokser, until 1932. A 1931 graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS), he had served briefly at the Bronx's Congregation Kehillath Israel before coming to Beth Israel. He left Beth Israel the following year, and moved to the Forest Hills Jewish Center in Queens, New York 1935, where he remained (aside from a brief stint as a U.S. Army chaplain) until his death in 1984.
Bokser was succeeded in 1933 by Samuel Cass, who served as Beth Israel's rabbi until 1941. From 1942 to 1946 Cass served as Senior Jewish Chaplain for the Canadian Army and Navy, attaining the rank of Major.
Albert O. Koch was one of the congregation's founders. He served as its second president, from 1933 to 1934, and again as its president from 1938 to 1951. Known as the "father" of Beth Israel, he was also the founder of the National Dress Company.
Read more about this topic: Congregation Beth Israel (Vancouver)
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