A Message from State Representative Patricia Dillon

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Rep Pat Dillon Honors 100th Anniversary of Orchard Street Shul

Rep. Pat Dillon joined with the community to honor the 100th anniversary
of Congregation Beth Israel, or the Orchard Street Shul, and the rebirth of its
congregation and the restoration of an historic anchor for the community.

As she presented a citation to President Lee Liberman, Rep. Dillon remembered the
importance of Beth Israel and the families she had known, saying “What you have done
here is a gift, not only to your own congregation, but to our whole community.”

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A Message from State Representative Patricia Dillon

The new congregation’s rabbi, Mendy Hecht, is the grandson of Beth Israel’s former
rabbi, and many attendees - notably Herb Croog, a former Legion Avenue businessman
from a founding family - were congregants and children or grandchildren of the founding
members. Privately initiated, the restoration complements historic restoration in the
surrounding community through Historic Tax Credits and the Neighborhood Assistance
Act. Notably, the adjacent Hebrew Burial Society headquarters, once vacant, was
restored by Neighborhood Housing Services and is now owner occupied housing.

The solemn, joyous festivities cap years of loving, painstaking work by families to restore

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A Message from State Representative Patricia Dillon

their congregation and its home.

Once key to the area Jewish community, the congregation shrank as children moved
away and homes were cleared for a nearby highway. Those children returned in 2008
and lovingly restored Orchard Street, now New Haven’s only nationally recognized
historic synagogue, and awarded a Certificate of Merit in 2013 by the Connecticut Trust
for Preservation.

http://www.orchardstreetshul.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdyxmRdzkQ0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Btk9MYc7AI

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A Message from State Representative Patricia Dillon

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