B'nai Yosef Synagogue
Encyclopedia
The B'nai Yosef Synagogue, (or Congregation Bnai Yosef), formerly Magen David Congregation of Ocean Parkway, is an Orthodox
Sephardi
synagogue
at the 1616 Ocean Parkway
and Avenue P in Brooklyn, New York.
Built in the early 1970s, it became known as The Painted Shul, because its 13000 square feet (1,207.7 m²) interior is covered in brightly painted mural
s, making it the only completely muraled synagogue in the world. The synagogue is also unusual in that it was built and is funded by an anonymous individual; thus members are not required to pay any dues.
, mostly from Syria
, North Africa
and Iran
, and the nusach
(style of prayer service) is Orthodox
Sephardi
. The congregation is strict in its observance, with most males having had a yeshiva
education. Unusually, it is funded by an anonymous individual; thus members are not required to pay any dues.
and Avenue P in Brooklyn, New York. Built in the early 1970s by an anonymous individual, the three-story, brick-facade
d building is unremarkable from the outside. The synagogue walls have tall, smoked glass windows which allow light into the sanctuary. In the sanctuary, an elaborate chandelier
hangs over the tebah
(platform from which the Torah
is read).
s, making it the only completely muraled synagogue in the world. Every inch of wall space, including the prayer hall, is covered with murals painted by Archie Rand
, professor of art at Brooklyn College
, fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation
, and a Laureate
of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture
. Rand's involvement in painting the synagogue began when, unable to pay the tuition fees at his daughter's school, he painted three murals for the school in exchange for a year's tuition. The school loved the murals and Rand was approached to paint the interior of the new B'nai Yosef synagogue.
Rand had only a basic Hebrew school
education, and had to engage in intensive study one-on-one with yeshiva students, including at the Lakewood yeshiva in Lakewood, New Jersey
, in order to learn about the symbol
ism that would be most meaningful to the congregation.
The work was controversial at first, with a group of community rabbis accusing Rand of idolatry
. Rabbi Lopian, a local supporter of the murals, took the dispute to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
, who was regarded at the time as the de facto supreme rabbinic authority in North America for Orthodox Jewry
. Feinstein declared that "the work is kosher and the spirit under which the work was done is commendable," and so Rand was able to complete his project. The murals have since become much loved within the community, and the former Sephardic chief rabbi
of Israel
, Rav Ovadia Yosef
, has been a frequent visitor.
The murals include an illustration of the bronze menorah by Benno Elkan
that stands outside the Knesset
in Jerusalem, and representations of the first days of creation, with the first ten things created before the first Sabbath
represented by images that include a donkey's head, Noah
's rainbow, and Miriam's well. At the back of the prayer hall, there is a blue-circle mandala
containing the meditation: "My Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Your Praise."
The women's section upstairs contains images of Jewish holiday
s, such as Rosh Hashanah
and Passover
, and a depiction of Rachel's Tomb
.
The murals, started in 1974, took three years to complete.
A documentary entitled "The Painted Shul," was made about the murals and Archie Rand's experience by filmmaker Amala Lane and produced by Marji Greenhut in 2003, with minor changes made more recently in 2006. Featuring extensive footage of the stunning and wildy varied painting styles, viewers get a glimpse of one of the world's few 'painted shuls'. The tradition of religious painting in synagogues is centuries old, but such murals can only be found in ruins or modest replicas. B'nai Yosef is an actively used synagogue and the murals which were painted in the early 1970s look vibrant and new today.
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
Sephardi
Sephardic Judaism
Sephardic law and customs means the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazim...
synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
at the 1616 Ocean Parkway
Ocean Parkway (Brooklyn)
Ocean Parkway is a broad boulevard in the west central portion of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City.-Route description:Ocean Parkway extends over a distance of about five miles , running almost north to south from the vicinity of Prospect Park to Brighton Beach...
and Avenue P in Brooklyn, New York.
Built in the early 1970s, it became known as The Painted Shul, because its 13000 square feet (1,207.7 m²) interior is covered in brightly painted mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
s, making it the only completely muraled synagogue in the world. The synagogue is also unusual in that it was built and is funded by an anonymous individual; thus members are not required to pay any dues.
The congregation
The B'nai Yosef congregation is made up of Sephardi JewsSephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
, mostly from Syria
Syrian Jews
Syrian Jews are Jews who inhabit the region of the modern state of Syria, and their descendants born outside Syria. Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: from the Jews who inhabited the region of today's Syria from ancient times Syrian Jews are Jews who inhabit the region of the modern...
, North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
and Iran
Persian Jews
Persian Jews , are Jews historically associated with Iran, traditionally known as Persia in Western sources.Judaism is one of the oldest religions practiced in Iran. The Book of Esther contains some references to the experiences of Jews in Persia...
, and the nusach
Nusach
Nusach is a concept in Judaism that has two distinct meanings. One is the style of a prayer service ; another is the melody of the service depending on when the service is being conducted.-Meaning of term:Nusach primarily means "text" or "version", in...
(style of prayer service) is Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
Sephardi
Sephardic Judaism
Sephardic law and customs means the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazim...
. The congregation is strict in its observance, with most males having had a yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
education. Unusually, it is funded by an anonymous individual; thus members are not required to pay any dues.
