 Services were lay @-@ led for decades . Marcus Simmons was hired as the congregation 's first rabbi in 1959 , but left in 1961 . After a gap of two years , Louis <unk> became rabbi in 1963 , and served until his death in 1976 . He was followed by Myron Kinberg , who served from 1977 to 1994 , and Kinberg in turn was succeeded by Yitzhak Husbands @-@ Hankin . Maurice Harris joined Husbands @-@ Hankin as associate rabbi in 2003 , and served until 2011 , when he was succeeded by Boris Dolin . As of 2014 , led by Husbands @-@ Hankin and Dolin , Beth Israel had approximately 400 member households , and was the largest synagogue in Eugene . 
