Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism . Theologically , it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah , both Written and Oral , as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully transmitted ever since.
275-532: The Eldridge Street Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue at 12–16 Eldridge Street in the Chinatown and Lower East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City . Built in 1887 for Congregation Kahal Adath Jeshurun , the synagogue is one of the first erected in the U.S. by Eastern European Jews . The congregation, officially known as Kahal Adath Jeshurun with Anshe Lubz, still owns
550-619: A Gothic Revival structure built in 1850 as the Norfolk Street Baptist Church 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,
825-645: A personal God in his opening six articles. The six concern God's status as the sole creator, his oneness, his impalpability, that he is first and last, that God alone, and no other being, may be worshipped, and that he is omniscient. The supremacy of the God of Israel is even applied to non-Jews. According to most rabbinic opinions, non-Jews are banned from the worship of other deities. However, they are allowed to " associate " lower divine beings with their faith in God (mostly to allow contact with Christians , accepting that they were not idolaters with whom business dealings and
1100-529: A reform of Jewish education , abolition of coercion in matters of conscience , and other modernizing measures. They bypassed rabbinic approval and set themselves, at least implicitly, as a rival intellectual elite. A bitter struggle ensued. Reacting to Mendelssohn's assertion that freedom of conscience must replace communal censure, Rabbi Cohen of Hamburg commented: The very foundation of the Law and commandments rests on coercion, enabling to force obedience and punish
1375-530: A three-alarm fire broke out in the unused synagogue after what an eyewitness called a "big explosion". The fire was brought under control at around midnight by approximately 150 firefighters —who, during the fire, allowed Rabbi Yehuda Oshry, the son of Ephraim Oshry, to rescue the Torah scrolls —but not before it "largely destroyed" the structure. A day later, the fire was said to seem "suspicious" due to surveillance video that showed three young people running from
1650-640: A "suspicious" three-alarm fire on May 14, 2017. Beth Hamedrash Hagodol was founded by Eastern European 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
1925-587: 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
2200-566: A completely new design. They ultimately received 12 proposals. In 2009, Kiki Smith and Deborah Gans were hired to design a stained-glass rose window. The window was installed in October 2010; Amy Milford said the new window was inspired by the sanctuary and also "completes it". In the four years after the synagogue's renovation, the Museum at Eldridge Street had attracted 100,000 visitors, and there were 35,000 visitors in 2011 alone. In addition,
2475-428: A consensus on the adaptation of halakha . Their initiative was thwarted by a combination of radical, secularist maskilim and leading conservative rabbis. This was highlighted during the battle that erupted after Moshe Leib Lilienblum 's 1868 call for a reconsideration of Talmudic strictures. Reines, Pines and their associates gradually formed the nucleus of Religious Zionism , while their conservative opponents adopted
2750-552: A convenience. German Orthodox leader Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch referred to "the conviction commonly designated as Orthodox Judaism"; in 1882, when Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer became convinced that the public understood that his philosophy and Liberal Judaism were radically different, he removed the word Orthodox from the name of his Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary . By the 1920s, the term had become common and accepted even in Eastern Europe. Orthodoxy perceives itself as
3025-519: A creed, although the 13 principles expounded by Maimonides in his 1160s Commentary on the Mishna , remained the most widely accepted. Various points were contested by many of Maimonides' contemporaries and later sages, such as the exact formulation and the status of disbelievers (either misinformed or expelled heretics). Similarly, Albo listed only three fundamentals, and did not regard the Messiah as
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#17327727971883300-491: A decade; the lifting of formal discrimination also strongly affected the Jews of independent Poland , Lithuania and other states. In the 1930s, it was estimated that no more than 20%–33% of Poland's Jews, the last stronghold of traditionalism where many were still living in rural and culturally-secluded communities, could be considered strictly observant. Only upon having become an embattled (though still quite large) minority, did
3575-413: A high expense for the time. For comparison, Beth Hamedrash Hagodol's building had cost that congregation $ 55,000 in 1885. Kahal Adath Jeshurun's Eldridge Street Synagogue was dedicated on September 4, 1887. The congregation sent out thousands of invitations for the opening, and the crowds reportedly overflowed onto the street. The opening ceremony was widely reported in both secular and religious media, but
3850-477: 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
4125-592: A key tenet. Many who objected argued that the entire corpus of the Torah and the sayings of ancient sages were of canonical stature, rather than a few selected points. In later centuries, the 13 Principles became considered universally binding and cardinal by Orthodox authorities. During the Middle Ages, two systems of thought competed for primacy. The rationalist-philosophic school endeavored to present all commandments as serving higher moral and ethical purposes, while
4400-463: A large fortune, rose to the wardens' board. Breisach died soon after, and the Pressburg community became dominated by the conservatives. Sofer also possessed a strong base in the form of his yeshiva , the world's largest at the time, with hundreds of students. And crucially, the large and privileged Hungarian nobility blocked most imperial reforms in the backward country, including those relevant to
4675-532: A later book, Wolfe recalled that he and several other people had established the Synagogue Rescue Project in the 1970s to stabilize the building and turn the lights and heat back on. The group applied for the building to be designated a New York City landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places , and they began raising money to stabilize the main sanctuary. The landmark designations were ultimately granted in 1980. Wolfe formed
4950-617: A less stark one emerged in Eastern Europe during the Interwar period . Among the Jews of the Muslim lands , similar processes on a large scale began only around the 1970s, after they immigrated to Israel. Orthodoxy is often described as extremely conservative, ossifying a once-dynamic tradition due to the fear of legitimizing change. While this was sometimes true, its defining feature was not forbidding change and "freezing" Jewish heritage, but rather
5225-544: A member could buy permanent rights to a seat. The pews were sometimes resold for a considerable profit or bequeathed. Pews further back were cheaper, and the majority of worshippers paid reduced dues. By 1898, four out of every five worshippers paid less than $ 40 a year, and the poorest members were even allowed to pay nothing. Some worshippers rented their pews, sometimes paying in installments. Worshippers who rented pews could not vote on certain issues, and only pew owners could be elected to some lay leadership positions until 1913,
5500-584: A more equal and secularized society. The Jews were one of the groups affected: excommunication was banned, and rabbinic courts lost almost all their jurisdiction. The state, especially following the French Revolution , was more and more inclined to tolerate Jews as a religious sect, but not as an autonomous entity, and sought to reform and integrate them as "useful subjects". Jewish emancipation and equal rights were discussed. The Christian (and especially Protestant ) separation of "religious" and "secular"
5775-534: 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 facade (west, on Norfolk Street) is " stuccoed and scored to simulate smooth-faced ashlar ", though
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#17327727971886050-581: A notable change, for the Orthodox had to adapt to modern society no less than anyone else; they developed novel, sometimes radical, means of action and modes of thought. "Orthodoxization" was a contingent process, drawing from local circumstances and dependent on the threat sensed by its proponents: a sharply-delineated Orthodox identity appeared in Central Europe, in Germany and Hungary, by the 1860s;
6325-487: 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 buttresses 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
6600-504: A partition. By 2005, that number went down to one, and ceased to exist when that synagogue resigned from the OU in 2015 after understanding that the OU was planning to expel it. In the postwar era, the vague traditional coalition came to a definite end. During and after the Holocaust , a new wave of strictly observant refugees arrived from Eastern and Central Europe. They typically regarded
6875-479: A partnership with several other men associated with Kahal Adath Jeshurun, including the judge Paul P. E. Bookson (who was the congregation's president) and the lawyer Steven L. Schwarcz. These men created Friends of the Eldridge Street Synagogue in 1978. They received around $ 100,000 from several organizations, including a $ 38,000 matching-funds grant from the U.S. government and $ 15,000 from
7150-680: A permit for removal of unsafe parts of the building, but required that other parts be evaluated for possible preservation. The LPC's engineers would monitor the demolition. Parts of the damaged synagogue were being demolished by early 2018. After the fire, the Chinese-American Planning Council and the Gotham Organization originally planned to incorporate the remnants of the synagogue building into their 30-story residential development. However, in June 2019,
7425-512: A polemic instigated by Hirsch. Lesser became a rallying point for conservative elements, concerned mainly with public standards of observance in critical fields such as marriage. A broad non-Reform, relatively traditional camp slowly coalesced as the minority within American Jewry, serving the nonobservant. Their synagogues liberalized their approach: omission of piyyutim from the liturgy; English-language sermons; secular education for
7700-446: A policy that favored wealthier members. Although many Eastern European Jewish New Yorkers at the time worked six-day weeks, they were required to observe Shabbat as a prerequisite for membership. In conformance with Orthodox tradition, the congregational leaders agreed to not play the organ during services, and men and women sat on different levels and did not sing together. If these rules were violated, congregants could be refunded twice
7975-531: A rabbi. Kahal Adath Jeshurun had no regular rabbi for about a year after the synagogue building opened. The congregation was part of the Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations (AAOHC), which was looking for a chief rabbi who would serve all of these congregations. Jacob Joseph was hired as the chief rabbi in 1888, but the various members of the AAOHC were unable to agree on key values even after he
8250-525: A rabbinic ordination and limited knowledge would have marked him as a heretic by European standards . In 1845 he introduced the words "Orthodox" and "Orthodoxy" into the American Jewish discourse, explicitly to oppose Reform. Leeser was a staunch proponent of Zecharias Frankel , whom he considered the "leader of the Orthodox party". at a time when Positive-Historical and Orthodox positions were hardly distinguishable. In 1861, Leeser defended Frankel in