Synagogue building
The synagogue building is located at the 1616 Ocean ParkwayOcean Parkway (Brooklyn)
Ocean Parkway is a broad boulevard in the west central portion of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City.-Route description:Ocean Parkway extends over a distance of about five miles , running almost north to south from the vicinity of Prospect Park to Brighton Beach...
and Avenue P in Brooklyn, New York. Built in the early 1970s by an anonymous individual, the three-story, brick-facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
d building is unremarkable from the outside. The synagogue walls have tall, smoked glass windows which allow light into the sanctuary. In the sanctuary, an elaborate chandelier
Chandelier
A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...
hangs over the tebah
Bimah
A bimah A bimah A bimah (among Ashkenazim, derived from Hebrew בּמה , almemar (from Arabic al-minbar) or tebah (among Sephardim) is the elevated area or platform in a Jewish synagogue which is intended to serve the place where the person reading aloud from the Torah stands during the Torah reading...
(platform from which the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
is read).
Murals
The synagogue is known as "The Painted Shul", because its 13000 square feet (1,207.7 m²) interior is covered in brightly painted muralMural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
s, making it the only completely muraled synagogue in the world. Every inch of wall space, including the prayer hall, is covered with murals painted by Archie Rand
Archie Rand
Archie Rand is an artist from Brooklyn, New York. Rand's work as a painter and muralist is displayed around the world, including in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Bibliothèque Nationale de...
, professor of art at Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
, fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
, and a Laureate
Laureate
In English, the word laureate has come to signify eminence or association with literary or military glory. It is also used for winners of the Nobel Prize.-History:...
of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture
National Foundation for Jewish Culture
The Foundation for Jewish Culture is the leading advocate for Jewish cultural life and creativity in the United States....
. Rand's involvement in painting the synagogue began when, unable to pay the tuition fees at his daughter's school, he painted three murals for the school in exchange for a year's tuition. The school loved the murals and Rand was approached to paint the interior of the new B'nai Yosef synagogue.
Rand had only a basic Hebrew school
Hebrew school
Hebrew school can be either the Jewish equivalent of Sunday school - an educational regimen separate from secular education, focusing on topics of Jewish history and learning the Hebrew language, or a primary, secondary or college level educational institution where some or all of the classes are...
education, and had to engage in intensive study one-on-one with yeshiva students, including at the Lakewood yeshiva in Lakewood, New Jersey
Lakewood Township, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 60,352 people, 19,876 households, and 13,356 families residing in the township. The population density was 2,431.8 people per square mile . There were 21,214 housing units at an average density of 854.8 per square mile...
, in order to learn about the symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
ism that would be most meaningful to the congregation.
The work was controversial at first, with a group of community rabbis accusing Rand of idolatry
Idolatry
Idolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although...
. Rabbi Lopian, a local supporter of the murals, took the dispute to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
Moshe Feinstein
Moshe Feinstein was a Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi, scholar and posek , who was world-renowned for his expertise in Halakha and was regarded by many as the de facto supreme halakhic authority for Orthodox Jewry of North America during his lifetime...
, who was regarded at the time as the de facto supreme rabbinic authority in North America for Orthodox Jewry
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
. Feinstein declared that "the work is kosher and the spirit under which the work was done is commendable," and so Rand was able to complete his project. The murals have since become much loved within the community, and the former Sephardic chief rabbi
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...
of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Rav Ovadia Yosef
Ovadia Yosef
Ovadia Yosef is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, a recognised Talmudic scholar and foremost halakhic authority.He currently serves as the spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli parliament...
, has been a frequent visitor.
The murals include an illustration of the bronze menorah by Benno Elkan
Benno Elkan
Benno Elkan OBE was a German-born British sculptor and medallist. Married to Hedwig Einstein, sister of Carl Einstein and a concert pianist in her own right...
that stands outside the Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
in Jerusalem, and representations of the first days of creation, with the first ten things created before the first Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
represented by images that include a donkey's head, Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
's rainbow, and Miriam's well. At the back of the prayer hall, there is a blue-circle mandala
Mandala
Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
containing the meditation: "My Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Your Praise."
The women's section upstairs contains images of Jewish holiday
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays are days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov or chag or ta'anit...
s, such as Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...
and Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
, and a depiction of Rachel's Tomb
Rachel's Tomb
Rachel's Tomb , also known as the Dome of Rachel, , is an ancient structure believed to be the burial place of the biblical matriarch Rachel. It is located on the outskirts of Bethlehem, a Palestinian city just south of Jerusalem, in the West Bank...
.
The murals, started in 1974, took three years to complete.
A documentary entitled "The Painted Shul," was made about the murals and Archie Rand's experience by filmmaker Amala Lane and produced by Marji Greenhut in 2003, with minor changes made more recently in 2006. Featuring extensive footage of the stunning and wildy varied painting styles, viewers get a glimpse of one of the world's few 'painted shuls'. The tradition of religious painting in synagogues is centuries old, but such murals can only be found in ruins or modest replicas. B'nai Yosef is an actively used synagogue and the murals which were painted in the early 1970s look vibrant and new today.
Synagogue Leadership
- Haim Benoliel, Rabbi
- Eddie Sitt, President
- Gabriel A. Shrem (1916-1986), Cantor
- Florence Shrem Zeitouni, Office
External links
- NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: GRAVESEND; 7-11 Fought as the Thin Edge Of an Undesirable Wedge, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, June 4, 2000 - Five Columbia Professors Receive Presidential Awards for Excellence in Teaching
- Religion and Art: Allies or Adversaries?, Fordham Online, February 16, 2007.