Synagogues  /  Ahavas Achim-Lubavitz

Overview

Ahavas Achim-Lubavitz was a merger of two former East Side synagogues—Ahavas Achim and Anshe Lubavitz—that moved from the East Side to North Buffalo. A new sanctuary designed by Jack Kushin was erected in 1951 at 345 Tacoma Ave with a seating capacity of 900 people. Its modernist design with a distinctive flat rising façade formed of yellow brick, and large Lions of Judah and Star of David decorative embellishments exuded the confidence of mid-century American Jewry. The exterior was subsequently modified when the building became a church, but the cornerstone and decorative elements declare its first origins. The president Samuel Benatovich appointed Rabbi Alvin M. Marcus of Hoboken New Jersey as the newly merged synagogue’s first Rabbi in 1952. At just 24 years of age, married and with infant son when in arrive in North Buffalo, he brought a youthful dimension to his position at the Orthodox shul where services were traditional and conducted mainly in Hebrew. Alongside Rabbi Marcus, Cantor Morris Markowitz served the congregation until 1973 and Rabbi David Massis led the religious school.

Former members remember the separate seating for men and women incorporated along the sides of the bimah. The remainder of the seating, including the upstairs balcony, functioned as combined seating. The synagogue building had a large basement area where basketball games were played using retractable hoops, so that the space could function as an area for community events supported by its large commercial kitchen. The synagogue grew rapidly and in 1961, an addition for the religious school building was added. This space also functioned as one of the sites used by Kadimah School from 1962.

When Rabbi Marcus left in the mid 1960s, he was replaced by Rabbi Leonard M. Buchen. Although the synagogue retained its younger demographic, many of these families were living in the suburbs. Largely through their efforts, a school building was opened on North Forest Road in 1969. While it began as a religious school building, it eventually expanded into a new suburban synagogue of what became B’nai Shalom, and later part of Temple Beth Tzedek.