Harold Singer wrote that most of these early arrivals were of similar backgrounds and formed a cohesive group held together by similar backgrounds and experiences.
"They held Saturday morning Minyan services at each other's homes," he wrote. "They were able to conduct their own religious service without a rabbi, because they had been so thoroughly schooled in religious studies as youths in Europe's Hebrew schools."
The mothers formed a Sunday School for the children and later the families held their worship services in a small room over Ralphs grocery store on East Broadway, Singer added.
The temple was established in 1928, during the time they were meeting above Ralphs, according to a Glendale News-Press article from April 25, 2003.
Genevieve Fisher, daughter of tailor Mike Berman, (also a member of Glendale's early Jewish community), said a woman who lived on Elk Avenue arranged for the Sunday School classes. There they heard stories from the Old Testament, sang holiday songs and other songs that had been translated from Hebrew.
"I was about 7 or 8 then," she said.
She recalled attending services in a tiny house with 10 people or so, not far from what is now Roosevelt Middle School.
"We had meetings there," she added.
They couldn't afford a rabbi at first, so people from the group would speak.
In 1939, the congregation met for their first Sabbath evening service in their new Windsor Road meeting place, according to the Aug. 9, 1939 Glendale News-Press, which cited the "enthusiastic leadership of Mike Berman."
Berman led the campaign for the new building that was set well back on the property. The hall had seating for 200, with folding doors for two classrooms, while a large patio surrounding a tall walnut tree provided an outdoor setting for social gatherings.
