Beth Hamedrash Hagadol
Encyclopedia
Beth Hamedrash Hagadol is an Orthodox Jewish
congregation that for over 120 years was located in a historic synagogue
building at 60–64 Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side
of Manhattan
in New York City
. It was the first
Eastern Europe
an congregation founded in New York City and the oldest Russian Jewish Orthodox congregation in the United States.
Founded in 1852 by Rabbi Abraham Ash as Beth Hamedrash, the congregation split in 1859, with the rabbi and most of the members renaming their congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagadol. The congregation's president and a small number of the members eventually formed the nucleus of Kahal Adath Jeshurun (also known as the Eldridge Street Synagogue
). Rabbi Jacob Joseph
, the first and only Chief Rabbi
of New York City, led the congregation from 1888 to 1902. Rabbi Ephraim Oshry
, one of the few European Jewish legal decisors
to survive the Holocaust
, led the congregation from 1952 to 2003.
The congregation's building, a Gothic Revival structure built in 1850 and purchased in 1885, was one of the largest synagogues on the Lower East Side. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1999. In the late 20th century the congregation dwindled and was unable to maintain the building, which had been damaged by storms. Despite their obtaining funding and grants, the structure was critically endangered.
the Lower East Side Conservancy
was trying to raise an estimated $4.5 million for repairs, with the intent of converting it to an educational center. The congregation, reduced to around 20 regularly attending members, was sharing facilities with a congregation on Henry Street
.
an Jews in 1852 as Beth Hamedrash (literally "House of Study", but used colloquially in Yiddish
as the term for a synagogue
). The founding rabbi
, Abraham Joseph Ash, was born in Siemiatycze
(then in Congress Poland
) in 1813 or 1821. He immigrated to New York City in 1851 or 1852. The first Eastern European Orthodox rabbi to serve in the United States, Ash "rejected the reformist
tendencies of the German Jewish congregations" there. He soon organized a minyan
(prayer quorum) of like-minded Polish Jews, and by 1852 began conducting services. Though the membership consisted mostly of Polish Jews
, it also included "Lithuanians
, two Germans, and an Englishman
." For the first six years of the congregation's existence, Ash was not paid for his work as rabbi and instead earned a living as a peddler
.
The congregation moved frequently in its early years: in 1852 it was located at 83 Bayard Street, then at Elm and Canal
, and from 1853 to 1856 in a hall at Pearl
between Chatham
and Centre
Streets. In 1856, with the assistance of the philanthropist
Sampson Simson
and wealthy Sephardi Jews
who sympathized with the traditionalism of the congregation's members, the congregation purchased a Welsh chapel
on Allen Street
. The synagogue, which had "a good Hebrew library", was a place both of prayer and study
, included a rabbinic family court, and, according to historian and long-time member Judah David Eisenstein, "rapidly became the most important center for Orthodox Jewish guidance in the country."
Synagogue dues were collected by the shamash
(the equivalent of a sexton
or beadle), who augmented his salary by working as a glazier
and running a small food concession stand in the vestibule
. There mourners who came to recite kaddish
could purchase a piece of sponge cake
and small glass of brandy
for ten cents (today $0).
Beth Hamedrash was the prototypical American synagogue for early immigrant Eastern European Jews, who began entering the United States in large numbers only in the 1870s. They found the synagogues of the German Jewish immigrants who preceded them to be unfamiliar, both religiously and culturally. Russian Jews in particular had been more excluded from Russian society than were German Jews from German society, for both linguistic and social reasons. Unlike German Jews, the Jews who founded Beth Hamedrash viewed both religion and the synagogue as central to their lives. They attempted to re-create in Beth Hamedrash the kind of synagogue they had belonged to in Europe.
The followers of Rothstein stayed at the Allen Street location and retained the name "Beth Hamedrash" until the mid-1880s. With membership and financial resources both severely reduced, they were forced to merge with Congregation Holche Josher Wizaner; the combined congregation adopted the name "Kahal Adath Jeshurun", and built the Eldridge Street Synagogue
.
According to Eisenstein, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol provided an atmosphere that was "socially religious", in which Jews "combine[d] piety with pleasure; they call[ed] their shule
a shtibl
or prayer-club room; they desire[d] to be on familiar terms with the Almighty and abhor[red] decorum; they want[ed] everyone present to join and chant the prayers; above all they scorn[ed] a regularly ordained cantor
." In contrast to the informality of the services, members scrupulously observed the Jewish dietary laws
, and every member personally oversaw the baking of his matzo
s for use on Passover
.
The congregation initially moved to the top floor of a building at the corner of Grand
and Forsyth
Streets, and in 1865 moved again, to a former courthouse on Clinton Street. In 1872, the congregation built a synagogue at Ludlow and Hester Streets. There the congregation's younger members gained greater control and introduced some minor innovations; for example, changing the title of parnas to president, and in 1877 hiring a professional cantor—Judah Oberman—for $500 (today $) per year, to bring greater formality and decorum to the services as well as to attract new members. While somewhat "Americanized", in general the congregation remained quite traditional. Men and women sat separately, the full service in the traditional prayer book
was followed, and the congregation still trained men for rabbinic ordination
. Additionally, Talmud
and Mishna study groups, founded in the 1870s, were held both mornings and evenings.
Ash had only served as Beth Hamedrash Hagadol's rabbi intermittently during this time; during the American Civil War
he had briefly been a successful manufacturer of hoopskirts, before losing his money, and returning to the rabbinate. Congregants had a number of issues with him, including his outside business ventures and an alleged inclination towards Hasidism
. The more learned members of the congregation contested his scholarship. Ash resigned as rabbi in 1877, and in 1879, directors of Beth Hamedrash Hagadol proposed that a Chief Rabbi
be hired for New York. A number of New York City synagogues formed the "United Hebrew Orthodox Congregations", and agreed to select the Malbim
(Meïr Leibush ben Jehiel Michel Weiser) for the role. The appointment was announced in Philadelphia's Jewish Record, but the Malbim never filled the position. Beth Hamedrash Hagadol re-hired Ash to fill the vacant role of congregational rabbi at a salary of $25 per month (or $300—today $—per year). The following year the congregation hired a new cantor, Simhe Samuelson, for $1,000 (today $) a year, over three times Ash's salary.
and Broome Street on the Lower East Side
, had originally been the Norfolk Street Baptist
Church. Founded in 1841 when the Stanton Street Baptist Church congregation split, the members had first worshiped in an existing church building at Norfolk and Broome. In 1848 they officially incorporated and began construction of a new building, which was dedicated in January 1850.
Largely unchanged, the structure was designed in the Gothic Revival
style by an unknown architect
, with masonry
-bearing walls with timber framing
at the roof and floors, and brownstone
foundation walls and exterior door and window trim. The front (west/Norfolk Street) facade is "stucco
ed and scored to simulate smooth-faced ashlar
", though the other elevations are faced in brick. Window tracery was all in wood. Much of the original work remains on the side elevations. Characteristically Gothic exterior features include "vertical proportions, pointed arched window openings with drip moldings
, three bay facade
with towers". Gothic interior features include "ribbed vaulting
" and a "tall and lofty rectangular nave
and apse
." Originally the window over the main door was a circular rose window
, and the two front towers had crenellations in tracery, instead of the present plain tops. The square windows below are original, but the former quatrefoil
wooden tracery is gone in many cases. The bandcourse of quatrefoil originally extended across the center section of the facade.
Even as the building was under construction, the ethnic makeup of the church's neighborhood was rapidly changing; native-born Baptists were displaced by Irish
and German immigrants. As members moved uptown, the congregation decided to follow and sold their building in 1860 to Alanson T. Biggs, a successful local merchant. The departing Baptist congregation founded the Fifth Avenue Baptist church, then founded the Park Avenue
Church, and finally built the Riverside Church
.
