2023 Fall Issue

Temple Has Long History of Serving Jewish Community
Story by BONNIE-LYNN NADZEIKA
Photos by KAREN FUCITO
On a warm summer Saturday morning in
July, a few boats bobbed in the water at
two docks on 15 Durban Ave. in Hopatcong.
The property is not a residence. It is not a small
marina. It is the home of the Lake Hopatcong
Jewish Community Center. Its members, whether
they came by boat, car or on foot, were gathering
for Saturday morning services.
Mark Levy, president of the synagogue, noted
that services start at “10ish.”
“People start coming in around 10, and
everyone greets each other and chats before
service, so we don’t really start exactly at 10,” said
Levy.
Levy has been a member since the 1950s. His
family came from Brooklyn and spent summers
at a bungalow in the Hopatcong Hills. They were
one of many Jewish families that came to the
lake to escape the city heat.
Currently, there are 35 families registered as
members, said Levy, adding that none have small
children. Despite that, Levy said the congregation
is thriving.
Services throughout the year are led by Rabbi
Richard Kirsch, a graduate of Yeshiva University
who also works as a guidance counselor at Rae
Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston. Kirsch
has led the Lake Hopatcong Jewish Community
Center for nearly 20 years.
Typically, the congregation meets every
Saturday from the beginning of July through
the High Holidays in the fall. For the remainder
of the year, services are held monthly and some
members who are not primary residents of the
Lake Hopatcong area return in order to attend
services.
Since the service is traditional, there can be no
photography, recording or note-taking, said Levy.
“We have a three-part service,” Kirsch explained
during a phone interview. “The first portion is a
guided prayer, followed by a reading from the
Torah and the third part is a conversation.” The
service concludes with prayer.
After a service, members often gather to
break bread. Alma Staloff, a member of the
congregation since 1977, described the kiddush,
or meal, that follows.
“Gathering together we say a blessing, drink
wine and share the traditional challah bread.
Kiddush allows us to be together and discuss the
service of that day,” Staloff said.
Food is brought by members who have
purchased supplies from kosher markets. There
may be egg salad, tuna fish, bagels or gefilte fish.
“We also drink coffee, but not right now. Since
COVID we’ve been having kiddush outside, and
it’s too hot for coffee,” she said with a laugh.
Ross and Lisa Breen have been members for
six years. The couple began attending when their
youngest son, Dylan, was in high school. They live
in Teaneck, but also have a home in Hopatcong.
“Everyone is very welcoming,” said Ross Breen.
“Everyone knows each other, everyone enjoys
each other’s company. You don’t get that at a
larger temple.”
Dylan Breen would often bring a group of his
friends to the lake. Kirsch would bring students
from Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School and
together, the boys would have fun on the water
but also participate in the service.
“Dylan didn’t like to do Torah readings because
he didn’t like public speaking,” recalled Lisa Breen.
But the closeness of the small congregation
and the support from his friends helped him to
become more self-assured. “He went on to lead
the service with confidence,” she said.
The congregation dates back to the 1940s.
Like so many other groups, Jews who were
able to, wanted to get out of the cities during
the hottest summer months. While Morris
and Sussex counties never rivaled the famous
“Borscht Belt” of Jewish resorts and communities
in the Catskills, there was still a significant
presence in Northern New Jersey.
According to the book, “The Jews of Morris &
Sussex: A Brief History and Source Guide,” Jews—
mostly immigrants from Eastern Europe—started
settling in the area after the Civil War.
By the 1920s, several Jewish resort hotels had
popped up in nearby Mount Freedom, part of
Randolph. Between the 1930s and the 1940s,
there were nine Jewish hotels and 30 bungalow
colonies there.
In 2015, the Jewish Historical Society of New
Jersey presented the exhibit “My Summer
Vacation,” which looked at Jewish summer
communities in the state. The exhibition
highlighted the prevalence of many Jews who
came to the area each summer. Largely forgotten
today, Jewish resorts in Morris and Sussex
counties attracted the same population of city
Jews seeking respite during the hottest months
of the year.
At Lake Hopatcong, Jewish hotels began
popping up the 1920s and the lake became
a gathering place for more and more Jews.
According to a bulletin from the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency, The National Federation
of Jewish Men’s Clubs of the United Synagogue
held their annual spring conference at the Hotel
Alamac from June 8 through June 10 in 1938.
“Men’s clubs from Greater New York, New Jersey
and Philadelphia will be part of the conference,”
it read.
By the 1940s, there was enough of a population
to merit building a synagogue. Land was
purchased for a synagogue in Hopatcong with
the intent of creating a community center. A
sign was placed on the property announcing the
future location of the Lake Hopatcong Jewish
Community Center. But as a result of anti-
Semitism, the sign was burned down the same
night and warnings were posted for Jews to “get
out.”
Undeterred, the
group sold the land
and purchased the
Durban Avenue
property, which was
the site of the Grand
View Hotel. The
hotel was converted
into the first Lake
26
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Fall 2023
Left to right: One of two large stained-glass
windows at the front of the synagogue. Mark Levy
at a reading table. The original building, the old
Grand View Hotel, circa 1950. Lake Hopatcong
Jewish Community Center as seen from the
lakeside.
(Historic photo courtesy of Lake Hopatcong Jewish
Community Center.)