A True Hanukkah Rededication: Sierra Madre Synagogue's Cornerstone Given New Home At PJTC
As you may recall from the Centennial Museum, PJTC has been around for over a hundred years now, though not always under the name Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center. Temple B’nai Israel (which would eventually become Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center) was founded on January 20, 1921. In 1928 Temple Beth Israel in Sierra Madre was formed, and in 1931 their cornerstone, on the corner of Lima and Laurel, was placed. Some time between 1962-1964 Sierra Madre’s synagogue, Temple Beth Israel, merged with the El Monte Jewish community, B’nai Israel Temple Center (established 1947) to form Foothill Jewish Temple Center in Arcadia, which changed its name to Shaarei Tikvah in 1978. Some time between 1991-1993 Temple Beth Torah in Alhambra merged with Shaarei Tikvah in Arcadia to form Shaarei Torah. Finally, in 2009, PJTC merged with Shaarei Torah. All of this history is to say that the cornerstone from Temple Beth Israel in Sierra Madre is part of PJTC’s long-standing history of serving the Jewish community here in the San Gabriel Valley (and beyond)!
This cornerstone could have been lost to history, if not for a number of Sierra Madre residents who took the charge of safekeeping the cornerstone—Jim Wright, Steve Farrell, Dave Poole, and eventually, Glenn Lambdin. Recently, Glenn posted about the cornerstone on Facebook, which led to its return to PJTC during Sierra Madre’s annual Hanukkah celebration on December 8th, 2023. Glenn Lambdin shared kind words as he presented the cornerstone to Cantor Ruth, who had her own kind words in return. Cantor Ruth led the crowd (of what seemed to be at least 100 people!) in joyous song, after which we lit the hanukkiah and ate some delicious sufganiyot (donuts).
Dirk Bolle took the lovely photos you see in this article. You can also see his photos from the event on his website, here.