8525-680: A rabbinical seminary including secular studies. The progressives viewed him as too conservative. After four years of constant strife, he lost faith in the possibility of reuniting the Jewish public. In 1851, a group in Frankfurt am Main that opposed the Reform character of the Jewish community turned to Hirsch. He led them for the remainder of his life, finding Frankfurt a hospitable site for his unique ideology, which amalgamated acculturation, dogmatic theology, thorough observance, and strict secession from
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8800-497: 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 Hagodol 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
9075-437: A request that their application be heard by an advisory panel. Prior to the fire, Rabbi Mendel Greenbaum had been in discussion with groups such as the Chinese-American Planning Council and the Gotham Organization about selling the building's air rights in connection with the potential development of a neighboring parcel, to help pay for the possible renovation and preservation of the synagogue. The LPC responded on July 11 with
9350-417: A second congregation associated with their home region. Congregants paid a fee for membership, which included a pew, the right to vote on congregational matters, and other privileges including burial rites. Men older than 50 had to pay a higher fee, but the fee was waived completely for men over 60, and members' sons could also join for free. Women could not apply membership on their own merits until 1907, when
9625-435: A small brick extension at the building's south-east corner, and in the 1930s or 1940s the walls and four of the five spandrels 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 $ 550,000) were immediately raised for
9900-555: 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,
10175-449: A strict observance of Jewish Law, or halakha , which is to be interpreted and determined only according to traditional methods and in adherence to the continuum of received precedent through the ages. It regards the entire halakhic system as ultimately grounded in immutable revelation, essentially beyond external and historical influence. More than any theoretical issue, obeying the dietary , purity , ethical and other laws of halakha
10450-485: A symbol of Reform in Germany since 1818, so much that Hildesheimer seminarians had to sign a declaration that they would never serve in a synagogue that introduced one – was accepted with little qualm by the French Consistoire in 1856, as part of a series of synagogue regulations passed by Chief Rabbi Salomon Ulmann . Even Rabbi Solomon Klein of Colmar , the leader of Alsatian conservatives who partook in
10725-496: A united observant pro-Zionist front would be formed, were dashed between 1897 and 1899, as both the Eastern European nationalist intellectuals and Theodor Herzl himself revealed an uncompromising secularist agenda, forcing traditionalist leaders to pick sides. In 1900, the anti-Zionist pamphlet Or la-Yesharim , endorsed by many Russian and Polish rabbis, largely demarcated the lines between the proto- Haredi majority and
11000-421: A year. German Neo-Orthodoxy, in the meantime, developed a keen interest in the traditional Jewish masses of Russia and Poland; if at the past they were considered primitive, a disillusionment with emancipation and enlightenment made many young assimilated German Orthodox youth embark on journeys to East European yeshivot , in search of authenticity. The German secessionists already possessed a platform of their own,
11275-545: Is clad in granite and brick. Above the basement, the facade is made of brown or buff-colored brick with terracotta details. String courses run horizontally across the facade above the first and second stories. The west elevation is also divided into three vertical bays , with two square staircase towers on either side of a recessed central bay. Elements, such as windows and doors, are grouped in quantities that correspond to significant numbers in Judaism, such as 3 (representing
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11550-466: Is rectangular and measures 53 by 79 feet (16 by 24 m) across, with windows facing alleys to the north and south. When the synagogue was completed, all the surrounding structures were tenement houses, so its design was intended to contrast with that of the surrounding buildings. The site is historically part of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, but it has also been part of Chinatown since
11825-473: Is the hallmark of Orthodoxy. Practicing members are easily distinguishable by their lifestyle, refraining from doing numerous routine actions on the Sabbath and holidays, consuming only kosher food, praying thrice a day, studying the Torah often, donning head covering and tassels for men and modest clothing for women, and so forth. Other key doctrines include belief in a future bodily resurrection of
12100-437: 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 $ 3.40). Beth Hamedrash was the prototypical American synagogue for early immigrant Eastern European Jews , who began entering
12375-1029: 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
12650-578: The Czar 's government all had little influence. School modernization under Max Lilienthal , the growth of rabbinical seminaries and the mandating to appoint clerks known as "official rabbis" all had little impact. Communal autonomy and the rabbinic courts' jurisdiction were abolished in 1844, but economic and social seclusion remained, ensuring the de facto authority of Jewish institutions and traditions. In 1880, only 21,308 Jewish pupils attended government schools, out of some 5 million Jews; In 1897, 97% of
12925-643: The Freie Vereinigung für die Interessen des Orthodoxen Judentums , founded by Samson Raphael Hirsch in 1885. In 1912, two German FVIOJ leaders, Isaac Breuer and Jacob Rosenheim , managed to organize a meeting of 300 seceding Mizrahi, proto- Haredi and secessionist Neo-Orthodox delegate in Katowice , creating the Agudath Israel party. While the Germans were a tiny minority in comparison to
13200-545: The Graf-Wellhausen hypothesis formed the classical Orthodox response to Higher Criticism. Hoffman declared that for him, the unity of the Pentateuch was a given, regardless of research. Hirsch often lambasted Hoffman for contextualizing rabbinic literature. All of them stressed the importance of dogmatic adherence to Torah min ha-Shamayim , which led them to conflict with Rabbi Zecharias Frankel , Chancellor of
13475-501: The Immigration Act of 1924 restricted new immigration. The main sanctuary was closed completely in 1954, and the remaining congregants met in the basement. Preservationists began trying to save the building in the 1970s and stabilized it in the early 1980s. The Eldridge Street Project raised money for a reconstruction of the synagogue, which was completed in 2007. The synagogue was designed by Peter and Francis William Herter in
13750-493: The Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau . Unlike the Reform camp, Frankel insisted on strict observance and displayed great reverence towards tradition. But though appreciated by conservatives, his practice of Wissenschaft left him suspect to Hirsch and Hildesheimer. They demanded again and again that he state his beliefs concerning the nature of revelation. In 1859, Frankel published a critical study of
14025-553: The Jewish dietary laws , and every member personally oversaw the baking of his matzos 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
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#173277279718814300-573: The Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan , New York City . It was the first Eastern European congregation founded in New York City and the oldest Russian Jewish Orthodox congregation in the United States. Founded in 1852 by Rabbi Abraham Joseph Ash as Beth Hamedrash , the congregation split in 1859, with the rabbi and most of the members renaming their congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagodol . The congregation's president and
14575-504: The Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan . This influx included hundreds of thousands of Yiddish -speaking Eastern European Jews . The Eldridge Street Synagogue is one of the first synagogues erected in the United States by Eastern European Jews. Prior to its construction, many Jews in the neighborhood rented other spaces and used them as makeshift synagogues. Even the neighborhood's largest Jewish congregations were housed in converted Christian churches. The Eldridge Street Synagogue
14850-555: The Mishnah (a compendium of Oral Torah traditions) and the Ein Yaakov (a collection of Aggadah folklore). Membership dwindled in the 1920s as the wealthy members moved to other areas. The Immigration Act of 1924 , which imposed strict quotas on immigration, further limited the number of new arrivals. The crowds declined from over a thousand to a few hundred. The ladies' auxiliary continued to organize events, hoping to reduce
15125-436: The Mishnah , and added that all commandments classified as " Law given to Moses at Sinai " were merely customs (he broadened Asher ben Jehiel 's opinion). Hirsch and Hildesheimer seized the opportunity and launched a public campaign against him, accusing him of heresy. Concerned that public opinion regarded both neo-Orthodoxy and Frankel's "Positive-Historical School" centered at Breslau as similarly observant and traditionalist,
15400-483: The Moorish Revival style, with Gothic Revival and Romanesque Revival elements spread throughout the building. The Eldridge Street facade includes a rose window , two stair towers, and arched openings. There is another rose window in the rear and finials on the rooftops. The main and largest space is the sanctuary, which includes two levels of seating, a Torah ark , and a central bimah . The lower level
15675-587: The Sages . The more radical among the Wissenschaft rabbis, unwilling to limit critical analysis or its practical application, coalesced around Rabbi Abraham Geiger to establish Reform Judaism . Between 1844 and 1846, Geiger organized three rabbinical synods in Braunschweig , Frankfurt and Breslau , to determine how to refashion Judaism for present times. The Reform conferences were met with uproar by
15950-572: The UJA-Federation of New York . The group had to raise the rest of the matching funds by the beginning of January 1984, and they had raised $ 10,000 from the local community by November 1983. In addition, they received $ 34,000 from two funds operated by the New York Landmarks Conservancy . Other events, such as tours and dinners, were hosted to raise money for the restoration. Consolidated Edison , which had turned off
16225-491: The historical-critical study of scripture and the dominant philosophies of the day, especially Kant and Hegel . Influenced by the critical " Science of Judaism " ( Wissenschaft des Judentums ) pioneered by Leopold Zunz , and often in emulation of the Liberal Protestant milieu, they reexamined and undermined beliefs held as sacred in traditional circles, especially the notion of an unbroken chain from Sinai to
16500-564: The synagogue wished to appeal to acculturated Jews with a modernized ritual. They openly defied not just the local rabbinic court that ordered them to desist, but published learned tracts that castigated the entire rabbinical elite as hypocritical and obscurant . The moral threat they posed to rabbinic authority, as well as halakhic issues such as having a gentile play an organ on the Sabbath, were combined with theological issues. The Temple's revised prayer book omitted or rephrased petitions for
16775-479: The three patriarchs ), 4 (the four matriarchs ), 5 (the five books of Moses ), and 12 (the Twelve Tribes of Israel ). According to the writer Annie Polland, the elaborate details of the synagogue's facade may have been intended to express the idea that Orthodox Jews could both assimilate into American culture and retain their Orthodox identity. Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism therefore advocates
