Rifkin Campus (Fort Wayne, Indiana)

 temple, campus, museum, library, synagogue, judaism, Jewish Community Center (JCC)

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templecav.org‎
(260) 744-4245

Congregation Achduth Vesholom dates to 1848, distinguishing us as the oldest Jewish congregation in Indiana and the second oldest Reform congregation west of the Alleghenies. Since its founding, the Temple has resided in four different synagogues. The current facility on Old Mill Road became our home in 1961. Congregation Achduth Vesholom was organized by 23 members as a "Society for Visiting the Sick and Burying the Dead." It was Jewish tradition in the New World for burial grounds to be established before building houses of worship. On Oct. 13, 1848, the society bought for $200 the old burial ground adjoining what is now McCulloch Park. On Oct. 26, 1848, it officially organized the first Jewish congregation in the state of Indiana.

In October 2015, the congregation was rededicated as the Rifkin Campus, initiating construction on the Madge Rothschild Resource Center, a Jewish community center that will contain the Rabbi Richard B. Safran Library and Jacob L. Goldman Memorial Museum. A sculpture garden and offices will also be expanded on the campus.