The congregation held High Holy Day services in rented spaces such as the Eau Claire Hotel or the Knights of Pythias and met for other events in members’ homes. The Wesleyan Church was purchased as the first permanent synagogue space and services were first conducted in 1960.  In 1969, Temple Sholom formally affiliated with United Synagogue of America, the organization of Conservative Judaism, and continues to maintain that affiliation through the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

Temple Sholom was in the forefront of introducing gender-equality into ritual practice and the structure of Jewish benevolent organizations. In 1972, Temple Sholom was one of the first Conservative synagogues in the country to allow women to be counted for minyan (10 adult Jews) required for the recitation of certain prayers and to honor women by calling them to recite the blessings on the Torah.  Also in 1972, the men’s B’nai Brith chapter voted to drop the clause limiting membership to men, and thus combined the men’s and women’s chapters. This action received national attention.

Over the years, a number of rabbis came from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area to conduct High Holy Day services and for such special events as weddings, funerals and bar mitzvah celebrations.  Rabbi Louis Milgrom performed these services from 1960 until the late 1980s.  Rabbi Milgrom also taught courses on Judaism and the Holocaust in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, supported by special funds donated by the L.E. Phillips Family Foundation.  Since Rabbi Milgrom’s retirement, the courses were most recently taught by Dr. Jonathan Paradise, a faculty member at the University of Minnesota.

In 1989 the seemingly impossible task of securing a permanent rabbi began to be discussed.  Stimulated by a matching grant from the L.E. Phillips Family Foundation, the congregation was able to raise sufficient funds to support a rabbi.  Rabbi Yosi Gordon was the community's first permanent, albeit part-time, rabbi and was Rabbi of Temple Sholom and chief rabbi of the Chippewa Valley from 1990 until Rosh Hashana 5969 (Sept. 2008). The search for a successor for Rabbi Gordon was concluded in the Spring of 2008, when Rabbi Jonathan Perlman was selected.

The word “Torah,” based on the word for “teaching,” is the holiest word in the Hebrew language, other than the names of God.  Its meanings range from the narrowest definition—the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures (the "Books of Moses")—to the broadest definition—divine wisdom and truth.

A Torah scroll contains the five Books of Moses handwritten in Hebrew by a sofer s'gan (a highly-qualified scribe), using quill pens and ink prepared according to a unique natural recipe on a parchment scroll.  The Torah contains the central teachings of Judaism and the scroll is the one essential item required in a synagogue.  A synagogue has no images or statues.  The central object is a work of art which records G-d’s word in beautiful calligraphy in a form directly transmitted from ancient times.  The format of the Torah scroll is truly ancient and every Torah must be written exactly, copied letter-for-letter, column-for-column, from another scroll.  Every letter must be perfect and no two letters may touch.

For a long time, Temple Sholom has owned three Torah scrolls: a very large and heavy scroll, a medium size scroll and a very small scroll. None of the current members of the congregation knows how Temple Sholom acquired them.  The medium-sized scroll was used the most often but several major rips developed in the parchment, some of the letters flaked off with age, and much of the parchment suffered water damage.  A sofer (Torah scribe) who inspected the scroll determined that the scroll could not be repaired.

The Board and congregation studied laws and customs concerning Torah scrolls and learned that it is permissible to use a scroll that is not kosher (ritually fit to use) if that is all that the congregation can afford.  But the honor of the congregation is greatly enhanced by a ritually proper scroll.  After careful deliberation, the congregation decided to undertake a fundraising campaign to buy a restored Torah.  Rabbi Yosi Gordon identified an appropriate scroll, which had been recovered from a synagogue in Russia, in the workshop of Rabbi Akiva Garber in Jerusalem during summer, 2001.  But the congregation had not yet raised all the money needed.  The necessary funds were obtained and the order was placed by email to Rabbi Garber in October, 2001.  Many details remained to be worked out such as the style of the atzei hayyim (rollers to which the parchment is attached) and the details of safely sending thousands of dollars to Israel.  The scroll was corrected and repaired extremely carefully by the scribe, under the supervision of a rabbi who specializes in the laws of Torah repair.  It was also scanned by a computer to ensure that all the letters were correct and that no two letters were touching.  Rabbi Garber wrote a brief history of the scroll which was incorporated into the atzei hayyim.

The Torah finally reached Eau Claire on 19 Iyar, 5762, corresponding to May 1, 2002, and was first ritually used on May 18, on the holiday of Shavuot, which celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.

Rabbi Dr. Eric Ray, a renowned Torah scribe and expert on the styles of calligraphy used in many communities in the world, provided the following information on the four scrolls in the synagogue:

The new scroll was written in Prague by a master scribe on excellent parchment c.1930. The large scroll was written in a Vilna yeshiva (rabbinical seminary) about 1860-1880. The medium scroll was written in a Polish shtetl (rural Jewish settlement) about 1920 and the small scroll was written about 1880 in a Polish shtetl by a scribe who had spent some time in Italy.

Current and former members of Temple Sholom were so generous in donating to the Torah Fund that it was possible to use some of the money to refurbish the synagogue.  Stained glass doors designed by Laurie Bieze were placed on a newly constructed ark, the walls and ceilings were cleaned and painted, new lighting fixtures were added and new windows and storm windows were installed.  The podia were refurbished and new American and Israeli flags were purchased.  Members handmade the accoutrements needed for the Torah:  a quilted Torah cover, a needlepoint binder, and a needlepoint lectern cover.  A new silver yad (pointer) was donated.

On 6 Tammuz, 5762, corresponding to June 16, 2002, at 2:00 P.M., the Torah was officially dedicated and placed in the Aron Qodesh at a Channukat Sefer Torah (Dedication of the Scroll of Torah).  Dozens of congregants took turns reading verses from the new Torah from parashat Balaq.  Congregants and guests joyously danced with the new sefer Torah to the accompaniment of klezmer music played by accordionist Mark Stillman.

Thanks to Helaine Minkus for putting together this history.