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#173277279718817050-580: 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 Hagodol re-hired Ash to fill the vacant role of congregational rabbi at a salary of $ 25 per month (or $ 300—today $ 10,000—per year). The following year
17325-504: The "then-staggering sum of five thousand dollars per annum" (today $ 170,000). Beth Hamedrash Hagodol 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,
17600-455: The "zealots" were shocked by the demise of the traditional world into which they had been born. Like Moses Sofer a generation before them, these Orthodox émigrés moved east, to a pre-modern environment that they were determined to safeguard. Lichtenstein ruled out any compromise with modernity, insisting on maintaining Yiddish and traditional dress. They considered the Neologs as already beyond
17875-530: The "zealots"' cause, dismissed their legal arguments. In 1865, the ultra-Orthodox convened in Nagymihály and issued a ban on various synagogue reforms, intended not against the Neologs but against developments in the Orthodox camp, especially after Samuel Sofer violated his father's expressed ban and instituted vernacular sermons in Pressburg. Schick, the country's most prominent decisor, and other leading rabbis refused to sign, though they did not publicly oppose
18150-409: The 1818–1821 Hamburg Temple dispute , with its concerted backlash against Reform and the emergence of a self-aware conservative ideology, marks the beginning of Orthodox Judaism. The leader and organizer of the Orthodox camp during the dispute, and the most influential figure in early Orthodoxy, was Rabbi Moses Sofer of Pressburg , Hungary . Historian Jacob Katz regarded him as the first to grasp
18425-577: The 1840s, secularization and acculturation turned Neo-Orthodoxy into the strict right-wing of German Jewry. It was fully articulated by Bernays' mid-century disciples Samson Raphael Hirsch and Azriel Hildesheimer . Hirsch, a Hamburg native who was ten during the Temple dispute, combined Orthodox dogmatism and militancy against rival interpretations of Judaism, granting leniency on many cultural issues and embraced German culture. The novel mixture termed Neo-Orthodoxy spread. While insisting on strict observance,
18700-603: The 1880s, many other Jewish congregations had much larger buildings, while Beth Hamedrash was still using its converted chapel at 78 Allen Street. Documents indicate that Congregation Machsike Torah Sinier paid $ 19,000 for Beth Hamedrash's Allen Street building in May 1886. The congregation also merged with Holkhe Yosher Vizaner (whose name is Hebrew for "Those Who Walk in Righteousness") by 1886. Holkhe Yosher Vizaner had largely been composed of people from Wiżajny (Vizan), while
18975-598: The 1900s and 1910s, since they could more easily access the synagogue using public transit. The congregation's leadership first considered constructing a second branch uptown in 1903 and 1907 to accommodate members who could not travel downtown on Shabbat (the Jewish day of rest). Some worshippers formed an offshoot synagogue uptown in 1909, and Congregation Anshe Lubz was merged into Kahal Adath Jeshurun that year. Kahal Adath Jeshurun took in Anshe Lubz's 125-member congregation, and it inherited two burial plots and $ 3,500 from
19250-707: The 5.2 million Jews in the Pale of Settlement and Congress Poland spoke Yiddish their mother tongue, and only 26% were literate in Russian. Though the Eastern European Haskalah challenged the traditional establishment, it flourished from the 1820s until the 1890s. Unlike its western counterpart, it thrived despite ongoing acculturation. The leading rabbis maintained the concept of communal unity: in 1882, when an Orthodox party in Galicia appealed for
19525-468: 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 Hagodol provided an atmosphere that
19800-502: The Breslau School, who don silk gloves at their work, and Geiger who wields a sledgehammer . During the 1840s in Germany, as traditionalists became a clear minority, some Orthodox rabbis, such as Salomo Eger of Posen , urged the adoption of Moses Sofer 's position and to anathemize the principally nonobservant. Eating, worshipping or marrying with them were to be banned. Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger , whose journal Treue Zionswächter
20075-614: The Church Extension and Missionary Society had "removed deteriorated parapets 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
20350-603: 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 Hagodol
20625-538: The Eastern Europeans, their modern education made them a prominent elite in the new organization, which strove to provide a comprehensive response to world Jewry's challenges in a strictly observant spirit. The Agudah immediately formed its Council of Torah Sages as supreme rabbinic leadership body. Many ultra-traditionalist elements in Eastern Europe, like the Belz and Lubavitch Hasidim, refused to join, viewing
20900-621: The Eldridge Street Project $ 1 million for the synagogue's restoration in 2000, after the organization had raised $ 4.5 million for renovation and museum programs. The New York Civil Liberties Union expressed concerns that the grant violated the First Amendment to the United States Constitution , which required the separation of church and state ; however, city officials and Gratz said
21175-422: The Eldridge Street Project sponsored tours of the partially restored sanctuary, hosted presentations and exhibits, and launched programs for local students. Between 1991 and 1993, the organization recorded 6,000 visitors on its tours. The New York Landmarks Conservancy gave the synagogue a $ 10,000 grant for restoration in 1994, which the Eldridge Street Project's director, Amy Waterman, said would be used to replace
21450-421: The Eldridge Street Synagogue had been a popular wedding site in its heyday, after 1927, the synagogue did not host another wedding for several decades. Yudelovitch died in 1930, and Idel Idelson replaced him as the rabbi. Even as other synagogues in the area were acquired by Christian congregations in the 1930s, the Eldridge Street Synagogue remained a Jewish house of worship. The historian Gerard Wolfe writes that
21725-464: The Frankfurt community, and decreed that all Orthodox should do the same. However, unlike the heterogeneous congregations of Hungary, which often consisted of recent immigrants, Frankfurt and most German communities were close-knit. The majority of Hirsch's congregants enlisted Rabbi Seligman Baer Bamberger , who was older and more conservative. Bamberger was concerned with the principal of unity among
22000-538: The Hamburg community by accommodating their aesthetic demands (but not theological ones, raised by only a learned few). The combination of religious conservatism and modernity in everything else was emulated elsewhere, earning the label " Neo-Orthodoxy ". Bernays and his like-minded followers, such as Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger , fully accepted the platform of the moderate Haskalah , taking away its progressive edge. While old-style traditional life continued in Germany until
22275-599: The Herter brothers' design process, and the original drawings have been lost. Work on the building began the final week of September 1886. The congregation took out a $ 50,000 mortgage loan from the East River Savings Bank. Early plans for the building called for twin towers made of stone, but this was eliminated, likely due to monetary constraints. The synagogue also included stars of David and stained glass windows on its facade. The synagogue cost $ 91,907.61,
22550-603: The Hungarian ultra-Orthodox struggled to provide strong halakhic arguments. Michael Silber wrote: "These issues, even most of the religious reforms, fell into gray areas not easily treated within Halakha. It was often too flexible or ambiguous, at times silent, or worse yet, embarrassingly lenient." Schlesinger was forced to venture outside of normative law, into mystical writings and other fringe sources, to buttress his ideology. Most Hungarian Orthodox rabbis, while sympathetic to
22825-400: The Jews. Hungarian Jewry retained its pre-modern character well into the 19th century, allowing Sofer's disciples to establish a score of new yeshivas , at a time when these institutions were rapidly closing in the west, and a strong rabbinate to appoint them. A generation later, a self-aware Orthodoxy was well entrenched in the country. Hungarian Jewry gave rise both to Orthodoxy in general, in
23100-499: The LPC's engineers announced that the remnants of the south tower would have to be destroyed due to its structural instability. A worker died in October 2019 after part of the burned building collapsed. An investigation found that an engineer and a demolition firm, both hired by Beth Hamedrash Hagodol, had recommended the demolition of the whole building but that the DOB had refused to overrule
23375-471: The Lower East Side. Many of these buildings' facades contain decorations that are also used in the Eldridge Street Synagogue, such as horseshoe arches and Stars of David . The Herters were not Jewish and may have decided to use the Moorish style after seeing it in their native country of Germany. The foundations are made of stone and descend 10 feet (3.0 m) below ground, while the perimeter walls above
23650-632: 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
23925-445: The Middle Ages, Maimonides and his contemporaries reported that anthropomorphic conceptions of God were quite common in their time. Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Beth Hamedrash Hagodol ( Hebrew : בֵּית הַמִּדְרָש הַגָּדוֹל , lit. 'Great Study House') is an Orthodox Jewish congregation that for over 120 years was located in a historic building at 60–64 Norfolk Street between Grand and Broome Streets in
24200-553: The Mizrahi minority, and terminated dialogue; in 1911, when the 10th World Zionist Congress voted in favour of propagating non-religious cultural work and education, a large segment of the Mizrahi seceded and joined the anti-Zionists. In 1907, Eastern European proto- Haredi elements formed the Knesseth Israel party, a modern framework created in recognition of the deficiencies of existing institutions. It dissipated within
24475-506: 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 Hagodol purchased the building for $ 45,000 (today $ 1.5 million), and made alterations and repairs at a cost of $ 10,000 (today $ 340,000), but made no external modifications by
24750-529: The Orthodox need to tolerate the nonobservant majority: Many of their own congregants were far removed from strict practice. For example, he allowed congregants to drink wine poured by Sabbath desecrators, and to ignore other halakhic sanctions. Yet German neo-Orthodoxy could not legitimize nonobservance, and adopted a hierarchical approach, softer than traditional sanctions, but no less intent on differentiating sinners and righteous. Reform rabbis or lay leaders, considered ideological opponents, were castigated, while
25025-592: The Orthodox seceded from the Congress and appealed to Parliament in the name of religious freedom. This demonstrated the internalization of the new circumstances: Twenty years before, in 1851, Orthodox leader Meir Eisenstaedter petitioned the authorities to restore the old coercive powers of the communities. In 1871 the government recognized a separate Orthodox national committee. Communities that refused to join either side, labeled "Status Quo", were subject to Orthodox condemnation even when impeccably conservative. However,
25300-437: The Orthodox tolerated nonobservant Jews as long as they affiliated with the national committee: Adam Ferziger claimed that membership and loyalty, rather than beliefs and ritual behavior, emerged as the definitive manifestation of Jewish identity. The Hungarian schism was the most radical internal separation among the Jews of Europe. Hildesheimer returned to Germany soon after, disillusioned though not as pessimistic as Hirsch. He
25575-595: The Orthodox. Warden Hirsch Lehren of Amsterdam and Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger of Altona both organized anti-Reform manifestos, denouncing the new initiatives, signed by scores of rabbis from Europe and the Middle East. The tone of the signatories varied considerably along geographic lines: letters from traditional societies in Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire implored local leaders to petition
