During the early part of the 20th century, immigrants from Europe settled in the New Brunswick area and produced a vital Sephardic community. This community had its roots in Salonika, Greece, Turkey and the Balkans. These people are descendants of the Jews of Spain and Portugal, and their ancestors were victims of the Spanish Inquisition who survived many trials, wanderings and unbearable conditions for the sake of their faith.
To preserve their heritage, these Sephardim joined into groups such as the Ahava Veahva (Love and Brotherhood), La Luz Mutual (The Mutual Light) and the Ermanada Sephardith (Sephardic Brotherhood). The Brotherhood's first president was Solomon Arouh (2); The "mother of the colony" was Ricoula Nahmias (2). The first two of these organizations (Ahava Veahva and La Luz Mutual) merged and received a charter for a synagogue and formal congregation, to be named Es Ahaim -- Tree of life -- after the oldest Synagogue in Salonika (2).
The Congregation was originally organized in September, 1916 (1) and incorporated on June 27, 1921 (1). However, the original congregation apparently dissolved, and In the late 1920s, 25 members of these organizations decided to band together to reorganize the Congregation. Thus, was born "Congregation Es Ahaim Sepharedith" (The Tree of Life), as the name was written in English. In documents written in Ladino, in Hebrew script, the name was would have been pronounced "Etz Hahaim Sefardith". The Congregation was founded on March 12, 1927 and incorporated on April 3, 1927. The purpose of the organization was to fulfill the spiritual and educational needs of the Sephardic community, and to promote its social welfare.
Services in the beginning were conducted in private homes until it was decided to build a permanent house of worship. Property for this project was acquired on Richmond Street in New Brunswick. To finance building of the sanctuary, bricks were sold for 25 cents each and a mortgage taken for the remainder. Ground-breaking took place on Sunday, July 1, 1928. The first stone of the new structure was laid my Mayor John Morrison; Rabbi Nissim Behar of New York laid the second stone. The activities of the day had been arranged by the members of Es Ahaim's Building Committee: Elie Benozio (Benzilio), Albert Saltiel, and Albert Mistriel. The Congregation was officially reorganized in November 1928 (1). The first stone was of the building laid by Mayor John Morrison of New Brunswick and the second by Rabbi Nissim Behar of New York. The synagogue, which at that time was the only Sephardic synagogue in New Jersey, was built and flourished. The first marriage conducted there joined Ida Namias and Victor Fais on September 22, 1929. The name of the Congregation was later officially changed to Congregation Etz Ahaim.
According to the Home News article covering the ground-breaking, the original officers of Etz Ahaim were President Elie Benozio (Benzilio), Vice-President Albert Mistriel, Secretary Michael Amar, Financial Secretary Samuel Ergas, and Treasurer Albert Saltiel. Trusties were Samuel Algranaty and Solomon Naar. Commission of Control members were Albert Amar, Joseph Mistriel and Isaac Nahama.
Revised by Nathan M. Reiss from the Original by Albert and Helen Handaly
A paragraph from Patt (3) describes the customs of the new synagogue