On September 29, 1861, forty-one Jews of German birth, who felt alien even intheir own new world, came together with the express purpose of establishing a religious organization. Each man, in turn, signed the following document, written in German:

We, the undersigned, assembled today at Granada Hall, Myrtle Avenue, to deliberate on how we could, in the best way, organize a good and well functioning Service. We arrived at the decision to become members of the Congregation and pledge ourselves to do everything which is necessary, and as much as it is in our power, to contribute to establish the above named Service.

We are prepared to do everything that can be expected from us according to the dictates of order, justice and law. Furthermore, each one of us are in complete accord to act in agreement with the by-laws and ordinances. With full knowledge of the implications and to faithfully uphold the above statements, we pledge our honor.

As decided by a majority vote, "Beth Elohim" was the name of this new congregation, and thus began the life of the oldest Brooklyn congregation that continues to function under its corporate name. On that same day, officers of the Congrega-tion were elected: Moses Hess, as president; Samuel Hess, Vice-President; Sigmond Rosenberg as Treasurer, and Isaac Dietz, Secretary. When Mr. Dietz moved away shortly thereafter, he was replaced by Isidore Norden.

Mr. Sol Bookman was appointed "Shammes" of the Congregation at a salary of $75 a year and the Reverend George Brandenstein was hired as Cantor at $150 a year. Various committees were formed: one to find a proper location for the synagogue; one to draft by-laws, and another to purchase prayer books. The president was authorized to import two Torahs from Germany and quarterly dues were fixed at $2.50.

Interestingly, in the by-laws adopted in 1861, no provision was made for a rabbi. The president had many of the duties that one associates with a rabbi, but it was the cantor who was thought of as the more essential of the two religious leaders. In Dr. Brandenstein's case, he functioned as both.

For a short time, the Congregation met at Granada Hall where services were conducted in German and in Hebrew. Men and women sat together. (The men wore high hats, which were ceremoniously removed at the begining of the sermon, and quietly replaced at the end.) The appointed committee soon located a church in downtown Brooklyn, on Pearl Street, between Nassau and Concord, and agreed to purchase it for $5,100 (it remained the Congregation's home for 24 years). The Congregation worked busily trying to attract new members and ran advertisements in the New York Herald, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the Brooklyn City News, and the New York Staats-zeitung, the leading German/English newspaper of its day.

Inside the old church, contractors and painters worked busily renovating the building and trans-forming it into a synagogue in time for the formal dedication on March 30, 1862. As reported in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, when the work was com-pleted, "Its internal arrangements are in entire con-formity with the requirements of the Hebrew rite. The ark of the Covenant is covered with a very rich scarlet silk damask curtain, bearing in the centre a panel of black velvet, on which is inscribed in letters of gold-'The crown of the law'..... This beautiful curtain is the gift of the ladies of the Association."

The ladies were the Ladies' Society Benos Zion, a charitable organization (predating the Sisterhood) organized to 'promote sociability among the women of the Jewish community" as well as to assist the poor and needy. (Many of its members, recalls one present older congregant, made funeral shrouds.) They became an integral part of Beth Elohim and actively raised funds for the new synagogue.