25850-502: The People Israel and dismissive of Hirsch, whom he regarded as unlearned and overly assimilated. He decreed that since the mother community was willing to finance Orthodox services and allow them religious freedom, secession was unwarranted. Eventually, less than 80 families from Hirsch's 300-strong congregation followed their rabbi. The vast majority of the 15%–20% of German Jews affiliated with Orthodox institutions cared little for
26125-535: The People of Israel like earlier heretical sects. Unlike most, if not all, rabbis in Central Europe, who had little choice but to compromise, Sofer enjoyed unique circumstances. He, too, had to tread carefully during the 1810s, tolerating a modernized synagogue in Pressburg and other innovations, and his yeshiva was nearly closed by warden Wolf Breisach. But in 1822, three poor (and therefore traditional) community members, whose deceased apostate brother bequeathed them
26400-463: 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
26675-510: The Seminary would be a much more effective means of fighting the growing strength of American Reform Judaism : these native English-speaking rabbis would appeal to the younger generation far more than imported, Yiddish-speaking ones. 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
26950-608: The Talmudic exegesis , which derived laws from the Torah 's text by employing hermeneutics , was binding d'Oraita . Geiger and others presented exegesis as an arbitrary, illogical process, and consequently defenders of tradition embraced Maimonides ' claim that the Sages merely buttressed already received laws with biblical citations, rather than actually deriving them. Jay Harris commented, "An insulated orthodox, or, rather, traditional rabbinate, feeling no pressing need to defend
27225-676: The UOR as overly Americanized. Typical of these was Rabbi Aaron Kotler , who established Lakewood Yeshiva in New Jersey in 1943. Alarmed by the American innovations, Kotler turned his institution into an enclave, around which a community slowly evolved. It was unlike his prewar yeshiva at Kletsk , Poland , whose students mingled with the rest of the population. Lakewood pioneered the homogeneous, voluntary and enclavist model of postwar Haredi communities, which were independent entities developing their own subculture. The new arrivals soon dominated
27500-640: 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 Hagodol and as Chief Rabbi 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
27775-478: 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
28050-410: 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
28325-422: The anticipated taxes on kosher meats and vendors, and on matzos . After his death, Beth Hamedrash Hagodol secured the right to bury him in its cemetery by promising his widow $ 1,500 (today $ 53,000) and a monthly $ 15 stipend; in turn, individuals offered the congregation large sums—$ 5,000 (today $ 176,000) in one case—for the right to be buried near him. His funeral was attended by up to 100,000 mourners, "clouded by
28600-473: 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. 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
28875-401: The area just before the fire broke out. The fire brought down the ceiling and walls of the synagogue, creating a 15-foot (4.6 m) pile of rubble. On May 17, three days after the fire, a 14-year-old boy was arrested and charged with setting the fire; the boy's two companions were questioned and released, although they are considered to be witnesses. The Fire Department's investigation into how
29150-491: The attributes of God in Judaism : one and indivisible, preceding all creation, which God alone brought into being, eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, absolutely incorporeal, and beyond human reason. This basis is evoked in many foundational texts, and is repeated often in daily prayers, such as in Judaism's creed-like Shema Yisrael : "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One." Maimonides delineated this understanding of
29425-494: The authorities and have them ban the movement. Signers from Central and Western Europe used terms commensurate with the liberal age. All were implored by the petitioners to be brief and accessible; complex halakhic arguments, intended to convince the rabbinic elite in past generations, were replaced by an appeal to the secularized masses. The struggle with Wissenschaft criticism shaped the Orthodox. For centuries, Ashkenazi rabbinic authorities espoused Nahmanides ' position that
29700-421: The basement to provide space for new mechanical systems. After the initial renovation was completed in 1991, work on the next phase stalled due to funding shortages. The sanctuary was empty, and many of the decorations had been temporarily removed or placed in storage. The organization also intended to install new mechanical and electrical systems, but this required another $ 6 million. Even when raising money,
29975-433: The building through the holes in the partially collapsed roof, and one of the interior stairways had completely collapsed. Murals in the sanctuary had been damaged by the rain with holes in the balcony. The facade was dirty due to accumulations of soot, and the interiors were dusty. There were scattered objects and decomposing Torahs throughout the synagogue. The remaining members of Kahal Adath Jeshurun lacked funding to repair
30250-521: The building to make way for a new residential development. In place of the synagogue, Greenbaum envisioned a 45,000 square feet (4,200 m ) condo building with room for a small synagogue on the ground floor, and possibly a kollel . This application was withdrawn—at least temporarily—in March 2013, but the group Friends of the Lower East Side described Beth Hamedrash Hagodol's status as " demolition by neglect ". On May 14, 2017, shortly after 7 p.m.,
30525-647: The castigation of Zecharias Frankel, allowed the instrument in his community. In England, Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler 's United Synagogue shared a similar approach: It was vehemently conservative in principle and combated ideological reformers , yet served a nonobservant public – as Todd Endelman noted, "While respectful of tradition, most English-born Jews were not orthodox in terms of personal practice. Nonetheless they were content to remain within an orthodox congregational framework" – and introduced considerable synagogue reforms. The slow pace of modernization in Russia, Congress Poland and Romanian principalities delayed
30800-751: The ceiling. In 2011, the Buildings Department issued a vacate order. Reportedly, 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
31075-580: 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
31350-644: 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
31625-410: The city. The congregants acquired three land lots at 12–16 Eldridge Street in 1886. Kahal Adath Jeshurun first bought numbers 14 and 16 from Holkhe Yosher for $ 23,000, before buying the lot at 12 Eldridge Street for $ 12,850. Kahal Adath Jeshurun hired Peter and Francis Herter, two Catholic brothers from Germany, as the synagogue's architects. The brothers had never previously designed a synagogue and, at
31900-507: The civil authorities, which eventually justified Cohen. However, the unprecedented meddling in his jurisdiction profoundly shocked him and dealt a blow to the prestige of the rabbinate. An ideological challenge to rabbinic authority, in contrast to prosaic secularization, appeared in the form of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) movement which came to the fore in 1782. Hartwig Wessely , Moses Mendelssohn , and other maskilim called for
32175-407: The clergy; and many did not partition men and women. In 1885, the antinomian Pittsburgh Platform moved conservative religious leaders to found the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS). Orthodoxy never became consistent and was mainly motivated by a rejection of Reform. They variously termed their ideology as "Enlightened Orthodoxy" or " Conservative Judaism ". The latter gradually became
32450-466: The coming of the Messiah and renewal of sacrifices ( post factum , it was considered to be the first Reform liturgy). More than anything else, this doctrinal breach alarmed the traditionalists. Dozens of rabbis from across Europe united in support of the Hamburg rabbinic court, banning the major practices enacted there and offering halakhic grounds for forbidding any changes. Most historians concur that
32725-568: The common mass was to be carefully handled. Some German neo-Orthodox believed that while doomed to minority status in their native country, their ideology could successfully confront modernity and unify Judaism in more traditional communities to the east. In 1847, Hirsch was elected Chief Rabbi of Moravia , where old rabbinic culture and yeshiva s were still extant. His expectations were dashed as traditionalist rabbis scorned him for his European manners and lack of Talmudic acumen. They became enraged by his attempts to reform synagogues and to establish
33000-412: The communities, was rapidly acculturating and often sought to oblige the state's agenda. Rabbi Elazar Fleckeles , who returned to Prague from the countryside in 1783, recalled that he first faced there "new vices" of principled irreverence towards tradition, rather than "old vices" such as gossip or fornication. In Hamburg , Rabbi Raphael Cohen attempted to reinforce traditional norms. Cohen ordered
33275-489: The congregation pro bono . The synagogue was rededicated in September 1984. In the long run, Friends of the Eldridge Street Synagogue wanted to open a museum in the synagogue. By the mid-1980s, most of the Jewish population in the neighborhood had moved away. At the time, the neighborhood was largely Chinese and Hispanic . Kahal Adath Jeshurun's congregation had dwindled to 15 or 20 paying members. Newsday described
33550-474: The congregation allowed widows to join; other women were not allowed to become members, or vote on congregational issues, until the 1920s. The congregation was actively encouraging wealthy widows to join by the late 1910s. Cantorial performances commonly drew visitors, particularly during the High Holidays—the period between Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur —when infrequent worshippers came to
33825-444: The congregation continued to host Shabbat services, but they sometimes struggled to assemble a minyan , or quorum, of ten men for regular services. In some cases, they had to go to local yeshivas or nearby stores to find the requisite ten men. Wolfe first visited the synagogue in 1971 after convincing Markowitz to help him enter the boarded-up main sanctuary. By then, the building had sustained severe water damage. Pigeons were entering
34100-457: The congregation employed two separate maggidim , or preachers, whose role mainly consisted of preaching and discussing the Torah . Gurock writes that the congregation had no maggidim at all after 1910. The congregation had started looking for a cantor only one month before the Eldridge Street Synagogue was completed. Kahal Adath Jeshurun hired Pinchas Minkowsky from Odesa as their cantor, hiring him for five years. To entice Minkowsky to join
34375-447: The congregation established a ladies' auxiliary, which helped arrange events and prepare meals among other activities. As many as 800 families were members of the congregation through the 1920s. One source from 1892 described the worshippers as including "lawyers, merchants, artisans, clerks, peddlers, and laborers". Contemporary commentators characterized the synagogue as insular and resistant to cultural influence, but Polland writes that
34650-457: The congregation from within New York City's Orthodox community. At the time, thousands of Jewish emigrants from Eastern Europe came to the city annually, and the congregation had concerns that they would be lured away by Reform synagogues or secular organizations. The Jewish-history scholar Jeffrey S. Gurock wrote that Kahal Adath Jeshurun was the best example of "the proto-Americanized synagogue", establishing standards for Orthodox congregations in