Biggs converted the church to one for Methodists, and in 1862, transferred ownership to the Alanson Methodist Episcopal Church
. The Methodist congregation was successful for a time, with membership peaking at 572 members in 1873. It declined after that, and the church ran into financial difficulties. In 1878 the congregation transferred ownership to the New York City Church Extension and Missionary Society
of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Founded in 1866, the Church Extension and Missionary Society's mission was "... to promote Churches, Missions, and Sunday-schools in the City of New York." It built or supported Methodist churches primarily in poor areas, or areas that were being developed, including one in the building that would later house the First Roumanian-American congregation. Soon after its purchase of the Norfolk Street building, the Church Extension and Missionary Society discovered that the neighborhood had become mostly Jewish and German. By 1884, it realized "the church was too big and costly to maintain", and put it up for sale.
In 1885 Beth Hamedrash Hagadol purchased the building for $45,000 (today $), and made alterations and repairs at a cost of $10,000 (today $), but made no external modifications by the re-opening. Alterations to the interior were generally made to adapt it to synagogue use. These included the additions of an Ark
to hold the Torah
scrolls (replacing the original pulpit
), an "eternal light" in front of the ark, and a bimah
(a central elevated platform where the Torah scrolls are read). At some time a women's gallery
was added round three sides of the nave. Interior redecorations included sanctuary ceilings that were "painted a bright blue, studded with stars".
In addition to attracting new and wealthy members, the congregation intended the substantial building to garner prestige and respectability for the relatively new immigrant Jews from Eastern Europe, and to show that Jews on the Lower East Side could be just as "civilized" as the reform-minded Jews of uptown Manhattan. For this reason, a number of other Lower East Side congregations also purchased or built new buildings around this time. They also hired increasingly expensive cantors until, in 1886, Kahal Adath Jeshurun hired P. Minkowsy for the "then-staggering sum of five thousand dollars per annum" (today $). Beth Hamedrash Hagadol responded by recruiting from Europe the famous and highly paid cantor Israel Michaelowsky (or Michalovsky). By 1888 Beth Hamedrash Hagodol's members included "several bankers, lawyers, importers and wholesale merchants, besides a fair sprinkling of the American element."
Though the building had undergone previous alterations—for example, the Church Extension and Missionary Society had "removed deteriorated parapet
s from the towers" in 1880—it did not undergo significant renovations until the early 1890s. That year the rose window on the front of the building was removed, "possibly because it had Christian motifs", and replaced with a large arched window, still in keeping with the Gothic style. The work was undertaken by the architectural firm of (Ernest) Schneider & (Henry) Herter, German immigrants who had worked on a number of other synagogues, including the Park East Synagogue
. In 1893 they fixed "serious structural problems", the consequence of neglected maintenance. The work included "stabiliz[ing] the front steps, add[ing] brick buttress
es to the sides of the church for lateral support, again in a Gothic style, and replac[ing] the original basement columns with six-inch cast iron columns." A later renovation replaced the wooden stairs from the main floor to the basement with iron ones.
Two Stars of David
were added to the center of the facade. One is seen in the old photograph, over a palmette ornament at the top of the window arch. The other, mounted above the top of the gable, remains visible in the modern photograph (top). The unusual cupola-like structure on legs seen above the gable in the old photograph, now gone, was also added by the synagogue, as was the square structure it sat on. The panel with a large Hebrew inscription over the main doors was added in this period, before the older photograph. The decorations to the upper parts of the central section of the facade survived until at least 1974, as did the tracery to the square windows on the towers; this Gothic ornamentation was removed after it deteriorated.
of New York City. This search was opposed by Rabbi Henry Pereira Mendes
, of Congregation Shearith Israel
. Mendes felt that the money and energy would be better spent on supporting the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
(JTSA), which he had co-founded with Sabato Morais
in 1886. In his view, training American-born rabbis at the Seminary would be a much more effective means of fighting the growing strength of the American Reform movement
: these native English-speaking rabbis would appeal to the younger generation far more than imported, Yiddish-speaking rabbis.
The Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations rejected Morais's position, and offered the role to a number of "leading East European Orthodox rabbis", all of whom turned it down. They eventually narrowed the field to two candidates, Zvi Rabinovitch and Jacob Joseph
. Although Rabinovitch received "massive support" from "leading east European rabbis", the congregation hired Jacob Joseph as the first—and what would turn out to be only—Chief Rabbi of New York City.
Born in Kroz, Lithuania
, Joseph had studied in the Volozhin yeshiva
under Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin
; he was known there as Rav Yaakov Charif ("Rabbi Jacob Sharp") because of his sharp mind. He was one of the main disciples of Yisroel Salanter, and in 1883 had been appointed the maggid
(preacher) of Vilna
. Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, the Eldridge Street Synagogue, and 13 other Lower East Side synagogues had raised $2,500 (today $) towards the creation of a European style kehilla
to oversee New York's Orthodox community, and had imported Joseph in an attempt to achieve that (ultimately unfulfilled) goal. Joseph's salary was to be the then-substantial $2,500 per year, "with an additional $1000 for rent, furnishings, and utilities". Though Joseph's appointment was, in part, intended to bring prestige to the downtown Orthodox congregations, his primary task as Chief Rabbi was to bring order and regulation to New York's chaotic kosher slaughtering industry.
Joseph arrived in New York on July 7, 1888, and later that month preached his inaugural Sabbath sermon
at Beth Hamedrash Hagadol. The speech attracted a huge crowd, with over 1,500 men crowded into the sanctuary, and thousands more outside. The police had to call extra reinforcements to control the throng, and to escort Joseph into the synagogue. Though he had been chosen, in part, for his "fabulous skills as an orator", his speaking style and sermons, which had been so beloved in Europe, did not impress New York audiences. According to Abraham Cahan
, "[S]ome of the very people who drank in his words thirstily in Vilna left the synagogue in the middle of his sermon here."
In October 1888, Joseph made his first significant statement as Chief Rabbi. He issued new regulations for New York's Jewish poultry business, in an attempt to bring it into accordance with Jewish law. The funds for supporting the agency supervising adherence to these regulations were to be raised through an increase in the price of meat and chicken. The affected vendors and consumers, however, refused to pay this levy. They likened it to the korobka, a tax on meat in Russia they despised, and "organized a mass meeting in January 1889 against 'the imported rabbi'". Joseph never succeeded in organizing the kosher meat business.
Joseph was also unable to stop those who came to hear him speak from desecrating the Sabbath, and his Yiddish sermons had no impact on the younger generation. In addition, he had to contend with a number of obstacles: he had no administrative experience or training, local Orthodox rabbis (particularly Joshua Seigel) and Jews outside his congregation did not accept his authority, and non-Orthodox Jews and groups criticized him. These problems were exacerbated by a stroke
suffered in 1895, which partially incapacitated him, followed by a relapse in 1900 which left him bedridden.
In the late 19th century, other synagogues in New York City
often served a particular constituency, typically Jews from a single town in Russia, Poland, or Romania. Beth Hamedrash Hagadol prided itself in welcoming and assisting all Jews, regardless of origins. The synagogue's Passover
Relief Committee—dedicated to providing funds and food to poor Jews so that they could properly celebrate the holiday of Passover—stated "In dispensing money and matzos to the poor, all are recognized as the children of one Father, and no lines are drawn between natives of different countries." By the turn of the 20th century, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol was distributing approximately $800 (today $) a year to the poor for Passover supplies, compared to a total synagogue income of around $5,000 (today $). This was on top of its average $15 (today $) weekly contributions to the poor, and those of individual congregational members of around $2,000 (today $) per annum. By 1901, annual revenues were around $6,000 (today $), and the congregation had 150 members.
During Joseph's tenure, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol helped found the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (the "Orthodox Union
"). In the spring of 1898, 50 lay officials from a number of Orthodox New York synagogues—including Congregation Ohab Zedek
, the Eldridge Street Synagogue
, Congregation Shearith Israel and Beth Hamedrash Hagadol—convened to create the organization. By the 1980s the Orthodox Union had over 1,000 member congregations.
