Since opening in 1969 in Northeast Philadelphia, Congregation Beth Solomon has had two constants: Rabbi Solomon Isaacson and his view of a synagogue’s role in the community. A shul is not merely a space for worship, according to the rabbi. It’s a community center. It helps people with whatever they need.
For 30 years, CBS played that role in Isaacson’s basement. But as it grew into “the largest Russian synagogue in the city,” according to Isaacson, with about 2,000 people showing up for High Holiday services, it needed a bigger sanctuary. A $250,000 donation and help from local unions gave it one in 2000. That home, at 198 Tomlinson Road, is where congregants gather to this day.
Today, much of CBS’ community life remains the same: Isaacson, the Northeast Philadelphia location and the Orthodox members who live within walking distance. Hundreds of people still come for High Holiday services. No one needs to pay, though Isaacson acknowledges that the synagogue “does a lot of fundraising” and has “a lot of friendly people who have helped us over the years.”
“Everything has been fine for the last couple years. No drama whatsoever. God’s help,” Isaacson said.
Everything has pretty much been fine for much of CBS’ existence, he added. But there was one unsettling period in the late-2010s when a spate of antisemitic incidents threatened the synagogue’s safety and peace of mind.
In 2018, a man pleaded guilty to ethnic intimidation, institutional vandalism and desecration of a place of worship after urinating on CBS’ walls and steps, according to a Jewish Exponent article. Before that, the community saw the Jerusalem stone of its mikvah vandalized, its menorah stolen and the windows of its van smashed. A synagogue leader, Rabbi Akivah Pollack, who remains the head of its Russian American Jewish Experience program, told the Exponent that the synagogue’s prominent place in the community left it vulnerable to attacks.
“Unfortunately, that also attracts people who don’t want to do the best things for the community,” he said at the time.
Isaacson, Pollack and other synagogue leaders responded by strengthening the security. They added a lock at the front door, bulletproof windows and an alarm system. No one can get in without knowing the code. Over the past 4½ years, “We haven’t had any problems at all,” Isaacson said.
“Everybody feels secure when they walk into the synagogue,” he added.
And many people continue to walk into the synagogue. In addition to the High Holiday crowds, it has a summer camp, a Hebrew school, a day care center and a Kollel, among other programs.
Isaacson, who lived in South Philadelphia after emigrating from Romania, moved to upper Northeast Philadelphia, on the edge of lower Bucks County, in the late-1960s to open CBS. It was a growing area, he explained. Developers were “building houses left and right,” he added. It was during that period that the synagogue grew into the role that it has been playing for decades now. As Isaacson recalled, “We did everything we could to help.”
Beth Solomon aided people in paying for food, clothing and furniture, as well as rents and mortgages. It even assisted immigrants in learning English and finding jobs. Isaacson estimated that CBS helped “thousands upon thousands” of people.
The influx eventually slowed before restarting again between 2005 and 2008, according to the rabbi. And again, the community center did everything it could to help people with basic needs. Many came and went over the years, but others still attend services at Beth Solomon today. Some who were babies in the 1970s are now showing up with their grandchildren, according to Isaacson.
“We taught them many, many things. And we watched them grow,” he said of the congregants.
Today, the area is growing again, according to Isaacson. Orthodox Jews are looking for a community, and they can find one in the upper Northeast, in the Somerton neighborhood, on Tomlinson Road. Nearby, on Bustleton Avenue, there is a kosher supermarket called House of Kosher, the only kosher market in Pennsylvania, according to the rabbi, whose family owns it.
“This area continues to grow in popularity. It went down but now it’s going back up because of our synagogue and the House of Kosher,” Isaacson said. “And because our community, in general, is a very nice community.”
