" It ' s such a significant part of the community ."
What it was
The synagogue was built in 1915 to accommodate Orthodox Jews in the community who came from eastern and central Europe , but originally men , women and children were separated in terms of seating , with men on the floor level and women and children in the balcony .
Then Edith Meyer broke all those – literally .
In the 1950s , Meyer had a broken leg and couldn ' t climb the steps to the balcony and insisted on sitting in the floor-level pews with the men . Almost overnight , as more women refused to sit in the balcony , the synagogue embraced Conservative Jewish customs . Also , women and children became part of the service , and the service was conducted in English .
The opening of the synagogue showed the best of the community , as " gentiles and Jews " joined to witness the dedication of the building , according to an Aug . 23 , 1915 article in the Ottumwa Daily Review . The location also carried significance , as Orthodox Jews were not allowed to travel or ride in a vehicle on the Sabbath .
The synagogue was mostly the eastern end point of a robust Jewish section of Ottumwa , ranging from the 300 block to the 500 block of East Main Street , with various businesses lining the street and making for easy walking distance to the synagogue since many families lived inside their businesses .
At its peak , the synagogue entertained about 250 congregants , but attendance gradually declined in the latter half of the 20th century and into this one . Generations of families left and never returned , and there was no full-time rabbi for the synagogue from 1969 until its eventual closing in 2018 .
In the end , with attendance down to about seven full-time congregants , the synagogue closed . The Torah scrolls are long gone , having been donated .
The synagogue was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 , and Willhoit has made sure that history is preserved as closely as possible .
" We haven ' t made any alterations that could take it from the historic status ," he said . " We have redone our windows following the guidelines of the National Parks Service . We don ' t have it up yet , but we have started a small display in the vestibule that will have that history .
" We ' ve been working on finding artifacts now and we have some photos . We ' re maintaining a connection with people who were here , and we enjoy sharing those stories ."
What it is
Willhoit and the rest of the American Gothic Performing Arts board were looking for a more permanent location for their performances and office space .
It just so happened the synagogue gave birth to the Temple of Creative Arts .
" We really just had an office downtown , and we were always performing at Bridge View Center and elsewhere during the summer ," Willhoit said . " When the opportunity presented itself , it seemed like the perfect opportunity to not only have a place for our offices , but also have a little more flexibility in terms of our events , whether it be a fundraising event , social event or performance .
" We still perform at Bridge View Center because of the capacity , but this provided us an ideal size to do things on a different scale , and have all kinds of performances , whether it ' s a play , small musicals or chamber music ."
TOCA also gets rented out , which is a source of revenue . Ottumwa High School has hosted class reunions , and the building has held funeral dinners and genderreveal parties , Willhoit said .
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