About Our Congregation

History of Congregation Or Chadash In its 15 years, Congregation Or Chadash has grown from 12 founding families in 1995 to over 320 families; from being “homeless,” moving administrative offices, religious school and worship space to various locations to having its own synagogue campus that houses administrative offices, chapel, and religious school with space for a 9,600-square-foot sanctuary. The Early Years (Written by Rabbi Thomas Louchheim) During the summer of 1995, 12 families approached Rabbi Thomas A. Louchheim and asked him to be the rabbi of a new congregation. According to the Arizona Jewish Post (9/1/95), “More than 150 people attended the Or Chadash, ‘New Light,’ first Friday Shabbat service on August 18” at the Zenith Center, 330 East 7th Street. Part of the congregation’s vision, according to Rabbi Louchheim, was to reshape the Shabbat ritual experience and to “offer a new perspective on our spiritual search for value and meaning.” That year, Rabbi Louchheim was committed to the University of Arizona to lead some of their High Holy Day services, so he invited members of the new congregation to join him, the U of A students and others for these services. Over 140 people attended the Congregation’s first Open House on September 17, 1995, at the Hillel Center, and the congregation incorporated in the state of Arizona on October 9, 1995. Friday night services moved from the Zenith Center to the home of Peggy Hitchcock on November 10, 1995. Services were held in her beautiful Pavilion while Rabbi Louchheim’s home served as the venue for Torah study, some holiday celebrations, and the first religious school. There were no services on the first Friday of each month to encourage families to observe Shabbat in their own homes. Trudy (Wrubel) Haggard was the accompanist and Cantorial soloist from 1995 to the Fall of 1999. The first Bat Mitzvah, Ayla Ruben’s, was held at the Pavilion on February 6, 1996; and the last Friday evening service there was May 23, 1997 when the congregation moved services to the JCC. In 1996, Fran Braverman became the first adult Bat Mitzvah. The congregation’s first Board of Directors was:         President:    Ken Jacowsky         Secretary:    Betsy Sandlin         Vice President-Education:    Steve Caine         Vice President-Membership:    Pam Treiber         Treasurer:    Lois Jacowsky         Members-at-large:    Elaine Nathanson                                         Rhonda Krinsky                                         Trudy Wrubel                                         Marjie Klein The congregation’s original members included the above board members and Fran Braverman, Gail Dent, Jane and Herb Elins, Belle Horwitz, Robert Klein, Bonnie and Oscar Krasner, Wendy Kreindler, William Louchheim, Sr., Saul Ostroff, Rise and Bill Rosenfeld, Connie and Ian Shalek, and Emily (Wolitzky) Danies. The congregation published its first issue of The New Light bulletin in November 1995. On Sunday, December 3, 1995, the congregational held its first annual meeting at the JCC and adopted a budget of $81,250. The congregation attempted to purchase the Stone Avenue Temple, Arizona’s oldest synagogue building. “It is our responsibility,” said Rabbi Louchheim, “as Jews who live in this community, to restore this building to its original purpose. For many years, it has been left alone, yet remarkably, some of the original work, like the wood pews, remain. With all the synagogues that have been destroyed in the last 50 years, it is incumbent on us to save this one.” While the building ultimately was not purchased for the congregation, “several congregants said they could ante up a down payment” to save the building for the community, according to an article in the Arizona Star (10/25/95). At the time, the congregation had 20 family members and a mailing list of over 200. In August 1996, Ken Jacowsky, then Board President, received a donation to the Congregation from Goldie Silverman, in memory of her husband Jake, to purchase a Torah scroll. Marcia Louchheim’s great-grandfather, Rabbi Joshua Frumhoff, brought the scroll from Kharkov, Russia (near the Black Sea) to B’nai Sholem, an Orthodox congregation in St. Joseph, Missouri. The B’nai Sholem Board of Directors decided to “gift” this scroll to Or Chadash. Mary Ann Danin created a mantle and Fran Braverman donated two yaddim for this scroll, which was dedicated Friday evening, January 29, 1999. In October 1996, 56 students enrolled in the religious school program with Marcia Louchheim, the first Director of Education. Classes were at the JCC. Soon the staff expanded to include Melissa Winkle and Cindy Weintraub. In 1997, over 100 students enrolled and in 1998, classes moved to the Temple Emanu-El building. In the 1999-2000 year, over 140 students enrolled with classes located at the Tucson Hebrew Academy. In the Spring of 2000, the congregation hired Brenda Landau as the new Director of Education. Growth of Congregation Or Chadash On June 7, 1998, the congregation joined the Union for Reform Judaism (at the time known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations) and received its UAHC charter January 29, 1999. That month, the congregation became a sponsor of the Coalition for the Environment and Jewish Living (COEJL). Rabbi Louchheim and congregants have participated in numerous spiritual hikes in the area. From its inception, the congregation has been involved in various social action projects including, The congregation broadened