In the mid-1920s, members of the Cliffside Park Jewish community formed Congregation Sons of Israel. They met in a private home before moving into a building on Edgewater Road.

In early 1958, the now-renamed Temple Israel Community Center (K'hillat Heichal Yisrael in Hebrew) moved one block east, into a new building at 207 Edgewater Road,.

TICC/CHY has always been small. Our founders cherished the warmth and intimacy only a small congregation could provide. They wanted a community, not just a congregation.

The new building reflected that. Our sanctuary, for example, seats fewer than 150 people. Larger numbers can be accommodated only by opening up a movable wall separating the sanctuary from the social hall.

Throughout the ups and downs of communal growth and shifting religious ideologies within Judaism, we have held our own. Our “style” has won us a reputation for actually being what other congregations only claim to be—warm, friendly and caring. Even on the High Holy Days, when over 350 people fill the combined sanctuary and social hall and intimacy is impossible, we find ways to make "the stranger" feel welcome. Some of our most active and involved members—including past presidents and present officers and trustees—sit on folding chairs in the social hall part of the room, amid many of these "strangers." People no one in our leadership recognizes are called to the Torah, or asked to do a responsive reading from the pulpit. The rabbi makes several forays during each service into “the pews” to greet as many people as possible, and especially those people who are new to the synagogue.

Our point is simple. To you, we may be strangers. To us, you are a long lost relative who finally found your way home. We hope that you will be glad that you did.