Park Synagogue Anshe Emeth Beth Tefilo Congregation has undergone changes in location, clergy and even name. But through our rich, 150-year history, one element remains constant: Our congregation is about mishpocha (family) -the families who belong to our shul and the folks who find family in the warm, welcoming people who pray, study, socialize and serve here. 

The Park Synagogue has its origins in two Orthodox Jewish congregations:
Anshe Emet and Beth Tefilo congregations. Anshe Emeth was founded in 1869 by
Polish Jews who lived originally in downtown Cleveland. By 1888, disagreements among congregants over the synagogue's direction led some members to leave and form a Reform congregation. In 1903, the remaining members built a new synagogue at Woodland and 55th Street. Yet by 1917, Cleveland's Jews began relocating eastward, which led Anshe Emeth's leadership to merge with Beth Tefilo, and under the leadership of Rabbi Samuel Benjamin the combined congregation bought land at the southeast corner of East 105th Street and Drexel Avenue for the new Cleveland Jewish Center which began construction in 1920, relocating from E 37th St and Woodland Ave. to a newly constructed building. Until its shift in affiliation from Orthodox to Conservative Judaism in the mid 1920s, Anshe Emeth was the largest Orthodox Jewish congregation in Cleveland