Temple Beth El’s first home was in a room
above Dowtin’s grocery store at 1412 ½ Morehead Street in Charlotte. Rabbi Philip Frankel served as the first Rabbi. Leo Gottheimer served as the Temple’s first president, and renowned author Harry Golden wrote its first constitution.


By 1946, the congregation had grown to 46 families. Ground was broken for a new building in June 1948, and the first service was held at 1727 Providence Road the following January. As the membership rolls continued to increase, the congregation added an education building and fellowship hall. Beth El traditions that survive to this day began to take hold: the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service and the annual Retreat at Wildacres in the Blue Ridge Mountains every Labor Day.


By the Temple’s 40th birthday in 1983, the congregation had 320 families. In 1987, Temple Beth El merged with Temple Beth Shalom, and a new era began.


"Once in a Lifetime” became the theme for a fundraising campaign to build a new Temple at Shalom Park. Five years later, the dream became reality as the Torah was placed in the magnificent marble ark of the new Temple Beth El in August of 1992.