Sacred Places

Sacred Places Indiana is an Indiana Landmarks project that offers training in landmark stewardship, community engagement and fundraising.

Temple Israel capital campaign will preserve a historic treasure for generations to come

By Betsy Frank
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You might be asking why, with our membership aging and few new members — one or two each year — are we conducting a capital campaign? To put it bluntly, if we want the building to stand and remain safe for its occupants, we must act to repair the facade and the interior.

But why should we put out the effort to maintain the building? Here is the answer:

The Jewish community has been an integral part of the Wabash Valley for almost 170 years.
People look to our community to share our faith with them.

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Congregation wins Sacred Places Indiana grants, faces outreach and fundraising challenges

By Ken Turetzky
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Two years ago, Indiana Landmarks/Sacred Places Indiana invited United Hebrew Congregation Terre Haute to apply for a planning grant, earned due to the congregation’s small size and the daunting challenge it faced in maintaining a large, historic house of worship.

“I’ve heard people ask, ‘is the synagogue still even open?’” says Vice President/Secretary Terry Fear. “From the street, our building looks dark all the time. Even on Friday nights, our lights are shuttered.”

That challenge also created opportunity, however, as the congregation won a $5,000 grant — and a succeeding $25,000 capital grant — through the work of a team dedicated to revitalizing Temple Israel, a neoclassical structure built in 1911.

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UHC submits application for Sacred Places Indiana grant

By Terry Fear
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United Hebrew Congregation has submitted our application and all necessary documentation for a Sacred Places Indiana planning grant. This $5,000 grant will be applied to a building assessment conducted by an architectural firm (of our choosing) with preservation experience.

There will always be Jewish people in the Wabash Valley contributing to the community. But Temple Israel, our synagogue, is the Jewish Presence: it houses our collective memory and our future collective memory. United Hebrew Congregation and its synagogue are the physical core, as well as the spiritual center of the Wabash Valley’s Jewish Community.

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