Temple of Aaron, St. Paul

By 1910, some of St. Paul's Eastern European Jews had moved from their original immigrant neighborhoods in Lowertown and the West Side to the Cathedral Hill district. A group of Orthodox men met that year to discuss creating a new congregation there. It would conserve traditional Jewish practices, but modernize them to appeal to the next generation.

Congregation Aaron, soon known as Temple of Aaron, was incorporated on December 28, 1911. It was named in memory of Aaron Mark, a founding member of Sons of Jacob, who had died in 1905. Lithuanian-born Mark came to St. Paul in 1873 and rose from peddling to owning the Aaron Mark Steel Co. Mark's widow, Bessie, made a significant financial contribution to establish the new synagogue.

The first High Holy Days services were held in 1913 at Ramaley Hall. Temple of Aaron purchased land at Ashland Avenue and North Grotto Street, two blocks from the Reform temple Mount Zion. By 1914, the forty-six members were able to worship in a completed basement on the site. The new building was finished in 1916. Minneapolis rabbis David Matt of Adath Jeshurun (Conservative) and Samuel Deinard of Shaarai Tov (later Temple Israel, Reform) spoke at the dedication. Mount Zion's rabbi did not attend, because the social and religious split in St. Paul between the German Jews and Eastern European Jews was still wide.

Temple of Aaron tried to position itself in the middle. Temple of Aaron's first two rabbis were ordained at the New York City seminary of the new Conservative movement. Each was thoroughly learned in Jewish scholarship, which gave them standing with Orthodox believers. They were also products of American culture, a bridge to the Reform Jews. Temple of Aaron founded a Hebrew School in 1916, a forerunner to the Talmud Torah of St. Paul. Orthodox families sent their children here.

By the 1920s, Temple of Aaron was embroiled in inner strife. A faction wanted to revert to the Orthodoxy from which its founders sprang. The majority wished to firmly claim a Conservative identity. They felt this was the only way to interest younger people, and thus survive. Temple of Aaron chose the clear-cut connection with the Conservative movement. A new rabbi, Herman Cohen, arrived in August 1928 to bring the congregation together.

Cohen believed the synagogue needed to be more than a place for religious services. It should also be a cultural and social center. This was the model that many American synagogues adopted in the post-World War II era, "a shul (synagogue) with a pool." With more English used in the services and a Mr. and Mrs. Club to attract the returning GIs and their wives, Temple of Aaron membership grew to about six hundred families.

The aging building soon became too small, making it difficult to attract new members. The congregation decided to hire a second rabbi and expand its facilities. Bernard S. Raskas was hired as the new assistant rabbi in 1951. Within six months, the building at Ashland and Grotto was ruined by fire. Raskas and his wife, Laeh, guided the design and construction of a new, modern facility. It was located on Mississippi River Boulevard in Highland Park, a neighborhood where many members now lived. The Percival Goodman-designed building was dedicated in 1956. A defining feature of the building's interior is use of modern abstract artwork.

Raskas became senior rabbi in 1953 upon Cohen's retirement. Raskas remained in this position until 1989. He was then named rabbi emeritus. Raskas was devoted to enhancing God's commandments through the arts. Temple of Aaron was known for hosting leading intellectual, religious, and artistic figures. Raskas was also a community leader and champion of liberal causes.

In 2006, the portion of Hartford Avenue that runs by the synagogue was named Raskas Road. Temple of Aaron celebrated its centennial in 2010. At this milestone, it had maintained a membership level of over a thousand families for over three decades. Raskas, age eighty-six, died the same year.

Raskas's influence cannot be understated, a congregational history says. "He left his imprint on the congregation by developing its collective personality as socially progressive and religiously creative." Temple of Aaron continues in this tradition in the twenty-first century.