A Mexican evangelical haven, Steven Spielberg’s bar mitzvah site and the home of an African American theatre troupe are just a few things Beth Hebrew Synagogue has been home to.
But for owner Michael Levine, the synagogue is much more than just a collection of Phoenix fun facts.
Its story begins with Elias Loewy, sometimes called the “Jewish Schindler,” who saved around 1,500 lives during the Holocaust before emigrating to the United States from France and helping to start Beth Hebrew, Levine explained.
Levine described the story of Beth Hebrew as circular. Elias Loewy’s story remained untold after the building stopped being a synagogue in 1979, until his son Fred gave an interview to the USC Shoah foundation.
The foundation was started in 1994 after Spielberg’s multiple Oscar-wining film “Schindler’s List” premiered the previous year.
“The Jewish Schindler founds a building that gives forth the guy that makes Schindler’s list,” Levine explained.
But the Synagogue’s significance doesn’t end there.
Architect of the building Max Kaufman designed the synagogue in a surprisingly modern style. He incorporated the number 18, which is related to the Hebrew word and symbol Chai, into the very foundations of the building. The beams across the ceiling are 18 inches deep, the pillars are 18 inches wide, there are 18 windows along the sides of the building and the walls are 180 inches tall.
Because Levine hasn’t been able to locate any original synagogue members, its unclear if Kaufman told others about his architectural clues.
“I haven’t found anyone who ever knew what Kaufman did,” Levine said. “The building stands on its own as a testament to the Holocaust survivors who came to Phoenix.”
A prolific downtown developer in the Warehouse District, Levine bought the synagogue in 2015, reallocating a $140,000 grant for another warehouse to his new property, historic preservation officer Michelle Dodds said.
The building was boarded up, covered in graffiti and painted black inside when Levine first encountered it. Now, it is spacious and clean, if still empty, and the windows are almost all restored.
However, Levine doesn’t plan on devoting the inside to religious purposes once restoration is finished. For him, the interior could serve as an interactive cultural experience.
“This content of this story is a story in and of itself,” he said. “This building talks about architecture in a way we haven’t seen. The space is wide open and it’s as modern today as it was in 1955. We could project 3D images from the ceiling.”
After Tuesday, Levine is one step closer to realizing this dream. The Downtown, Aviation, Economy and Innovation Subcommittee unanimously recommended approval of up to $280,000 dollars for rehabilitation of the synagogue.
Now, the grant approval moves to City Council, along with measures to approve necessary historic designation for the site.
Community members seem supportive to Levine’s cause. Brent Kleinman, an Encanto-Palmcroft resident, came to the subcommittee meeting to voice his support for the measures.
“I think it’s important to preserve this piece of history,” he told the committee members. “I think that, especially in Arizona, there’s not a lot of Jewish history.”
Levine remains confident in the singularity of Beth Hebrew’s history and significance.
“There isn’t a building like it in Arizona,” he said. “There isn’t a building like it in the world.”
Contact the reporter at Rebecca.Speiss@asu.edu.