34925-415: The congregation had grown slightly, it was still small, and services were still being held in the basement. The Forward reported in 2004 that Kahal Adath Jeshurun had 30 families. Due to municipal budget cuts, the city reneged on another promised grant of $ 1 million for interior restoration in 2003. This shortfall was covered by funding from other organizations, such as Save America's Treasures . At
35200-541: The congregation had reduced the required annual pledge and adopted a rule to limit the duration and quantity of blessings. According to Gurock, Kahal Adath Jeshurun's leaders wanted to "Americanize" the congregation and privately feared that non-Jewish passersby would see the worshippers engaging in uncouth behavior. Thus, they banned spitting, loud talking, and foul language, and they hired ushers who regularly fined congregants for violating these rules. The congregation bought several dozen spittoons to discourage spitting, which
35475-691: The congregation hired a new cantor, Simhe Samuelson, for $ 1,000 (today $ 33,000) a year, over three times Ash's salary. The congregation's building at 60-64 Norfolk Street, between Grand Street 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
35750-463: The congregation peaked between 1890 and 1915. The congregation officially changed its name to Kahal Adath Jeshurun in 1890, having used that name informally for six years. Starting in 1894, the synagogue allowed homeless persons to take shelter during Passover . The same year, the interior of the sanctuary was repainted with trompe-l'œil patterns, and the woodwork was modified to appear like marble. The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
36025-468: 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 Hagodol'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
36300-409: The congregation was increasingly focused on maintenance, but the exodus of wealthier worshippers meant that such funds were no longer available. The congregation was regularly sending letters to former members, asking them to donate. As early as 1939, the congregation was recorded to have shrunk to fewer than 50 people. With membership quickly declining, the congregation sought to raise money to pay off
36575-421: 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 $ 680,000) 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
36850-404: The congregation's members did adapt their customs to American culture. For example, in 1889, worshippers celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first inauguration of George Washington . Worshippers hailed from all over Eastern Europe, in contrast to other synagogues nearby, which largely catered to people from specific regions. Many of Kahal Adath Jeshurun's regular worshippers were also members of
37125-413: The congregation's members, Gittel Natelson, operated a mikvah (ritual bath) directly behind the synagogue at 5 Allen Street, which was not directly associated with or physically connected to the synagogue. Natelson had operated a mikvah next to Beth Hamedrash's previous building, and her husband Isaac, the congregation's sexton , owned the site of the new mikvah. According to the historian Annie Polland,
37400-480: The congregation's own archives do not describe the dedication in detail. Contemporary publications praised the synagogue's design. Several Jewish publications wrote that Kahal Adath Jeshurun itself was a paragon for other Eastern European Orthodox congregations, while a commentator for The American Israelite criticized the congregation's rowdy behavior. In subsequent weeks, the Jewish Messenger described
37675-413: The congregation'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
37950-465: The congregation, its leaders agreed to pay him $ 2,500 per year, as well as a stipend and six weeks' annual vacation, at a time when the average worker earned less than $ 500 annually. Both religious and secular journalists lauded Minkowsky's work during his tenure at Kahal Adath Jeshurun. Minkowsky returned to Odesa in 1892, possibly because of a dispute over a bonus that the congregation could not afford. Thereafter, Kahal Adath Jeshurun hired cantors only by
38225-453: The congregation, outranking even the rabbi and maggidim . The president was in charge of fundraising, hiring, maintenance, dispute resolution, and educational programs, among other activities. Because the first presidents were all wealthy men, they sometimes bought gifts or gave out loans using their personal money. The synagogue originally had 12 trustees, which was raised to 18 in 1913. It did not formally have any women leaders until 1919, when
38500-529: The crisis of traditional society for decades. , Harsh discrimination and active persecution of Jews continued there until 1917. Old-style education in the heder and yeshiva remained the norm, retaining Hebrew as the language of the elite and Yiddish as the vernacular. The defining fault-line of Eastern European Jews was between the Hasidim and the Misnagdic reaction against them. Reform attempts by
38775-518: The dead , divine reward and punishment for the righteous and the sinners, the Election of Israel as a people bound by a covenant with God , and an eventual Messianic Age ruled by a salvific Messiah -King who will restore the Temple in Jerusalem and gather the people to Zion . Orthodox Judaism is not a centralized denomination. Relations between its different subgroups are often strained, and
39050-406: The decorations on the roof. That year, the main sanctuary hosted its first bar mitzvah in four decades. By then, the building had thousands of annual visitors. The organization also planned to raise money for a Jewish history center and restore the rest of the synagogue. By 1996, the Eldridge Street Project had raised $ 3 million. The congregation remained small, with about 40 or 50 members in
39325-466: The decreased demand for religious services at the synagogue. The Museum at Eldridge Street sold the site of the Allen Street mikvah in 2008 for $ 4.5 million. The rear rose window had not been replaced in the initial renovation because there were no extant records of the original window. Members of the Museum at Eldridge Street initially disagreed over whether the window should be retained, restored to approximate its original appearance, or replaced with
39600-474: The decree. On the other end of the spectrum, Hildesheimer's planned seminary was too radical for the same mainstream rabbis, and he became marginalized and isolated by 1864. The internal Orthodox division was complicated by growing tension with the Neologs. In 1869, the Hungarian government convened a General Jewish Congress that was aimed at creating a national representative body. Fearing Neolog domination,
39875-433: 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 Hagodol ("Great House of Study"), adding the word "Hagodol" ("Great") to the original name. The followers of Rothstein stayed at
40150-505: The divinely revealed status of the Torah and a strict observance of halakha , separating it from Conservative ideology. Physically separate seating (symbolized by gender partitions ) became the distinguishing mark of Orthodox/Conservative affiliation in the 1950s, and as pushed by the RCA. However, many Modern Orthodox followers were barely observant, and many synagogues did not use a gender partition. As late as 1997, seven OU congregations lacked
40425-454: The early and mid-19th century, with the advent of the progressive movements among German Jews, and especially early Reform Judaism , the title Orthodox became the epithet of traditionalists who espoused conservative positions on the issues raised by modernization. They themselves often disliked the name that was earlier adopted by eastern Christianity, preferring titles such as "Torah-true" ( gesetztreu ). They often declared they used it only as
40700-406: The elderly, traditional Chief Dayan Baruch Oser with Isaac Bernays . The latter was a university graduate, clean-shaven, and modern, who could appeal to the acculturated and the young. Bernays signified a new era, and historians marked him as the first modern rabbi, fitting the demands of emancipation: his contract forbade him to tax, punish, or coerce, and he lacked political or judiciary power. He
40975-494: The emergence of distinctly Orthodox communities and ideologies, were the exception rather than the rule in Central and Western Europe. France, Britain, Bohemia, Austria and other countries saw both a virtual disappearance of traditional Jewish life, and no serious interest in bridging Judaism and modernity. The official rabbinate remained technically traditional, in the default sense of not introducing ideological change. The organ –
41250-694: The epithet Haredim (generic term for the observant and the pious). Jewish nationalism, particularly Zionism , with its nonobservant if not staunchly secular partisans, was the key question facing Eastern European traditionalists, although it was tangled with modernization. Salmon claimed that the future Zionists were: supportive of a national agenda; motivated by criticism of Jewish society; supportive of modernity; tolerant of nonobservance; and approving of traditional faith and practice. Their proto- Haredi opponents sharply rejected all he former positions and espoused staunch conservatism, which idealized existing norms. Any illusion that differences could be blanded and
41525-411: The exact limits of Orthodoxy are subject to intense debate. Very roughly, it may be divided between Haredi Judaism (ultra-Orthodox), which is more conservative and reclusive, and Modern Orthodox Judaism , which is relatively open to outer society and partakes in secular life and culture. Each of those is itself formed of independent streams. These are almost uniformly exclusionist, regarding Orthodoxy as
41800-674: 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 matzah 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
42075-418: The families of former members. Idelson served as rabbi until he died in 1943. After World War II, Max Fuchs became the synagogue's cantor; he later recalled that he was the last cantor to lead High Holidays services. The exodus of congregants increased following World War II, and even the holiday events began to taper off. By 1954, the congregation had relocated to the basement-level sanctuary. Wolfe writes that
42350-471: The fees they had paid. Women sat on the balcony, while children of either gender sat in the rear rows when the synagogue was crowded. Similarly to other Orthodox congregations, Kahal Adath Jeshurun conducted services in Hebrew , used a full-length prayer book , and worshipped around a central bimah (pulpit) rather than a bimah at the front. The services differed slightly in that each weekly Torah portion
42625-573: 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
42900-420: The fire was started was being held up by the need to install supports in order to safely enter the building. By mid-June, the city's Legal Department was still investigating, and prosecutors had not charged the boy who had been arrested. In the aftermath of the fire, the synagogue took steps for the possible demolition of the building. The city's New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) had determined that
43175-525: 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
43450-444: The following year. Because the building was a city landmark, it also received city funds for preservation. The Eldridge Street Project had raised $ 1.5 million by 1987 and hired Giorgio Cavaglieri to design a renovation of the building. Cavaglieri estimated that the building needed $ 3 million in repairs, half of which was just for structural stabilization. The restoration was split into three phases. The firm of Robert Meadows
