We — like our forefathers of old — must "rebuild the Temple." Long have we thought about it. The day for action has come! KODIMOH means FORWARD! When Kodimoh was built only a generation ago, the founders chose her name well. It represented their Faith, their Vision, their Loyalty to a long tradition of three thousand years. These founders were our grandfathers, our fathers — ourselves! They believed they were building for many years. But progress, growth and change have swept over the world, and over our beloved country, like a mighty tide. KODIMOH can no longer contain all her sons and daughters. It cannot welcome “the stranger within our gates.”What shall we do? — We have decided! We shall again, in this year 5718, prove ourselves worthy of our great heritage, as the founders of our Congregation did in 5684. To strengthen that heritage we shall build a new and greater Synagogue — worthy of ourselves, of our great and growing community, of our centuries of unbroken Jewish tradition, of our eternal Torah.We shall make it a true “Mishkan” or Tabernacle where our growing families — and families yet unreached — shall gather together as one great Kodimoh family, to work, to study Torah, and to “worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness.”In a world torn by doubts and fears, we shall prove ourselves worthy of our firm Orthodox tradition — by building on that firm foundation a noble House of God that shall daily be witness to our faith in the Creator and Father of us all.The Founding of A CongregationOne of our KODIMOH families lives in what is believed to be the oldest house in one section of Forest Park — and it is only 45 years old! So, our founders of 34 years ago were pioneers. A small, but dedicated, group of Orthodox Jews who had early settled in this section of Springfield gathered together and decided that they should have their own Synagogue. Already there were relatively large groups of Jews in other parts of the city — but that was not enough. They wished to …