Joseph served as the synagogue's rabbi from his arrival in the United States in 1888 until his death in 1902 at age 62. During this time, his family slipped into poverty, as he did not receive his salary, which had been based on the anticipated taxes on kosher meats and vendors, and on matzos. After his death, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol secured the right to bury him in its cemetery by promising his widow $1,500 (today $) and a monthly $15 stipend; in turn, individuals offered the congregation large sums—$5,000 (today $) in one case—for the right to be buried near him. His funeral was attended by up to 100,000 mourners, "clouded by the guilt-driven attempt of New York's Orthodox Jews to honor him for the last time, as partial compensation for the way they treated him during his life."
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Joseph was succeeded by Rabbi Shalom Elchanan Jaffe, a founder of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis
and a strong supporter of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
. Jaffe, who was born near Vilna
, had, like Joseph, studied at the Volozhin yeshiva, and had received his rabbinic ordination from Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin and Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor
. The author of several books of religious commentary, Jaffe was an influential rabbi on the Lower East Side, in part because of his authority over kosher supervision
of New York's butcher stores and slaughterhouse
s. He was also a strong anti-Zionist
and "rejoiced when Herzl died".
Harry Fischel
was the congregation's Vice President until 1902; there he first met and eventually attended the Bar Mitzvah of his future son-in-law, Herbert S. Goldstein
. Goldstein, who was ordained by Jaffe at the JTSA, founded the Institutional Synagogue in Harlem
. He is the only person to have been president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
, the Rabbinical Council of America
(first presidium), and the Synagogue Council of America
. It was in response to an April 1929 telegram from Goldstein, asking if Albert Einstein
believed in God, that Einstein stated, "I believe in Spinoza
's God, who reveals himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and actions of human beings."
Beth Hamedrash Hagodol had 175 member families by 1908, and the synagogue's annual revenues were $10,000 (today $). In 1909, the synagogue was the site of a mass meeting to protest the 20th Central Conference of American Rabbis
, described as "the malicious misrepresentation of Judaism by the so-called reformed rabbis in conference in this city", and in 1913 the synagogue was the site of a "historic mass meeting" to raise funds for the first Young Israel synagogue, at which Jacob Schiff
was the guest speaker. Membership had fallen to 110 families by 1919.
Dr. Benjamin Fleischer, a noted orator, was elected rabbi of Beth Hamedrash Hagadol in September 1924. While serving as Beth Hamedrash Hagadol's rabbi he published his 1938 philosophical work Revaluation. Miscellaneous essays, lectures and discourses on Jewish religious philosophy, ethics and history and his 1941 military history From Dan To Megiddo. In May 1939, he and two other rabbis (and a fourth rabbi as secretary) formed the first permanent beth din
(court of Jewish law) in the U.S.
In the early-to-mid-20th century the congregation's financial footing was still not sound; though the Norfolk Street building had been purchased in 1885 for $45,000 (and $10,000 in alterations and repairs), in 1921 it still owed $40,000 (today $) on the mortgage. Additional costs were incurred by work done on the building; two years earlier, architect George Dress had rearranged the toilet facilities, in 1934 architect Philip Bardes designed a small brick extension at the building's south-east corner, and in the 1930s or 1940s the walls and four of the five spandrel
s in the sanctuary interior were painted with colorful "Eastern European-inspired" pictures and murals of Jerusalem and "Holy Land
landscapes and Biblical
scenes". At the end of December 1946, then-president Abraham Greenwald stated that unless $35,000 (today $) were immediately raised for the repair of the building, it would have to be demolished.
Ephraim Oshry
, noted Torah
scholar and religious leader in the Kovno Ghetto
, and one of the few European Jewish legal decisors
to survive The Holocaust
, became the synagogue's rabbi in 1952, a post he retained for over 50 years. During the Holocaust the Nazis
had made him the custodian of a warehouse that stored Jewish books intended for an exhibit of "artifacts of the extinct Jewish race". He used the books to help him write responsa
, answering questions asked of him regarding how Jews could live their lives in accordance with Jewish law
under the extreme conditions imposed by the Nazis. He also ran "secret nightly worship services", and helped Jews bake matzos for Passover, under threat of death if discovered. After the war he founded a yeshiva
for Jewish orphans in Italy, and then another religious school in Montreal
, before moving to New York to take up the position of rabbi at Beth Hamedrash Hagadol. There, his Sunday afternoon lectures were so popular that the entire 1,200-seat sanctuary was filled, and the overflow had to sit on the stairs. While rabbi of Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, he founded another yeshiva in Monsey, New York
for gifted high school
aged boys.
The congregation's building was again threatened with demolition in 1967, but Oshry, possibly the first Lower East Side rabbi to recognize the value of landmark designation, was successful in having it designated a New York city landmark, thus saving it. At that time the congregation claimed 1,400 members.
In 1974, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
applied to have the building added to the National Register of Historic Places
, and considered significant at the state
level; on the application the building's condition was described as "excellent". The case was reviewed on June 19, 1974, and the site was deemed ineligible. The building was repainted and repaired in 1977, but in subsequent years deteriorated and suffered damage.
The congregation raised $40,000 in 2000 for emergency repairs, and was awarded a $230,000 grant by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
for restoration work, including roof repair, but had not been able to raise the matching funds required to receive the grant. On December 6, 2001, a fire and subsequent fire-fighting efforts severely damaged the roof, ceiling, mural paintings and decorative plasterwork.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation
designated the building an endangered historic site in 2003, the only synagogue on the list. It still retained a number of significant architectural features, including "the ornate ark and pulpit, central bimah (reader's platform) with etched glass lamps, cantilevered balconies, Gothic vaulted ceiling, and colorful wall paintings"; the lighting included "converted gas fixtures
". Features retained from the original construction included Gothic Revival style woodwork and cast-iron railing that follows the lot line, and the original wooden pew
s. That same year Oshry died. His son-in-law, Rabbi Mendl Greenbaum—who Oshry had designated as his successor—succeeded him.
By 2006, $1 million of an estimated required $3.5 million had been raised for repairs to the structure. However, as of October 2007 it was still mostly closed to the public (as its damaged interior was considered a hazard for visitors), and its membership had dwindled to around 15. , the synagogue sat "padlocked and empty", with holes in the roof and plaster falling from the ceiling. Until it was closed, it was "the home of the oldest Orthodox congregation continuously housed in a single location in New York".
, the Lower East Side Conservancy
was trying to raise an estimate $4.5 million for repairs, with the intent of turning the building into an educational center. It was granted $215,000 by the United States Department of Education
and was promised an equal amount by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
. Several years earlier the Conservancy had also been promised a total of $980,000 from New York State, the City Council, Mayor
Bloomberg
, and the Manhattan Borough President
's office, but had yet to receive most of the city funds. The group was also trying to raise $400,000 from private donors for the first phase of the renovation, which would secure the structure and roof. Led by Greenbaum, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, the oldest Orthodox Russian Jewish congregation in the United States, was down to around 20 regularly attending members, and was sharing facilities with a congregation on Henry Street
.
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...
congregation that for over 120 years was located in a historic 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...
building at 60–64 Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It was the first
Oldest synagogues in the United States
The designation of the oldest synagogue in the United States requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest congregation...
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an congregation founded in New York City and the oldest Russian Jewish Orthodox congregation in the United States.
Founded in 1852 by Rabbi Abraham Ash as Beth Hamedrash, the congregation split in 1859, with the rabbi and most of the members renaming their congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagadol. The congregation's president and a small number of the members eventually formed the nucleus of Kahal Adath Jeshurun (also known as the Eldridge Street Synagogue
Eldridge Street Synagogue
The Eldridge Street Synagogue, built in 1887, is National Historic Landmark synagogue on Manhattan's Lower East Side.-History:The Eldridge Street Synagogue is the first synagogue erected in the United States by Eastern European Jews. One of the founders was Rabbi Eliahu the Blessed , formerly the...
