[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 135 (Saturday, November 20, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2081]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    THE CONGREGATION ETZ AHAIM IN RECOGNITION OF 75 YEARS OF SERVICE

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                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 19, 2004

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge Congregation 
Etz Ahaim, the oldest Sephardic Jewish congregation in New Jersey, as 
it celebrates the 350th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish 
community in the United States.
  Etz Ahaim has been serving the Sephardic community of New Jersey for 
more than seventy-five years. It was founded by Jewish immigrants who 
named the congregation Etz Ahaim, ``Tree of Life,'' after the oldest 
synagogue in Salonica, Greece. Founded at the start of the Great 
Depression, the synagogue struggled to stay afloat. Unable to afford a 
rabbi, they relied on the uncompensated services of Rabbi Benjamin Naar 
of Salonica, and on unordained lay leaders Eliyahu Nahama and Elie 
Saporta until 1955.
  Since then, Etz Ahaim has been lead by Rabbis Ishmael Cohen, Murray 
Greenfield, Rafael Wizman, David Glicksman, Yamin Levy, and, from 1991 
until today, Rabbi David Bassous. It has grown since its incorporation 
in April of 1927 from a circle of 25 worshipping in private residences, 
to a small community of 75 families in a building on Richmond Street, 
New Brunswick, to a vibrant congregation of 155 families in Highland 
Park. What was once a small group, barely able to afford the mortgage 
on their building during the Great Depression is now a thriving 
community and religious center of New Jersey.
  Today, Etz Ahaim is deeply involved in the Middlesex County 
community. They sponsor community outreach, philosophy classes, dance 
lessons, educational opportunities. Etz Ahaim also has an active 
Sisterhood as old as the congregation itself, and which just came out 
with a Sephardic cookbook, ``Come, es Bueno.'' On Sunday, November 7, 
they will be celebrating the 350th anniversary of the start of the 
Jewish community in the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the profound cultural 
achievements of Congregation Etz Ahaim, both for the Sephardic 
community, and for Highland Park in general. I ask that my colleagues 
join me in honoring them, and their many years of service to Jewish 
life in the United States.

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