43725-447: The formation of Orthodox ideology and organizations was itself influenced by modernity. This was brought about by the need to defend the very concept of tradition in a world where that was no longer self-evident. When secularization and the dismantlement of communal structures uprooted the old order of Jewish life, traditionalist elements united to form groups that had a specific self-understanding. This, and all that it entailed, constituted
44000-538: The former rabbi's study during the restoration. By 1990, workers were reinstalling the synagogue's pews. The Eldridge Street Project became a member of the American Alliance of Museums in 1991 and began hiring full-time employees the same year. The museum also became part of the Council of American Jewish Museums, and volunteers gave tours and oversaw "Clean and Shine Days" at the synagogue. Workers expanded
44275-443: The former rabbi's study was never finished. Ultimately, 18,000 people donated to the project. A third of the funding came from the New York City government, while the rest was supplied by various governmental agencies, organizations. and individual donors, such as the publisher Mortimer Zuckerman . On December 2, 2007, the synagogue was rededicated following the completion of its $ 20 million renovation. The Eldridge Street Project
44550-436: The grant was going to the non-sectarian Eldridge Street Project for preservation only. An archeologist rediscovered the old Allen Street mikvah within a construction staging area behind the synagogue in 2001. The Eldridge Street Project provided limited tours of the synagogue, which accommodated up to 20,000 people a year by the mid-2000s. The organization also sponsored exhibitions, concerts, speeches, and other events. Although
44825-401: The ground are made of brick masonry. The inner faces of the perimeter walls contain wooden joists , which hold up wooden girders . Originally, the synagogue had 67 or 80 stained-glass windows, made of panes in 12 colors. Following the 2007 renovation, over 85% of the original stained-glass panes remained intact. The main elevation of the facade faces west toward Eldridge Street. The basement
45100-735: 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." 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
45375-571: The heir of late Hatam Sofer, considered appointing Hildesheimer as his assistant-rabbi in Pressburg and instituting secular studies in the city's great yeshiva . The rabbi of Eisenstadt believed that only a full-fledged modern rabbinical seminary could fulfill his neo-Orthodox agenda. In the 1850s and 1860s, however, a radical reactionary Orthodox party coalesced in the northeastern regions of Hungary . Led by Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein , his son-in-law Akiva Yosef Schlesinger and decisor Chaim Sofer ,
45650-417: 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 Hagodol was distributing approximately $ 800 (today $ 29,000) a year to the poor for Passover supplies, compared to a total synagogue income of around $ 5,000 (today $ 183,000). This
45925-505: The importance of daily practice and adherence to halakha (Jewish law) mooted theoretical issues. Others dismissed this view entirely, citing ancient rabbinic debates that castigated various heresies with little reference to observance. However, even without a uniform doctrine, Orthodox Judaism is basically united in its core beliefs. Disavowing them is a major blasphemy . . Several medieval authorities attempted to codify these beliefs, including Saadia Gaon and Joseph Albo . Each composed
46200-512: The late 2010s, the congregation used the synagogue on Saturdays, while the museum operated the other six days of the week. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City , the Museum at Eldridge Street temporarily closed in March 2020 before reopening in June 2021. The synagogue occupies a land lot at 12–16 Eldridge Street , on the eastern side of the street, measuring approximately 60 by 87.5 feet (18.3 by 26.7 m) across. The building itself
46475-674: The late 20th century, when the Chinese population of the area increased. The synagogue is largely designed in the Moorish Revival style, with Gothic Revival and Romanesque Revival elements spread throughout. The building was designed by the architects Peter and Francis William Herter, who also designed tenements. The design has mistakenly been attributed to the similarly-named Herter Brothers firm (composed of Christian and Gustave Herter). Peter and Francis Herter are credited with 60 buildings in Lower Manhattan , including 50 just on
46750-476: The latter congregation. The new members opposed an uptown synagogue, prompting a legal dispute that lasted two years; the New York Supreme Court ultimately ruled against the uptown synagogue's supporters. The congregation became Kahal Adath Jeshurun with Anshe Lubz in 1913 when a new set of rules was adopted. The highest-ranking clergy member at Kahal Adath Jeshurun was the cantor rather than
47025-520: The latter half of the 18th century, Jewish communities in Central and Western Europe were autonomous entities, with distinct privileges and obligations. They were led by the affluent wardens' class ( parnasim ), judicially subject to rabbinical courts , which governed most civil matters. The rabbinical class monopolized education and morals, much like the Christian clergy. Jewish Law was considered normative and enforced upon transgressors (common sinning
47300-412: 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 $ 330,000). 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
47575-436: 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 pews . That same year Oshry died. His successor—designated by Oshry himself—was his son-in-law, Rabbi Mendl Greenbaum. By 2006, $ 1 million of an estimated required $ 3.5 million had been raised for repairs to
47850-428: The like are forbidden.) The utter imperceptibility of God, considered as beyond human reason and only reachable through what he chooses to reveal, was emphasized among others in the ancient ban on making any image of him . Maimonides and virtually all sages in his time and thereafter stressed that the creator is incorporeal, lacking "any semblance of a body". While incorporeality has almost been taken for granted since
48125-471: The local traditionalists complete their transformation into Orthodox, albeit never as starkly as in Hungary or Germany. Eastern European Orthodoxy, whether Agudah or Mizrahi, always preferred cultural and educational independence to communal secession, and maintained strong ties and self-identification with the general Jewish public. Within its ranks, the 150-years-long struggle between Hasidim and Misnagdim
48400-409: The main sanctuary had been closed to regular worship as early as 1933. The synagogue still held large events, such as the funeral of Menahem Mendel Beilis in 1934, which had 4,000 attendees. Over the years, the main sanctuary became largely vacant and was used mainly for special events. The more intimate beth midrash (study hall) in the basement was used for regular services. By the 1930s and 1940s,
48675-459: The main sanctuary was sealed off with little apparent warning. Items such as shawls and prayer books still remained on the pews several decades later. The congregation was unable to repair or even heat the main sanctuary due to a lack of money. Benjamin Markowitz became the congregation's sexton in the mid-1950s and retained that role for several decades. During the latter half of the 20th century,
48950-422: The men in his community to grow a beard, forbade holding hands with one's wife in public, and decried women who wore wigs, instead of visible headgear , to cover their hair; Cohen taxed and otherwise persecuted members of the priestly caste who left the city to marry divorcees, men who appealed to state courts , those who ate food cooked by Gentiles , and other transgressors. Hamburg's Jews repeatedly appealed to
49225-481: The merged congregation included Jews from a wider geographic area. The merged congregation began calling itself Kahal Adath Jeshurun, in part to cater to the congregants' more diverse geographic backgrounds. Kahal Adath Jeshurun was opposed to the principles espoused by Reform Judaism . It wanted to build a grand synagogue to differentiate itself from large Reform synagogues such as Temple Emanu-El and Central Synagogue . The planned synagogue would also draw attention to
49500-478: The mid-1990s. Even though they continued to meet for weekly Shabbat services without exception, it had no rabbi. Bookson, the congregation's president, did not expect the congregation to grow, but he did hope to move back into the main sanctuary once the renovation was complete. During the renovation, worshippers sometimes had to wear hard hats. The synagogue's new roof was completed in May 1999, allowing interior restoration to proceed. The New York City government gave
49775-492: The month, paying them a much lower rate of $ 30 per month. In the 18 years following Minkowsky's resignation, the congregation employed 13 cantors. The lay leadership, which included the president, vice president, and treasurer, was dominated by some of the congregation's wealthiest members. The first four presidents were Sender Jarmulowsky, kosher-food merchant Isaac Gellis, real-estate developer David Cohen, and glass magnate Nathan Hutkoff. The president held considerable power over
50050-430: The movement as a dangerous innovation; and the organized Orthodox in Hungary rejected it as well, especially after it did not affirm a commitment to communal secession in 1923. In the Interwar period , sweeping secularization and acculturation deracinated old Jewish society in Eastern Europe. The October Revolution granted civil equality and imposed anti-religious persecutions, radically transforming Russian Jewry within
50325-447: The movement both tolerated and advocated modernization: Traditionally rare formal religious education for girls was introduced; modesty and gender separation were relaxed to match German society; men went clean-shaven and dressed like Gentiles; and exclusive Torah study virtually disappeared. Basic religious studies incorporating German Bildung provided children with practical halakhic knowledge for thriving in modern society. Ritual
50600-551: The movement. In total, Orthodox Judaism is the largest Jewish religious group, estimated to have over 2 million practicing adherents, and at least an equal number of nominal members or self-identifying supporters. The earliest known mention of the term Orthodox Jews was made in the Berlinische Monatsschrift in 1795. The word Orthodox was borrowed from the general German Enlightenment discourse, and used to denote those Jews who opposed Enlightenment. During
50875-511: The museum was named a Preserve America Steward in 2010 for its restoration of the synagogue. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation wrote at the time that dozens of volunteers conducted weekly tours, maintained the exhibits, and organized over 50 annual events. By 2014, the synagogue building attracted 40,000 annual visitors. The museum opened another temporary exhibit space, the Michael Weinstein Gallery, in 2016. By
51150-475: The mystical tradition, exemplified in Kabbalah , assigned each rite with a role in hidden dimensions of reality. Sheer obedience, derived from faithfulness to one's community and ancestry, was believed sufficient for the common people, while the educated chose one of the two schools. In the modern era, the prestige of both declined, and "naive faith" became popular. At a time when contemplation in matters of belief
51425-406: The nearby Yeshiva Etz Chaim to use its space. Though the synagogue did also host a Talmud Torah of its own, the school was small and operated only for a short time in the 1900s. By the late 1910s, the worshippers increasingly wished to be led by a rabbi rather than a president, and they hired Avraham Aharon Yudelovitch as their rabbi in 1918. Several worshippers established a group in 1922 to study
51700-422: The need to adapt to the segment of Judaism in a modern world inhospitable to traditional practice. Orthodoxy often involved much accommodation and leniency. In the mid-1980s, research on Orthodox Judaism became a scholarly discipline, examining how the need to confront modernity shaped and changed its beliefs, ideologies, social structure, and halakhic rulings, separating it from traditional Jewish society. Until