). Rabbi Jacob Joseph
Jacob Joseph
Jacob Joseph served as chief rabbi of New York City's Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, a federation of Eastern European Jewish synagogues...
, the first and only 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 New York City, led the congregation from 1888 to 1902. Rabbi Ephraim Oshry
Ephraim Oshry
Ephraim Oshry , author of The Annihilation of Lithuanian Jewry, was one of the few European rabbis and poseks to survive the Holocaust....
, one of the few European Jewish legal decisors
Posek
Posek is the term in Jewish law for "decider"—a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive or in those situations where no halakhic precedent exists....
to survive the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
, led the congregation from 1952 to 2003.
The congregation's building, a Gothic Revival structure built in 1850 and purchased in 1885, was one of the largest synagogues on the Lower East Side. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1999. In the late 20th century the congregation dwindled and was unable to maintain the building, which had been damaged by storms. Despite their obtaining funding and grants, the structure was critically endangered.
the Lower East Side Conservancy
Lower East Side Conservancy
The Lower East Side Conservancy, formally the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy, is an historic preservation organization with the mission of promoting and preserving Jewish culture on Manhattan's Lower East Side....
was trying to raise an estimated $4.5 million for repairs, with the intent of converting it to an educational center. The congregation, reduced to around 20 regularly attending members, was sharing facilities with a congregation on Henry Street
Henry Street (Manhattan)
Henry Street is a street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City that runs in a northeasterly direction one-way eastbound from Oliver Street in the south and west, passing underneath the Manhattan Bridge and on to Grand Street in the north and east. The street is named for Henry...
.
Early history
Beth Hamedrash Hagadol was founded by Eastern EuropeEastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an Jews in 1852 as Beth Hamedrash (literally "House of Study", but used colloquially in Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
as the term for a 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...
). The founding rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, Abraham Joseph Ash, was born in Siemiatycze
Siemiatycze
Siemiatycze is a town in north-eastern Poland, with 15,209 inhabitants . It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship ; previously it was in Białystok Voivodeship . It is the capital of Siemiatycze County....
(then in Congress Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
) in 1813 or 1821. He immigrated to New York City in 1851 or 1852. The first Eastern European Orthodox rabbi to serve in the United States, Ash "rejected the reformist
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
tendencies of the German Jewish congregations" there. He soon organized a minyan
Minyan
A minyan in Judaism refers to the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain religious obligations. According to many non-Orthodox streams of Judaism adult females count in the minyan....
(prayer quorum) of like-minded Polish Jews, and by 1852 began conducting services. Though the membership consisted mostly of Polish Jews
History of the Jews in Poland
The history of the Jews in Poland dates back over a millennium. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. Poland was the centre of Jewish culture thanks to a long period of statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy. This ended with the...
, it also included "Lithuanians
Lithuanian Jews
Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks are Jews with roots in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania:...
, two Germans, and an Englishman
History of the Jews in England
The history of the Jews in England goes back to the reign of William I. The first written record of Jewish settlement in England dates from 1070, although Jews may have lived there since Roman times...
." For the first six years of the congregation's existence, Ash was not paid for his work as rabbi and instead earned a living as a peddler
Peddler
A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a canvasser, cheapjack, monger, or solicitor , is a travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used for travellers hawking goods in the countryside to small towns and villages; they might also be called tinkers or gypsies...
.
The congregation moved frequently in its early years: in 1852 it was located at 83 Bayard Street, then at Elm and Canal
Canal Street (Manhattan)
Canal Street is a major street in New York City, crossing lower Manhattan to join New Jersey in the west to Brooklyn in the east . It forms the main spine of Chinatown, and separates it from Little Italy...
, and from 1853 to 1856 in a hall at Pearl
Pearl Street (Manhattan)
Pearl Street is a street in the Lower section of the New York City borough of Manhattan, running northeast from Battery Park to the Brooklyn Bridge, then turning west and terminating at Centre Street...
between Chatham
Park Row (Manhattan)
Park Row is a street located in the Financial District of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It was previously called Chatham Street and during the late 19th century it was nicknamed Newspaper Row, as most of New York City's newspapers located on the street to be close to the action at New...
and Centre
Centre Street (Manhattan)
Centre Street runs north-south in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Centre Street runs from Park Row and continues north to Delancey Street where it merges with Lafayette Street....
Streets. In 1856, with the assistance of the philanthropist
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
Sampson Simson
Sampson Simson
Sampson Simson was an American philanthropist most remembered as "the father of Mount Sinai Hospital" and as benefactor, posthumously, to the North American Relief Society for Indigent Jews in Jerusalem, Palestine.-Biography:...
and wealthy Sephardi Jews
Sephardi 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...
who sympathized with the traditionalism of the congregation's members, the congregation purchased a Welsh chapel
Religion in Wales
Christianity is the largest religion in Wales. Until 1920 the established church was Anglican, although Wales has a strong tradition of nonconformism and Methodism....
on Allen Street
Allen Street (Manhattan)
Allen Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan which runs north-south through the Lower Manhattan neighborhood of Chinatown, and the Lower East Side. It is continued north of Houston Street as First Avenue, and south of Canal Street by Division Street and Pike Street. ...
. The synagogue, which had "a good Hebrew library", was a place both of prayer and study
Beth midrash
Beth Midrash refers to a study hall, whether in a synagogue, yeshiva, kollel, or other building. It is distinct from a synagogue, although many synagogues are also used as batei midrash and vice versa....
, included a rabbinic family court, and, according to historian and long-time member Judah David Eisenstein, "rapidly became the most important center for Orthodox Jewish guidance in the country."
Synagogue dues were collected by the shamash
Gabbai
A Gabbai is a person who assists in the running of a synagogue and ensures that the needs are met, for example the Jewish prayer services run smoothly, or an assistant to a rabbi...
(the equivalent of a sexton
Sexton (office)
A sexton is a church, congregation or synagogue officer charged with the maintenance of its buildings and/or the surrounding graveyard. In smaller places of worship, this office is often combined with that of verger...
or beadle), who augmented his salary by working as a glazier
Glazier
A Glazier is a construction professional who selects, cuts, installs, replaces, and removes residential, commercial, and artistic glass. Glaziers also install aluminum storefront frames and entrances, glass handrails and balustrades, shower enclosures, curtain wall framing and glass and mirror...
and running a small food concession stand in the vestibule
Vestibule (architecture)
A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...
. There mourners who came to recite kaddish
Kaddish
Kaddish is a prayer found in the Jewish prayer service. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy different versions of the Kaddish are used functionally as separators between sections of the service...
could purchase a piece of sponge cake
Sponge cake
Sponge cake is a cake based on flour , sugar, and eggs, sometimes leavened with baking powder which has a firm, yet well aerated structure, similar to a sea sponge. A sponge cake may be produced by either the batter method, or the foam method. Typicially the batter method in the U.S. is known as a...
and small glass of brandy
Brandy
Brandy is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink...
for ten cents (today $0).
Beth Hamedrash was the prototypical American synagogue for early immigrant Eastern European Jews, who began entering the United States in large numbers only in the 1870s. They found the synagogues of the German Jewish immigrants who preceded them to be unfamiliar, both religiously and culturally. Russian Jews in particular had been more excluded from Russian society than were German Jews from German society, for both linguistic and social reasons. Unlike German Jews, the Jews who founded Beth Hamedrash viewed both religion and the synagogue as central to their lives. They attempted to re-create in Beth Hamedrash the kind of synagogue they had belonged to in Europe.
