B'nai Israel
During the 1970s, the shul had a membership of approximately 140 individuals. This represented approximately 20 percent of the Jewish population of St. Catharines at that time. In 1972, a handful of families left B’nai Israel and established a reform temple, which they named Temple Tikvah. Despite the modest size of the shul’s membership, they were able to hold daily as well as Shabbat and High Holiday services.
From 9-11 May 1975, the synagogue marked its 50th anniversary. Dr. Rabbi Israel Freeman led a special service that featured Cantor Kellin, who was brought in from Toronto. A banquet and dance was held at the community centre. They also held an unveiling for a monument that was erected and held a memorial service, to remember the 6 million Jews who died during the Holocaust.
In 1981, the synagogue joined the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism organization. At this time, although the membership levels were fairly stable, the shul was barely able to maintain a minyan for daily and Friday night services. The synagogue bulletin regularly put out a call for members to attend services. By 1985, they had to resort to producing a schedule, indicating when people should attend in order to form a minyan. If they were unable to attend, they were asked to send a replacement in their stead.
The 1990s represented a rather turbulent time in the life of the shul. In 1998, the synagogue was hit with a law suit launched by Rabbi Ben David. After serving the congregation for 25 years, he was notified that the synagogue would no longer be renewing his contract at the end of the term. Although the rabbi did not have tenure, the judge felt that Ben David deserved to be kept on, because he had been given some assurances earlier on that he would remain on staff in the future. Rabbi Ben David received $130,000 in damages for wrongful dismissal.