51975-670: The non-Orthodox. That year, Hildesheimer visited Hungary. Confounded by urbanization and acculturation – and the rise of Neology , a nonobservant laity served by rabbis who mostly favoured the Positive-Historical approach – the elderly local rabbis at first welcomed Hildesheimer. He opened a modern school in Eisenstadt that included secular studies in the curriculum. Traditionalists such as Moshe Schick and Yehudah Aszód sent their sons to study there. Samuel Benjamin Sofer ,
52250-536: The norm. Separation of church and state and dynamic religiosity along the Protestant model shaped synagogue life. In the mid-19th century, Reform Judaism spread rapidly, made popular by formally abandoning traditions that few upheld. The United States was labeled the Treife Medina , or "Profane Country", in Yiddish . Isaac Leeser was an ultra-traditionalist in the American context, although his lack of
52525-576: The notion that the Oral and Written Law were intertwined and inseparable. Wissenschaft posed a greater challenge to the modernized neo-Orthodox than to the traditionalist. Hirsch and Hildesheimer divided on the matter, anticipating modernist Orthodox attitudes to the historical-critical method. Hirsch argued that analyzing minutiae of tradition as products of their historical context was akin to denying its divine origin and timeless relevance. Hildesheimer consented to research under limits, subjugating it to
52800-505: The now-lost communal autonomy, the Neo-Orthodox turned Judaism from an all-encompassing practice into a private religious conviction. In the late 1830s, modernist pressures in Germany shifted from the secularization debate, moving into the "purely religious" sphere of theology and liturgy. A new generation of university-trained rabbis (many German states required communal rabbis to possess such education) sought to reconcile Judaism with
53075-473: The number of congregants leaving. Additionally, in 1925, Kahal Adath Jeshurun installed three plaques in the sanctuary to honor the ladies' auxiliary, the lay leadership, and 10 members; one plaque was left blank. Despite the declining membership, many worshippers remained at least somewhat involved with the congregation after moving away. Some of these former members donated to the congregation, while others come back for special events and holiday services. Although
53350-435: The only authentic continuation of Judaism as it was until the crisis of modernity. Its progressive opponents often shared this view, regarding it as a remnant of the past and lending credit to their own rival ideology. Thus, the term Orthodox is often used generically to refer to traditional (even if only in the sense that it is unrelated to modernist movement) synagogues, rites, and observances. Academic research noted that
53625-532: The only legitimate form of Judaism. While adhering to traditional beliefs, the movement is a modern phenomenon. It arose as a result of the breakdown of the autonomous Jewish community since the late 18th century, and was much shaped by a conscious struggle against the pressures of secularization , acculturation and rival alternatives. The strictly observant Orthodox are a definite minority among all Jews, but there are also numerous semi- and non-practicing persons who are officially affiliated or personally identify with
53900-410: 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
54175-523: The pale of Jewishness, and were more concerned with neo-Orthodoxy, which they regarded as a thinly-veiled gateway for a similar fate. Chaim Sofer summarized their view of Hildesheimer: "The wicked Hildesheimer is the horse and chariot of the Evil Inclination ... All the heretics in the last century did not seek to undermine the Law and the Faith as he does." In their struggle against acculturation,
54450-680: The polemics. They did not secede over reasons of finance and familial relations. Only a handful of Secessionist, Austrittorthodox , communities were established in the Reich; almost everyone remained Communal Orthodox, Gemeindeortodox , within Liberal mother congregations. The Communal Orthodox argued that their approach was true to Jewish unity and decisive in maintaining public standards of observance and traditional education in Liberal communities. The Secessionists viewed them as hypocritical middle-of-the-roaders. The conflicts in Hungary and Germany, and
54725-469: The position of rabbi at Beth Hamedrash Hagodol. 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 Hagodol, 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
55000-409: The predetermined sanctity of the subject matter and accepting its results only when they accorded with the latter. More importantly, while he was content to engage academically, he opposed its practical application in religious questions, requiring traditional methods to be used. Hildesheimer's approach was emulated by his disciple Rabbi David Zvi Hoffmann , a scholar and apologetic. His polemic against
55275-610: The preferred term. Strictly traditionalist Eastern European immigrants formed the Union of Orthodox Rabbis (UOR) in 1902, in direct opposition to the Americanized OU and JTS. The UOR frowned upon English-language sermons, secular education and any acculturation. In 1897, an old-style yeshiva , Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), was founded in New York. Its students rebelled in 1908, demanding rabbinic training more like that of their JTS peers. In 1915, RIETS
55550-403: 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
55825-400: 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 Hagodol proposed that a Chief Rabbi be hired for New York. A number of New York City synagogues formed
56100-466: 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
56375-411: The realities of the modern age. Sofer understood that what remained of his political clout would soon disappear, and that he had largely lost the ability to enforce observance; as Katz wrote, "obedience to halakha became dependent on recognizing its validity, and this very validity was challenged by those who did not obey". He was deeply troubled by reports from his native Frankfurt and the arrival from
56650-431: The remaining members as seniors on fixed incomes , who still struggled to form a minyan for regular services. Though the congregation was still able to host services every week, Markowitz said he sometimes had to ask passersby to join the minyan. The congregation hired safecrackers in 1985 to take their artifacts out of the synagogue's old safes, which had not been opened in three decades and were in danger of falling through
56925-438: The remains of the building was unstable, but would not approve an emergency demolition, so a board member filed an application with the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) for a general demolition permit, which did not specify how much of the structure was planned to be razed; that would depend on a determination of "structural findings". The synagogue also provided materials to Manhattan Community Board 3 , with
57200-443: 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
57475-417: The restoration of religious icons, and the LPC agreed to grant $ 25,000 for a portion of the roof that did not include the stars of David. The Eldridge Street Project had raised $ 8 million for the renovation by 2005. The third phase of the restoration included plaster replacement, paint removal, conservation , new stenciling, wood finishing, and decorative painting. Seaboard Weatherproofing and Restoration
57750-412: The right of secession, the Netziv and other Russian rabbis forbade it for contradicting the idea of Israel's unity. In the 1860s and 1870s, moderate maskilic rabbis like Yitzchak Yaacov Reines and Yechiel Michel Pines called for inclusion of secular studies in the heder s and yeshiva s, anticipating a communal disintegration as in the west. Instead they proposed a careful modernization, based on
58025-450: 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";
58300-431: 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
58575-404: The sense of a comprehensive response to modernity, and specifically to the traditionalist, militant ultra-Orthodoxy . The 1818–1821 controversy also elicited a different response, which first arose in its very epicenter. Severe protests did not affect Temple congregants, eventually leading the wardens of Hamburg's Jewish community to a comprehensive compromise for the sake of unity. They replaced
58850-403: 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 Hagodol in September 1924. While serving as
59125-548: 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 Hagodol—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
59400-409: The structure was critically endangered. The synagogue was closed in 2007. The congregation, reduced to around 20 regularly attending members, was sharing facilities with a congregation on Henry Street . The Lower East Side Conservancy was trying to raise an estimated $ 4.5 million for repairs of the building, with the intent of converting it to an educational center. In December the leadership of
59675-422: The structure. In 2007, Greenbaum made the decision to shut the synagogue down, as its membership had dwindled to around 15. The building was mostly closed to the public as its damaged interior was considered a hazard for visitors. The synagogue, "the home of the oldest Orthodox congregation continuously housed in a single location in New York" sat "padlocked and empty" with holes in the roof and plaster falling from
59950-430: The synagogue and hosts weekly services there in the 21st century. The Museum at Eldridge Street , founded in 1986 as the Eldridge Street Project, also occupies the synagogue under a long-term lease. The building is a National Historic Landmark and a New York City designated landmark . The congregation was established in 1852 as Beth Hamedrash and had congregants from across Eastern Europe. It relocated several times and
60225-428: 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. 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
60500-473: The synagogue from a friend. Work on restoring the main rose window started that September. The organization planned to raise $ 3 million for restoration. They received money from the Kaplan Fund, Astor Foundation, James Wolfensohn , and the Reichmann family , as well as from Jewish organizations. The state gave the Eldridge Street Project a $ 150,000 grant for restoration and structural improvements in 1987, followed by another $ 150,000 grant for museum programs
60775-423: The synagogue under Rabbi Mendel Greenbaum filed a “hardship application” with the Landmarks Preservation Commission seeking permission to demolish the building to make way for a new residential development. This application was withdrawn in March 2013, but the group Friends of the Lower East Side described Beth Hamedrash Hagodol's status as "demolition by neglect". The abandoned synagogue was "largely destroyed" by
61050-432: The synagogue's electricity due to unpaid bills, agreed to permanently forgive these debts. The UJA-Federation of New York repaired the roof in 1984. The architect David Abramson, a son of one of Kahal Adath Jeshurun's board members, oversaw a $ 78,000 stabilization of the building. Schwarcz, whose grandfather had been one of the congregation's board members, raised funds for the synagogue and convinced his company to represent
61325-549: The synagogue's mortgage before former members stopped coming even for occasional visits. The rear rose window was smashed during a 1938 hurricane, but the congregation did not restore it. Instead, the rose window was replaced in 1944 with glass blocks , which were designed to resemble four tablets. The congregation took ownership of the synagogue after the remaining worshippers made their last mortgage payment in October 1944, upon which there were 25 regular attendees. The synagogue still had up to 400 people during High Holidays, including