Schism
In 1859, disagreement broke out between Ash and the synagogue's parnas (president) Joshua Rothstein over who had been responsible for procuring the Allen Street location, and escalated into a conflict "over the question of official authority and 'honor'". Members took sides in the dispute, which led to synagogue disturbances, a contested election, and eventually to Ash's taking Rothstein to a United States court to try to oust him as president of the congregation. After the court rejected Ash's arguments, a large majority of members left with Ash to form Beth Hamedrash Hagadol ("Great House of Study"), adding the word "Hagadol" ("Great") to the original name.The followers of Rothstein stayed at the Allen Street location and retained the name "Beth Hamedrash" until the mid-1880s. With membership and financial resources both severely reduced, they were forced to merge with Congregation Holche Josher Wizaner; the combined congregation adopted the name "Kahal Adath Jeshurun", and built the Eldridge Street Synagogue
Eldridge Street Synagogue
The Eldridge Street Synagogue, built in 1887, is National Historic Landmark synagogue on Manhattan's Lower East Side.-History:The Eldridge Street Synagogue is the first synagogue erected in the United States by Eastern European Jews. One of the founders was Rabbi Eliahu the Blessed , formerly the...
.
According to Eisenstein, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol provided an atmosphere that was "socially religious", in which Jews "combine[d] piety with pleasure; they call[ed] their shule
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...
a shtibl
Shtiebel
A shtiebel is a place used for communal Jewish prayer. In contrast to a formal synagogue, a shtiebel is far smaller and approached more casually. It is typically as small as a room in a private home or a place of business which is set aside for the express purpose of prayer, or it may be as large...
or prayer-club room; they desire[d] to be on familiar terms with the Almighty and abhor[red] decorum; they want[ed] everyone present to join and chant the prayers; above all they scorn[ed] a regularly ordained cantor
Hazzan
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources...
." In contrast to the informality of the services, members scrupulously observed the Jewish dietary laws
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
, and every member personally oversaw the baking of his matzo
Matzo
Matzo or matzah is an unleavened bread traditionally eaten by Jews during the week-long Passover holiday, when eating chametz—bread and other food which is made with leavened grain—is forbidden according to Jewish law. Currently, the most ubiquitous type of Matzo is the traditional Ashkenazic...
s for use on 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...
.
The congregation initially moved to the top floor of a building at the corner of Grand
Grand Street (Manhattan)
Grand Street is a street in Manhattan, New York City. It runs east-west parallel to and south of Delancey Street, from SoHo through Chinatown, Little Italy, the Lower East Side to the East River....
and Forsyth
Forsyth Street (Manhattan)
Forsyth Street runs from Houston Street south to East Broadway in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The street was named in 1817 for Lt. Colonel Benjamin Forsyth....
Streets, and in 1865 moved again, to a former courthouse on Clinton Street. In 1872, the congregation built a synagogue at Ludlow and Hester Streets. There the congregation's younger members gained greater control and introduced some minor innovations; for example, changing the title of parnas to president, and in 1877 hiring a professional cantor—Judah Oberman—for $500 (today $) per year, to bring greater formality and decorum to the services as well as to attract new members. While somewhat "Americanized", in general the congregation remained quite traditional. Men and women sat separately, the full service in the traditional prayer book
Siddur
A siddur is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as it is known today has developed...
was followed, and the congregation still trained men for rabbinic ordination
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
. Additionally, Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
and Mishna study groups, founded in the 1870s, were held both mornings and evenings.
Ash had only served as Beth Hamedrash Hagadol's rabbi intermittently during this time; during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
he had briefly been a successful manufacturer of hoopskirts, before losing his money, and returning to the rabbinate. Congregants had a number of issues with him, including his outside business ventures and an alleged inclination towards Hasidism
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
. The more learned members of the congregation contested his scholarship. Ash resigned as rabbi in 1877, and in 1879, directors of Beth Hamedrash Hagadol proposed that a 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...
be hired for New York. A number of New York City synagogues formed the "United Hebrew Orthodox Congregations", and agreed to select the Malbim
Malbim
Meïr Leibush ben Jehiel Michel Weiser , better known by the acronym Malbim , was a rabbi, Hebrew grammar master, and Bible commentator....
(Meïr Leibush ben Jehiel Michel Weiser) for the role. The appointment was announced in Philadelphia's Jewish Record, but the Malbim never filled the position. Beth Hamedrash Hagadol re-hired Ash to fill the vacant role of congregational rabbi at a salary of $25 per month (or $300—today $—per year). The following year the congregation hired a new cantor, Simhe Samuelson, for $1,000 (today $) a year, over three times Ash's salary.
Norfolk Street building
The congregation's building at 60–64 Norfolk Street, between Grand StreetGrand Street (Manhattan)
Grand Street is a street in Manhattan, New York City. It runs east-west parallel to and south of Delancey Street, from SoHo through Chinatown, Little Italy, the Lower East Side to the East River....
and Broome Street on the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
, had originally been the Norfolk Street Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Church. Founded in 1841 when the Stanton Street Baptist Church congregation split, the members had first worshiped in an existing church building at Norfolk and Broome. In 1848 they officially incorporated and began construction of a new building, which was dedicated in January 1850.
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style by an unknown architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, with masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
-bearing walls with timber framing
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
at the roof and floors, and brownstone
Brownstone
Brownstone is a brown Triassic or Jurassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States to refer to a terraced house clad in this material.-Types:-Apostle Island brownstone:...
foundation walls and exterior door and window trim. The front (west/Norfolk Street) facade is "stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
ed and scored to simulate smooth-faced ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
", though the other elevations are faced in brick. Window tracery was all in wood. Much of the original work remains on the side elevations. Characteristically Gothic exterior features include "vertical proportions, pointed arched window openings with drip moldings
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
, three bay 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"....
with towers". Gothic interior features include "ribbed vaulting
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
" and a "tall and lofty rectangular nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
and apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
." Originally the window over the main door was a circular rose window
Rose window
A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...
, and the two front towers had crenellations in tracery, instead of the present plain tops. The square windows below are original, but the former quatrefoil
Quatrefoil
The word quatrefoil etymologically means "four leaves", and applies to general four-lobed shapes in various contexts.-In heraldry:In heraldic terminology, a quatrefoil is a representation of a flower with four petals, or a leaf with four leaflets . It is sometimes shown "slipped", i.e. with an...
wooden tracery is gone in many cases. The bandcourse of quatrefoil originally extended across the center section of the facade.
Even as the building was under construction, the ethnic makeup of the church's neighborhood was rapidly changing; native-born Baptists were displaced by Irish
Irish Americans in New York City
The Irish community is one of New York's major and important ethnic groups, and has been a significant proportion of the city's population since the waves of immigration in the late 19th century....
and German immigrants. As members moved uptown, the congregation decided to follow and sold their building in 1860 to Alanson T. Biggs, a successful local merchant. The departing Baptist congregation founded the Fifth Avenue Baptist church, then founded the Park Avenue
Park Avenue (Manhattan)
Park Avenue is a wide boulevard that carries north and southbound traffic in New York City borough of Manhattan. Through most of its length, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east....
Church, and finally built the Riverside Church
Riverside Church
The Riverside Church in the City of New York is an interdenominational church in New York City, famous for its elaborate Neo-Gothic architecture—which includes the world's largest tuned carillon bell...
.
Biggs converted the church to one for Methodists, and in 1862, transferred ownership to the Alanson Methodist Episcopal Church
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
. The Methodist congregation was successful for a time, with membership peaking at 572 members in 1873. It declined after that, and the church ran into financial difficulties. In 1878 the congregation transferred ownership to the New York City Church Extension and Missionary Society
New York City Church Extension and Missionary Society
The New York City Church Extension and Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church was an organization whose mission was "... to promote Churches, Missions, and Sunday-schools in the City of New York." It built or purchased churches, missions, and Sunday schools, mostly in Manhattan...
of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Founded in 1866, the Church Extension and Missionary Society's mission was "... to promote Churches, Missions, and Sunday-schools in the City of New York." It built or supported Methodist churches primarily in poor areas, or areas that were being developed, including one in the building that would later house the First Roumanian-American congregation. Soon after its purchase of the Norfolk Street building, the Church Extension and Missionary Society discovered that the neighborhood had become mostly Jewish and German. By 1884, it realized "the church was too big and costly to maintain", and put it up for sale.