its worship and community services, hiring Cantor Janece Cohen for the 1999 High Holy Days and then as Cantor of the congregation at a special meeting held in January 2000. The congregation participated in an interfaith scriptural study with a Muslim group and two Christian churches. Operation Deep Freeze, feeding the hungry, delivering food to shut-ins, Habitat for Humanity, and other activities. In the Spring of 2000, Or Chadash with Congregation Chaverim, another Tucson Reform synagogue, built a home under the supervision of Habitat for Humanity—the first Jewish-built Habitat home in Tucson. The congregation held a Yom HaShoah Jewish community blood drive in conjunction with the American Red Cross on April 22, 2001. Over 50 donors participated in the drive and 44 units of blood were collected, exceeding the Red Cross goal by 19 units. The congregation’s first Confirmation was June 9, 2000, with Confirmands Emily Brent, Ruth Morrison, Ariel Tinney, and Robert Weintraub. Ariel was a student in the first Religious School class held in the rabbi’s home when the congregation started. Congregation Or Chadash Highlights: 2001–2005 4/9/01    Joined the Northwest Interfaith Center (now Interfaith Community Services) as the first synagogue member. 6/2001    The congregation moved Friday night services to the Junior League of Tucson. 8/13/01    8/13/01 Board created the “Special Needs” fund to assist the congregation in teaching students with special learning needs.BR> 2001-2002    Religious School enrollment was 150 students, the largest synagogue religious school in the Tucson Jewish community.BR> 1/14/02     The Board passed the Vision Statement for the Congregation: Congregation Or Chadash is a warm and welcoming spiritual Jewish Community – a place to experience God.BR> 3/10/02    At a special meeting of the congregation a motion was passed to purchase the property at 3939 N. Alvernon Way, just north of River Road. A capital campaign of 1.8 to 2.2 million dollars was begun. Fred Havas made the motion. David Weintraub seconded.BR> 4/13/02    The congregation celebrated its first Adult B'not Mitzvah on Rosh Chodesh Iyar 5762. The B'not Mitzvah were: Su Benaron, Diane Kerrihard, Terri Krasner, Rhonda Krinsky, Fay Roos and Toni Tallman.BR> 5/02    The 4.2 acre property at 3939 North Alvernon Way was purchased for $900,000.00 as the site of the congregation’s religious school and synagogue.BR> 4/04    The Congregation established an Or Chadash Section of Evergreen Mortuary and Cemetery.BR> 5/2/04    Hung mezuzah on the door of our new office building at 3939 North Alvernon Way and moved the Torah scroll from the JCC to the new ark in the chapel of congregation’s office building on Alvernon way Our Permanent Home A Brief History of 3939 N. Alvernon Property by Mark L. Ross, Board President, 2009-2011 Congregation Or Chadash purchased the property from Libby Ross in April, 2002 for $900,000 with the seller making a $200,000 donation to the congregation. Bank of Tucson provided financing of $700,000. The property was appraised for $1,000,000. The circumstance under which the property came to us is interesting. My deceased stepmother, Mary Norman Ross was previously married to attorney John W. Ross, Jr. (it is purely coincidental that both family names are Ross). Mary Norman and John Jr. had two children, John III and Allison, and divorced when the children were in elementary school. John Jr. subsequently married Libby. Mary Norman married my father in 1967 and all of sudden, there were four children in the household: my sister, my stepsiblings John and Allison, and me. John III used to go over to his father’s home at 3939 N. Alvernon to play, and I went there a few times. So, I met Libby about 35-40 years ago. John Jr. died about 1995. In early 2001, Libby called me about finding financing for one of her tenants. At the end of the conversation, she mentioned that she was considering selling her home and asked if I knew anybody who might be interested. I said, “maybe I do” thinking of Or Chadash, as I knew our antennas were up looking for a property. I then contacted Andy Briefer. At a subsequent board meeting, I presented the scenario for the property and it initially fell on deaf ears. But after a time, the idea resurfaced and I contacted Libby to start the process. Almost one year to the day later, we owned it. Property Renovation By Andy Briefer, former Board Director and Building Committee Chair The Congregation renovated the existing 4,000 square foot house into functional office space effectively allowing the original house to function as administrative office space, a small meeting room, a chapel housing the Torah scrolls, a library hall, gift shop, and kitchen. In addition, we developed the west end of the campus as the religious school and have completed paving, landscaping, utilities, and lighting for the entire site, leaving a vacant pad of land ready for development with the new 9,600 square foot synagogue building. More Recently 12/2007    The congregation dedicated new religious school buildings on the Alvernon synagogue campus. 5/21/2010    On December 7, 2009, Rabbi Thomas Louchheim and Cantor janece Cohen and the Board of Directors of Congregation Or Chadash formally received Scroll MST-1408, a Holocaust Scroll. The Scroll is on long term loan from the Czech Memorial Scroll of Westminster, United Kingdom. A special dedication took place on Friday, May 21, 2010. This Torah project was made possible by the generosity of Sue and Herb Cohn.