In a dedication book for Congregation Emanu-El in Waukesha in 1963, Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky wrote that a “synagogue can help the modern Jew achieve three requisites for wholesome living: a philosophy of life, a psychology of dignity and a program of action.”
Swarsensky certainly did his best to help provide those things to Waukesha’s Jews. In addition to serving as the founding and full-time rabbi at Temple Beth-El in Madison, he chose to make weekend trips to Waukesha to hold Sunday night services at Emanu-El for more than 30 years.
His dedication is one reason that Emanu-El, which is scheduled to begin renovations of its entire upper level later this month, decided to name its newly remodeled sanctuary after him.
“He was a terrific teacher and philosopher,” said Riva Merkow, who with her husband Bill and their children, joined the synagogue in 1950.
Swarsensky, who would take a bus to Waukesha to lead services, came to Madison from Chicago after escaping the Holocaust in his native Germany, Merkow said.
“It was hard to understand him in the beginning, because he had a very German accent,” Merkow said. But, eventually, “he made Judaism come alive. He made it understood.”
Bill Merkow remembered Swarsensky as “the only member of clergy to ever give a graduation address at the Wisconsin Medical School.” He also was a teacher in the summers at Northwestern University, he said, and a believer in interfaith relations.
“Many were married by him,” Merkow said of Swarsensky’s willingness to perform intermarriage. “He also counseled them in advance.”
“We appreciated his serving Waukesha for so many years no matter what the weather was. He was not well enough recognized,” Merkow said.
Rabbi Steven H. Adams, now the spiritual leader at Emanu-El, said that Swarsensky “really fell in love with the congregation and the people” at Emanu-El. In turn, “people just adored him.”
His ties to Emanu-El were so strong that once he retired from Beth-El in Madison, he began coming to Emanu-El on Friday nights as well. He continued his work there until almost up to his death in 1981.
Steadily growing
Formed in 1939 with only 18 families, Congregation Emanu-El of Waukesha was one of the first Reform synagogues in the state, Adams said.
By 1994, he said, the congregation had grown to 50 families. Now, with an increase of 15 percent in the last year alone, Adams said that number has climbed to about 110.
Adams said Emanu-El in the last decade has evolved into a “full-service synagogue,”
with a religious school, social programs and adult education. The building that the synagogue has occupied since the 1960s “should reflect that.”
The synagogue’s three-month renovation project will include the sanctuary, a gift shop, rabbinic and school administration offices, a larger library and an increase in meeting space and classrooms.
The new sanctuary, Adams said, will feature a larger pulpit area, but “still be an intimate” space with “the ability to expand.” It will have a “curved wall in the back to bring a softer feeling.”
The goal is to “bring Jerusalem to Waukesha,” Adams said, with stone from Jerusalem surrounding the ark, and stained glass windows designed by one of the congregants.
The project was made possible, Adams said, when more than a year ago several families “came forward with some very generous contributions to get the project started.”
Another donation of $50,000 made by a non-Jewish family that attended a bat mitzvah at the synagogue was “very surprising and very much appreciated,” Adams said.
The opening donations served “as a challenge” to the rest of the congregation “to come up with the rest of the funds,” Adams said.
So far, the synagogue has raised most of the money needed, but not “all the money that we wanted to,” according to Michael Kotkin, vice-president of the synagogue as well as chair of the steering committee for the project.
“We’re still involved in making some decisions,” Kotkin said, noting that some aspects of the new design are “going to be up for reconsideration.”
The project has “involved a large amount of people who have been very generous with their time and effort.” And now “I think those people are excited” to see the results.
“We’ve created a long-term vision,” Adams said. “[This] is a very warm community [and it] is time to reflect who we are today.”
“We just think the time is right,” said Riva Merkow. “The congregation needs to go forward…. We need to provide for the people and children of the future.”
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