In 1885 Beth Hamedrash Hagadol purchased the building for $45,000 (today $), and made alterations and repairs at a cost of $10,000 (today $), but made no external modifications by the re-opening. Alterations to the interior were generally made to adapt it to synagogue use. These included the additions of an Ark
Ark (synagogue)
The Torah ark or ark in a synagogue is known in Hebrew as the Aron Kodesh by the Ashkenazim and as the Hekhál amongst most Sefardim. It is generally a receptacle, or ornamental closet, which contains each synagogue's Torah scrolls...
to hold 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...
scrolls (replacing the original pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
), an "eternal light" in front of the ark, and a bimah
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...
(a central elevated platform where the Torah scrolls are read). At some time a women's gallery
Mechitza
A mechitza in Jewish Halakha is a partition, particularly one that is used to separate men and women....
was added round three sides of the nave. Interior redecorations included sanctuary ceilings that were "painted a bright blue, studded with stars".
In addition to attracting new and wealthy members, the congregation intended the substantial building to garner prestige and respectability for the relatively new immigrant Jews from Eastern Europe, and to show that Jews on the Lower East Side could be just as "civilized" as the reform-minded Jews of uptown Manhattan. For this reason, a number of other Lower East Side congregations also purchased or built new buildings around this time. They also hired increasingly expensive cantors until, in 1886, Kahal Adath Jeshurun hired P. Minkowsy for the "then-staggering sum of five thousand dollars per annum" (today $). Beth Hamedrash Hagadol responded by recruiting from Europe the famous and highly paid cantor Israel Michaelowsky (or Michalovsky). By 1888 Beth Hamedrash Hagodol's members included "several bankers, lawyers, importers and wholesale merchants, besides a fair sprinkling of the American element."
Though the building had undergone previous alterations—for example, the Church Extension and Missionary Society had "removed deteriorated parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
s from the towers" in 1880—it did not undergo significant renovations until the early 1890s. That year the rose window on the front of the building was removed, "possibly because it had Christian motifs", and replaced with a large arched window, still in keeping with the Gothic style. The work was undertaken by the architectural firm of (Ernest) Schneider & (Henry) Herter, German immigrants who had worked on a number of other synagogues, including the Park East Synagogue
Park East Synagogue
Park East Synagogue is located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, in New York City.- History :Congregation Zichron Ephraim was established by Rabbi Bernard Drachman and Jonas Weil to promote Orthodox Judaism as an alternative to Reform Judaism popular on the Upper East Side.The architects were...
. In 1893 they fixed "serious structural problems", the consequence of neglected maintenance. The work included "stabiliz[ing] the front steps, add[ing] brick buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es to the sides of the church for lateral support, again in a Gothic style, and replac[ing] the original basement columns with six-inch cast iron columns." A later renovation replaced the wooden stairs from the main floor to the basement with iron ones.
Two Stars of David
Star of David
The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...
were added to the center of the facade. One is seen in the old photograph, over a palmette ornament at the top of the window arch. The other, mounted above the top of the gable, remains visible in the modern photograph (top). The unusual cupola-like structure on legs seen above the gable in the old photograph, now gone, was also added by the synagogue, as was the square structure it sat on. The panel with a large Hebrew inscription over the main doors was added in this period, before the older photograph. The decorations to the upper parts of the central section of the facade survived until at least 1974, as did the tracery to the square windows on the towers; this Gothic ornamentation was removed after it deteriorated.
Jacob Joseph era
Ash died in 1887, and the United Hebrew Orthodox Congregations (now called The Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations) began a search for a successor, to serve as rabbi of Beth Hamedrash Hagadol and as Chief RabbiChief 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 New York City. This search was opposed by Rabbi Henry Pereira Mendes
Henry Pereira Mendes
Henry Pereira Mendes was an American rabbi who was born in Birmingham, England and died in New York.-Family history and education:...
, of Congregation Shearith Israel
Congregation Shearith Israel
Congregation Shearith Israel, often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, is the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. It was established in 1654....
. Mendes felt that the money and energy would be better spent on supporting the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary of America is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.JTS operates five schools: Albert A...
(JTSA), which he had co-founded with Sabato Morais
Sabato Morais
Sabato Morais was an Italian-American rabbi, leader of Mikveh Israel Synagogue, pioneer of Italian Jewish Studies in America, and founder of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.- Early years :...
in 1886. In his view, training American-born rabbis at the Seminary would be a much more effective means of fighting the growing strength of the American Reform movement
Reform Judaism (North America)
Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of American Jews today. With an estimated 1.5 million members, it also accounts for the largest number of Jews affiliated with Progressive Judaism worldwide.- Reform Jewish theology :Rabbi W...
: these native English-speaking rabbis would appeal to the younger generation far more than imported, Yiddish-speaking rabbis.
The Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations rejected Morais's position, and offered the role to a number of "leading East European Orthodox rabbis", all of whom turned it down. They eventually narrowed the field to two candidates, Zvi Rabinovitch and Jacob Joseph
Jacob Joseph
Jacob Joseph served as chief rabbi of New York City's Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, a federation of Eastern European Jewish synagogues...
. Although Rabinovitch received "massive support" from "leading east European rabbis", the congregation hired Jacob Joseph as the first—and what would turn out to be only—Chief Rabbi of New York City.
Born in Kroz, Lithuania
Kražiai
Kražiai is a town in Lithuania, located in the Kelmė district municipality, between Varniai and Raseiniai , on the Kražantė river. The old town of Kražiai is an archeological and urban monument....
, Joseph had studied in the Volozhin yeshiva
Volozhin yeshiva
The Volozhin Yeshiva, also known as Etz Chaim Yeshiva, was a prestigious Lithuanian yeshiva located in the town of Volozhin, Russia, . It was founded by Rabbi Chaim Itzkovitz, a student of the famed Vilna Gaon, and trained several generations of scholars, rabbis, and leaders...
under Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin
Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin
Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, , also known as Reb Hirsch Leib Berlin, and commonly known by the acronym Netziv, was an Orthodox rabbi, dean of the Volozhin Yeshiva and author of several works of rabbinic literature in Lithuania.- Family :Berlin was born in Mir, Russia in 1816 into a family of Jewish...
; he was known there as Rav Yaakov Charif ("Rabbi Jacob Sharp") because of his sharp mind. He was one of the main disciples of Yisroel Salanter, and in 1883 had been appointed the maggid
Maggid
Maggid , sometimes spelled as magid, is a traditional Eastern European Jewish religious itinerant preacher, skilled as a narrator of Torah and religious stories. A preacher of the more scholarly sort was called a "darshan", and usually occupied the official position of rabbi...
(preacher) of Vilna
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
. Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, the Eldridge Street Synagogue, and 13 other Lower East Side synagogues had raised $2,500 (today $) towards the creation of a European style kehilla
Kehilla (modern)
The Kehilla is the local Jewish communal structure that was reinstated in the early twentieth century as a modern, secular, and religious sequel of the Qahal in Central and Eastern Europe, more particularly in Poland's Second Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukrainian People's Republic,...
to oversee New York's Orthodox community, and had imported Joseph in an attempt to achieve that (ultimately unfulfilled) goal. Joseph's salary was to be the then-substantial $2,500 per year, "with an additional $1000 for rent, furnishings, and utilities". Though Joseph's appointment was, in part, intended to bring prestige to the downtown Orthodox congregations, his primary task as Chief Rabbi was to bring order and regulation to New York's chaotic kosher slaughtering industry.
