The mid-twenties were a live period both for the country and the Temple. As the younger set clamored for social activities, the Temple's leader-ship went to work to raise funds and assemble the property on Garfield Place in order to erect a new Temple House. The dedication of the Temple House in 1929 was a momentous event. Manassah Miller was president, and the trustees and officers then were an illustrious lot--Schwartzes, Steinbrinks, Lewises.

Three founders of the original Beth Elohim were still alive-Levi Blumenau, Richard Schellenberg, and Raphael Straus, and there were many who were the sons and daughters and grandchildren of the founders. The total cost was approximately $675,000, and the membership were "confident that when another decade or two shall have passed our successors . . . will truly say they 'builded better than they knew." The Honorable Charles Evans Hughes and the dis-tinguished Abba Hillel Silver were guest speakers.

The Temple "center" was to foster affairs of a distinctly Jewish character, though it was not necessarily to be limited to that scope. Jewish music, artists, dramatists were to be featured in a building that was designed in the words of one of its architects not only "to write into its structure something of the story of Judaism," but to "create an atmosphere intended to imbue the youth of our community with that respect for their ancient heritage which may tend best to raise their religious, moral, and ethical standards."

The next few years were filled with excitement as members presented numerous shows at the Temple, and then at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. But the Depression took its own toll on Beth Elohim. Membership fell, and with that the finan-cial burden of maintaining the Congregation and its properties loomed darkly. Payments on the mortgage stopped. During the Depression, Bernhard Natt became president, to serve for a full 10 years from 1937 to 1948. and to those who recall his presence, he was another hero of the Temple's past, keeping it going in a sea of trouble.

During this period, Rabbi Isaac Landman joined Rabbi Lyons. Rabbi Landman, the first Jewish Army Chaplain to serve on foreign soil, established the Academy of Adult Jewish Education, the first of its kind in the country. in his first year at Beth Elohim in 1931. Dr. Lyons died in 1939, and Rabbi Landman served alone until 1946, when Rabbi Eugene Sack joined the congregation. The Second World War took its toll, too, this time in the lives of some of its members. whose names are inscribed on the plaques behind the chapel.

When Rabbi Sack joined the Temple, he was soon faced with a singular burden: Rabbi Landman died suddenly a few months later. Eugene Sack's distinguished service as rabbi dates to this time.

The period shortly after the war was noteworthy for other reasons, as well. It marked a tense period of time in which the savings bank that held the Temple's mortgage threatened foreclosure since the payments had not been made for years. Plans were drawn by the bank for the building to be sold to the Catholic Diocese, and the Temple's officers moved to head off foreclosure. Oscar Lewis was Chairman of the Board during this period, and he was a powerful voice in community and civic affairs. Recalling those days, present Temple members give much credit to Max Koeppel for persuading the bank to reduce the outstanding loan and then chairing the drive that-raised the money required to pay off the mortgage completely.

The Temple also finally permitted women to become full members in their own right, with full voting privileges and opportunity to hold office. Jeanette Marks was elected a trustee. And the Temple's membership ranks started to be gradually filled with Jews of Eastern European descent.

Koeppel became president in 1953 and the Temple found a new momentum as he, Rabbi Sack, and other officers tripled the member rolls to over 700 families. Families joined from many parts of Brooklyn. The religious school expanded dramatically (more than 550 children were taking part); and confirmation classes were large. The Temple's reputation grew apace.

Rabbi Sack became a legend in his own time in Brooklyn. Not only had Beth Elohim retained itself as a bastion of Reform Judiasm in his 35 years of service, but his early efforts with the black com-munity in Brooklyn and then with the Brooklyn Philharmonia stamped him as a community leader.

His 35 year tenure marked more than one-quarter of the Congregation's history, and during this time there were dramatic changes taking place at Beth Elohim. Rabbi Sack activated a vigorous youth pro-gram; some present day members recall the nights Gene Sack and Cantor Richard Harvey, who had become Cantor in the forties, slept on the hard ballroom floor during "shul-ins" for the synagogue's youngsters. He championed the for-mation of a Parents Club, for parents of religious school students. And he inspired one talented congregant, George Brackman, to write a modern Sabbath Service, with modern instruments, that still is used on special occasions.

More importantly perhaps, his sermons became a source of constant spiritual strength to his congregants, and, to this day, he has not ceased his probing of the Jewish experience and its meaning for the future.

By the sixties, however, Brooklyn was again losing its charm to the younger set. The exodus to the suburbs increased rapidly, and the membership rolls ebbed once more. A succession of presidents--Edward B. Bermas, Daniel Schwartz, George Kossoy, Harry Greene, Daniel Haas, I. Stanley Kriegel and Lloyd Markson--endeavored, each in his own manner, to maintain the character, image, and financial integrity of the Temple. One would be remiss to cast these men in any less light than some of their giant predecessors.