Joseph arrived in New York on July 7, 1888, and later that month preached his inaugural Sabbath sermon
Sermon
A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...
at Beth Hamedrash Hagadol. The speech attracted a huge crowd, with over 1,500 men crowded into the sanctuary, and thousands more outside. The police had to call extra reinforcements to control the throng, and to escort Joseph into the synagogue. Though he had been chosen, in part, for his "fabulous skills as an orator", his speaking style and sermons, which had been so beloved in Europe, did not impress New York audiences. According to Abraham Cahan
Abraham Cahan
Abraham "Abe" Cahan was a Lithuanian-born American socialist newspaper editor, novelist, and politician.-Early years:...
, "[S]ome of the very people who drank in his words thirstily in Vilna left the synagogue in the middle of his sermon here."
In October 1888, Joseph made his first significant statement as Chief Rabbi. He issued new regulations for New York's Jewish poultry business, in an attempt to bring it into accordance with Jewish law. The funds for supporting the agency supervising adherence to these regulations were to be raised through an increase in the price of meat and chicken. The affected vendors and consumers, however, refused to pay this levy. They likened it to the korobka, a tax on meat in Russia they despised, and "organized a mass meeting in January 1889 against 'the imported rabbi'". Joseph never succeeded in organizing the kosher meat business.
Joseph was also unable to stop those who came to hear him speak from desecrating the Sabbath, and his Yiddish sermons had no impact on the younger generation. In addition, he had to contend with a number of obstacles: he had no administrative experience or training, local Orthodox rabbis (particularly Joshua Seigel) and Jews outside his congregation did not accept his authority, and non-Orthodox Jews and groups criticized him. These problems were exacerbated by a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
suffered in 1895, which partially incapacitated him, followed by a relapse in 1900 which left him bedridden.
In the late 19th century, other synagogues in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
often served a particular constituency, typically Jews from a single town in Russia, Poland, or Romania. Beth Hamedrash Hagadol prided itself in welcoming and assisting all Jews, regardless of origins. The synagogue's 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...
Relief Committee—dedicated to providing funds and food to poor Jews so that they could properly celebrate the holiday of Passover—stated "In dispensing money and matzos to the poor, all are recognized as the children of one Father, and no lines are drawn between natives of different countries." By the turn of the 20th century, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol was distributing approximately $800 (today $) a year to the poor for Passover supplies, compared to a total synagogue income of around $5,000 (today $). This was on top of its average $15 (today $) weekly contributions to the poor, and those of individual congregational members of around $2,000 (today $) per annum. By 1901, annual revenues were around $6,000 (today $), and the congregation had 150 members.
During Joseph's tenure, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol helped found the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (the "Orthodox Union
Orthodox Union
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America , more popularly known as the Orthodox Union , is one of the oldest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. It is best known for its kosher food preparation supervision service...
"). In the spring of 1898, 50 lay officials from a number of Orthodox New York synagogues—including Congregation Ohab Zedek
Congregation Ohab Zedek
Ohab Zedek, sometimes abbreviated as OZ, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Manhattan, New York City noted for its lively, youthful congregation. Founded in 1873, it moved to it current location on West 95th Street in 1926...
, the Eldridge Street Synagogue
Eldridge Street Synagogue
The Eldridge Street Synagogue, built in 1887, is National Historic Landmark synagogue on Manhattan's Lower East Side.-History:The Eldridge Street Synagogue is the first synagogue erected in the United States by Eastern European Jews. One of the founders was Rabbi Eliahu the Blessed , formerly the...
, Congregation Shearith Israel and Beth Hamedrash Hagadol—convened to create the organization. By the 1980s the Orthodox Union had over 1,000 member congregations.
Joseph served as the synagogue's rabbi from his arrival in the United States in 1888 until his death in 1902 at age 62. During this time, his family slipped into poverty, as he did not receive his salary, which had been based on the anticipated taxes on kosher meats and vendors, and on matzos. After his death, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol secured the right to bury him in its cemetery by promising his widow $1,500 (today $) and a monthly $15 stipend; in turn, individuals offered the congregation large sums—$5,000 (today $) in one case—for the right to be buried near him. His funeral was attended by up to 100,000 mourners, "clouded by the guilt-driven attempt of New York's Orthodox Jews to honor him for the last time, as partial compensation for the way they treated him during his life."
Post-Joseph era
Union of Orthodox Rabbis
The Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada also known as the Agudath Harabonim , and sometimes as the UOR, was established in 1901 in the United States and is among the oldest organizations of Orthodox rabbis which could be described as having a Haredi worldview...
and a strong supporter of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , or Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University, located in Washington Heights, New York. It is named after Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, who died the year it was founded, 1896...
. Jaffe, who was born near Vilna
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, had, like Joseph, studied at the Volozhin yeshiva, and had received his rabbinic ordination from Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin and Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor
Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor
Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor was a Russian rabbi, Posek and Talmudic sage of the 19th century.- Early struggles :...
. The author of several books of religious commentary, Jaffe was an influential rabbi on the Lower East Side, in part because of his authority over kosher supervision
Hechsher
A hechsher is the special certification marking found on the packages of products that have been certified as kosher . In Halakha , the dietary laws of kashrut specify food items that may be eaten and others that are prohibited as set out in the commandments of the Torah...
of New York's butcher stores and slaughterhouse
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
s. He was also a strong anti-Zionist
Anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionistic views or opposition to the state of Israel. The term is used to describe various religious, moral and political points of view in opposition to these, but their diversity of motivation and expression is sufficiently different that "anti-Zionism" cannot be...
and "rejoiced when Herzl died".
Harry Fischel
Harry Fischel
Harry Fischel was an American businessman and philanthropist based in New York City at the turn of the 20th century.Fischel was one of the leading pioneers in the growth of American Judaism, in general, and in American Jewish Orthodoxy, in particular, particularly in the dynamic precedent-setting...
was the congregation's Vice President until 1902; there he first met and eventually attended the Bar Mitzvah of his future son-in-law, Herbert S. Goldstein
Herbert S. Goldstein
Herbert S. Goldstein, , was a prominent American rabbi and Jewish leader.He was the only person in history to have been elected president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the Rabbinical Council of America , and the Synagogue Council of America.Globally, he fought for the...
. Goldstein, who was ordained by Jaffe at the JTSA, founded the Institutional Synagogue in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. He is the only person to have been president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
Orthodox Union
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America , more popularly known as the Orthodox Union , is one of the oldest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. It is best known for its kosher food preparation supervision service...
, the Rabbinical Council of America
Rabbinical Council of America
The Rabbinical Council of America is one of the world's largest organizations of Orthodox rabbis; it is affiliated with The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, more commonly known as the Orthodox Union, or OU...
(first presidium), and the Synagogue Council of America
Synagogue Council of America
The Synagogue Council of America was an organization of American Jewish synagogue associations, founded in 1926, including :*The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America *The Rabbinical Council of America...
. It was in response to an April 1929 telegram from Goldstein, asking if Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
believed in God, that Einstein stated, "I believe in Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza
Baruch de Spinoza and later Benedict de Spinoza was a Dutch Jewish philosopher. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until years after his death...
's God, who reveals himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and actions of human beings."
Beth Hamedrash Hagodol had 175 member families by 1908, and the synagogue's annual revenues were $10,000 (today $). In 1909, the synagogue was the site of a mass meeting to protest the 20th Central Conference of American Rabbis
Central Conference of American Rabbis
The Central Conference of American Rabbis , founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada, the CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world....
, described as "the malicious misrepresentation of Judaism by the so-called reformed rabbis in conference in this city", and in 1913 the synagogue was the site of a "historic mass meeting" to raise funds for the first Young Israel synagogue, at which Jacob Schiff
Jacob Schiff
Jacob Henry Schiff, born Jakob Heinrich Schiff was a German-born Jewish American banker and philanthropist, who helped finance, among many other things, the Japanese military efforts against Tsarist Russia in the Russo-Japanese War.From his base on Wall Street, he was the foremost Jewish leader...
was the guest speaker. Membership had fallen to 110 families by 1919.
Dr. Benjamin Fleischer, a noted orator, was elected rabbi of Beth Hamedrash Hagadol in September 1924. While serving as Beth Hamedrash Hagadol's rabbi he published his 1938 philosophical work Revaluation. Miscellaneous essays, lectures and discourses on Jewish religious philosophy, ethics and history and his 1941 military history From Dan To Megiddo. In May 1939, he and two other rabbis (and a fourth rabbi as secretary) formed the first permanent beth din
Beth din
A beth din, bet din, beit din or beis din is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel...
(court of Jewish law) in the U.S.
In the early-to-mid-20th century the congregation's financial footing was still not sound; though the Norfolk Street building had been purchased in 1885 for $45,000 (and $10,000 in alterations and repairs), in 1921 it still owed $40,000 (today $) on the mortgage. Additional costs were incurred by work done on the building; two years earlier, architect George Dress had rearranged the toilet facilities, in 1934 architect Philip Bardes designed a small brick extension at the building's south-east corner, and in the 1930s or 1940s the walls and four of the five spandrel
Spandrel
A spandrel, less often spandril or splaundrel, is the space between two arches or between an arch and a rectangular enclosure....
s in the sanctuary interior were painted with colorful "Eastern European-inspired" pictures and murals of Jerusalem and "Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
landscapes and Biblical
Tanakh
The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
scenes". At the end of December 1946, then-president Abraham Greenwald stated that unless $35,000 (today $) were immediately raised for the repair of the building, it would have to be demolished.
Ephraim Oshry
Ephraim Oshry
Ephraim Oshry , author of The Annihilation of Lithuanian Jewry, was one of the few European rabbis and poseks to survive the Holocaust....
, noted 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...
scholar and religious leader in the Kovno Ghetto
Kaunas Ghetto
The Kovno ghetto was a ghetto established by Nazi Germany to hold the Lithuanian Jews of Kaunas during the Holocaust. At its peak, the Ghetto held 40,000 people, most of whom were later sent to concentration and extermination camps, or were shot at the Ninth Fort...
, and one of the few European Jewish legal decisors
Posek
Posek is the term in Jewish law for "decider"—a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive or in those situations where no halakhic precedent exists....
to survive The Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
, became the synagogue's rabbi in 1952, a post he retained for over 50 years. During the Holocaust the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
had made him the custodian of a warehouse that stored Jewish books intended for an exhibit of "artifacts of the extinct Jewish race". He used the books to help him write responsa
Responsa
Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...
, answering questions asked of him regarding how Jews could live their lives in accordance with Jewish law
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
under the extreme conditions imposed by the Nazis. He also ran "secret nightly worship services", and helped Jews bake matzos for Passover, under threat of death if discovered. After the war he founded 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...
for Jewish orphans in Italy, and then another religious school in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, before moving to New York to take up the position of rabbi at Beth Hamedrash Hagadol. There, his Sunday afternoon lectures were so popular that the entire 1,200-seat sanctuary was filled, and the overflow had to sit on the stairs. While rabbi of Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, he founded another yeshiva in Monsey, New York
Monsey, New York
Monsey is a hamlet , in the Town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States located north of the state of New Jersey; east of Suffern; south of Airmont and west of Nanuet...
for gifted high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
aged boys.
The congregation's building was again threatened with demolition in 1967, but Oshry, possibly the first Lower East Side rabbi to recognize the value of landmark designation, was successful in having it designated a New York city landmark, thus saving it. At that time the congregation claimed 1,400 members.
In 1974, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The Commission was created in April 1965 by Mayor Robert F. Wagner following the destruction of Pennsylvania Station the previous year to make way for...
applied to have the building added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, and considered significant at the state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
level; on the application the building's condition was described as "excellent". The case was reviewed on June 19, 1974, and the site was deemed ineligible. The building was repainted and repaired in 1977, but in subsequent years deteriorated and suffered damage.
Late 1990s to present
In the summer of 1997, a storm blew out the main two-story window at the front of the building, and the window's wooden frame was rotten, cracked and could not be saved. The window remained unrepaired which left the sanctuary open to the elements for a month before the congregation, down to approximately 100 members, asked for assistance. The congregants had, by then, long held services in a smaller room, using the sanctuary only on the High Holidays. The New York Landmarks Conservancy's Endangered Buildings fund gave $2,500 for a temporary metal window, and assisted in getting approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission for the work required to repair the damage, but the congregation did not have the $10,000 required to pay for it. Beth Hamedrash Hagadol received an additional $2,000 from the New York Landmarks Conservancy's Sacred Sites program in 1998 for a conditions survey. In 1999 a second application for National Historical designation was made, this time successful; the building was deemed significant at the local level, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 30.The congregation raised $40,000 in 2000 for emergency repairs, and was awarded a $230,000 grant by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation operates :*168 state parks*35 state historic sites*76 developed beaches*53 water recreational facilities*27 golf courses*39 full service cottages*818 cabins...
for restoration work, including roof repair, but had not been able to raise the matching funds required to receive the grant. On December 6, 2001, a fire and subsequent fire-fighting efforts severely damaged the roof, ceiling, mural paintings and decorative plasterwork.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization that was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities, including the publication of Preservation...
designated the building an endangered historic site in 2003, the only synagogue on the list. It still retained a number of significant architectural features, including "the ornate ark and pulpit, central bimah (reader's platform) with etched glass lamps, cantilevered balconies, Gothic vaulted ceiling, and colorful wall paintings"; the lighting included "converted gas fixtures
Gas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
". Features retained from the original construction included Gothic Revival style woodwork and cast-iron railing that follows the lot line, and the original wooden pew
Pew
A pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, or sometimes in a courtroom.-Overview:Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the Protestant Reformation...
s. That same year Oshry died. His son-in-law, Rabbi Mendl Greenbaum—who Oshry had designated as his successor—succeeded him.
By 2006, $1 million of an estimated required $3.5 million had been raised for repairs to the structure. However, as of October 2007 it was still mostly closed to the public (as its damaged interior was considered a hazard for visitors), and its membership had dwindled to around 15. , the synagogue sat "padlocked and empty", with holes in the roof and plaster falling from the ceiling. Until it was closed, it was "the home of the oldest Orthodox congregation continuously housed in a single location in New York".
, the Lower East Side Conservancy
Lower East Side Conservancy
The Lower East Side Conservancy, formally the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy, is an historic preservation organization with the mission of promoting and preserving Jewish culture on Manhattan's Lower East Side....
was trying to raise an estimate $4.5 million for repairs, with the intent of turning the building into an educational center. It was granted $215,000 by the United States Department of Education
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
and was promised an equal amount by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation was formed in July 2002, after the September 11 attacks to plan the reconstruction of Lower Manhattan and distribute nearly $10 billion in federal funds aimed at rebuilding downtown Manhattan....
. Several years earlier the Conservancy had also been promised a total of $980,000 from New York State, the City Council, Mayor
Mayor of New York City
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
, and the Manhattan Borough President
Borough president
Borough President is an elective office in each of the five boroughs of New York City.-Reasons for establishment:...
's office, but had yet to receive most of the city funds. The group was also trying to raise $400,000 from private donors for the first phase of the renovation, which would secure the structure and roof. Led by Greenbaum, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, the oldest Orthodox Russian Jewish congregation in the United States, was down to around 20 regularly attending members, and was sharing facilities with a congregation on Henry Street
Henry Street (Manhattan)
Henry Street is a street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City that runs in a northeasterly direction one-way eastbound from Oliver Street in the south and west, passing underneath the Manhattan Bridge and on to Grand Street in the north and east. The street is named for Henry...
.
External links
- Exterior views, 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...
, August 23, 1862, p. 6., 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...
, July 4, 1904, p. 5., 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...
, September 17, 1906, p. 9., 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...
, October 10, 1921, p. 2.