61600-400: The synagogue. During these times, police were stationed in the street for crowd control. Initially, people paid varying fees for their seats based on what they could afford, and the congregation did not turn away members for being penniless. Each individual pew was sold or rented, thereby creating seating assignments . The most expensive seats originally cost $ 500 a year, but for $ 150 to $ 200,
61875-402: The temple as often being overcrowded to the point where the police had to be called. The synagogue contrasted with the densely packed tenements around it, where most congregants lived (though some wealthier members lived in brownstone row houses not far away). Its construction coincided with the development of several Jewish businesses nearby, including a religious-goods store next door. One of
62150-435: The time, had designed only five structures in the city. That June, the Herter brothers drew up plans for a synagogue at 12–16 Eldridge Street , between Canal and Division streets. Their initial plans called for a 900-seat Moorish -style structure to be constructed for $ 35,000. The official plans were officially filed that July, and modified plans were filed that September. There is very little extant documentation regarding
62425-406: The time, the Eldridge Street Project was installing an elevator and stair, and it also wanted to install new roof decorations, audiovisual equipment, and Wi-Fi equipment. The Eldridge Street Project also asked the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to fund the restoration of the rooftop finials, which included stars of David. The LPC's rules prohibited the agency from financing
62700-403: The title of parnas to president, and in 1877 hiring a professional cantor—Judah Oberman—for $ 500 (today $ 14,300) 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
62975-413: The toilets or reopen their safe. In spite of the water damage, many original decorations remained intact, albeit dirty, and the space had not been vandalized. During the 1980s, the stained glass windows were removed due to disrepair. Wolfe was giving tours of the building by the mid-1970s, and local preservationists identified the synagogue as among the neighborhood's most elaborate remaining synagogues. In
63250-437: 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
63525-400: The traditionalist wing of American Jewry, forcing locals to adopt their views. The younger generation in the JTS and the Rabbinical Assembly concurrently demanded greater clarity, theological unambiguity and halakhic independence from the Orthodox veto on serious innovations. In 1935, for example, the RA shelved its proposal for a solution to the agunah predicament. "Conservative Judaism"
63800-409: The transgressor. Denying this fact is akin to denying the sun at noon. However, maskilic '-rabbinic rivalry ended in most of Central Europe, as governments imposed modernization upon their Jewish subjects. Schools replaced traditional cheders , and standard German began to supplant Yiddish . Differences between the establishment and the Enlightened became irrelevant, and the former often embraced
64075-430: The two stressed that the difference was dogmatic and not halakhic . They managed to tarnish Frankel's reputation in the traditional camp and delegitimized him for many. The Positive-Historical School is regarded by Conservative Judaism as an intellectual forerunner. While Hildesheimer distinguished Frankel's observant disciples from Reform proponents, he wrote in his diary: how meager is the principal difference between
64350-428: The validity of the Oral Law, could confidently appropriate the vision of most medieval rabbinic scholars; a defensive German Orthodoxy, by contrast, could not. ... Thus began a shift in understanding that led Orthodox rabbis and historians in the modern period to insist that the entire Oral Law was revealed by God to Moses at Sinai." 19th-Century Orthodox commentaries, like those authored by Malbim , attempted to amplify
64625-436: 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
64900-399: The views of the latter (now antiquated, as more aggressive modes of acculturation replaced the Haskalahs program). In 1810, when philanthropist Israel Jacobson opened what was later identified as the first Reform synagogue in Seesen , with modernized rituals, he encountered little protest. The founding of the Hamburg Temple in 1818 mobilized the conservative elements. The organizers of
65175-428: The weakened floor. Though the objects were valued at up to $ 40,000, the objects were placed in storage rather than being sold. In 1986, the non-sectarian, nonprofit Eldridge Street Project was founded to restore the synagogue and develop activities and events for it. The organization leased the building from Kahal Adath Jeshurun for 99 years. Roberta Brandes Gratz, the Eldridge Street Project's director, had learned about
65450-401: The west of dismissed rabbis, ejected by progressive wardens, or pious families, fearing for the education of their children. These émigrés often became ardent followers. Sofer's response to the crisis of traditional Jewish society was unremitting conservatism, canonizing every detail of prevalent norms in the observant community lest any compromise legitimize the progressives' claim that the law
65725-415: 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
66000-428: 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 (above left), 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,
66275-419: The work required to repair the damage, but the congregation did not have the $ 10,000 required to pay for it. Beth Hamedrash Hagodol 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
66550-414: 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
66825-454: 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 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
67100-421: Was adopted as an exclusive label by most JTS graduates and RA members, became a distinct movement. In 1950, the Conservatives signaled their break with Orthodoxy by acceptance of a far-reaching legal decision, which allowed one to drive to the synagogue and to use electricity on Sabbath. Judaism never formulated a conclusive credo ; whether it reflects a dogma remains controversial. Some researchers argued that
67375-440: Was also added by the synagogue, as was the square structure on which it sat. 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. Ash died in 1887, and
67650-463: 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 slaughterhouses , a position that often brought him into conflict with Rabbi Gavriel Zev Margolis , who led competing kashrut efforts. 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
67925-419: Was applied to Jewish affairs, to which these concepts were alien. The rabbis were bemused when the state expected them to assume pastoral care, foregoing their principal judicial role. Of secondary importance, much less than the civil and legal transformations, were the ideas of Enlightenment that chafed at the authority of tradition and faith. By the end of the 18th century, the weakened rabbinic establishment
68200-421: Was appointed rabbi of the Orthodox sub-community in Berlin (which had separate religious institutions but was not formally independent of the Liberal majority), where he finally established his seminary. In 1877, a law enabling Jews to secede from their communities without baptism was passed in Germany. It was a stark example that Judaism was now confessional, not corporate. Hirsch withdrew his congregation from
68475-408: Was associated with secularization, luminaries such as Yisrael Meir Kagan stressed the importance of simple, unsophisticated commitment to the precepts passed down from the Beatified Sages. This became standard in the ultra-Orthodox world. Judaism adheres to monotheism , the belief in one God. The basic tenets of Orthodoxy, drawn from ancient sources like the Talmud and later sages, chiefly include
68750-565: Was built for Congregation Kahal Adath Jeshurun, an Orthodox Jewish congregation. The name literally means "Community of the People of Israel" in Hebrew , but it is often officially translated in English as "People's Congregation of the Just". The use of the name Adath Jeshurun was meant to signify that the congregation signified "true Israel". Kahal Adath Jeshurun was established in 1852 as Beth Hamedrash (whose name means "House of Study" in Hebrew), and consisted of Jews from various parts of Eastern Europe. The founding rabbi , Abraham Joseph Ash,
69025-520: Was commonplace as many congregants chewed tobacco. Members could be expelled for violating the rules, and the congregation's board could also refuse to accept prospective members who were determined not to have the correct "moral character". However, this still failed to prevent the frequent fistfights that took place inside. Local organizations, such as Hebrew schools, also used the Eldridge Street Synagogue. The congregation often donated money to Talmud Torah and yeshiva schools, raised money, and allowed
69300-412: Was down to around 20 regularly attending members, and was sharing facilities with a congregation on Henry Street . By the end of 2012 at least a million dollars in grants for repairs to the building had gone unused and were rescinded. In December 2012 the leadership of the synagogue under Greenbaum filed a “hardship application” with the Landmarks Preservation Commission seeking permission to demolish
69575-411: Was established at the synagogue in 1896, and thereafter it held meetings there biannually. By the beginning of the 20th century, the congregation regularly added seats during the High Holidays to accommodate additional worshippers. The synagogue was electrified in 1907. Jews in New York City, including three of the congregation's first four presidents, were increasingly living elsewhere in the city during
69850-446: Was facing a new kind of transgressor: they could not be classified as tolerable sinners overcome by their urges ( khote le-te'avon ), or as schismatics like the Sabbateans or Frankists , against whom sanctions were levied. Their attitudes did not fit the criteria set when faith was a normative and self-evident part of worldly life, but rested on the realities of the new, secularized age. The wardens' class, which wielded most power within
70125-418: Was fluid or redundant. He was unwilling to trade halakhic opinions for those he considered to be pretending to honor the rules of rabbinic discourse, while intending to undermine them. Sofer regarded traditional customs as equivalent to vows; he warned in 1793 that even the "custom of ignoramuses" (one known to be rooted solely in a mistake of the common masses) was to be meticulously observed and revered. Sofer
70400-492: Was forbidden from interfering in the Temple's conduct. Conservative in the principal issues of faith, in aesthetic, cultural, and civil matters, Bernays was a reformer and the Temple leaders. He introduced secular studies for children, wore a cassock like a Protestant clergyman, and delivered vernacular sermons. He forbade the spontaneous, informal character of synagogue conduct typical of Ashkenazi tradition, and ordered prayers to be somber and dignified. Bernays' style re-unified
70675-497: Was frank and vehement about his stance, stating during the Hamburg dispute that prayers in the vernacular were not problematic per se , but he forbade them because they constituted an innovation. He succinctly expressed his attitude in wordplay he borrowed from the Talmud: "The new ( Chadash , originally meaning new grain) is forbidden by the Torah anywhere." Regarding the new, ideologically-driven sinners, Sofer commented in 1818 that they should have been anathemized and banished from
70950-416: Was hired to design the first phase of the restoration, which cost $ 2.5 million. Restoration work began in 1989. At the beginning of the project, a skeleton was found in the basement of the synagogue. After further investigations revealed that the skeleton was that of a young man who had died decades before, the bones were interred in Kahal Adath Jeshurun's burial plots. The congregation continued to pray in
71225-454: Was hired to restore the facade, while Walter Sedovic and Jill H. Gotthelf were hired to redesign the interior. By 2005, workers had installed scaffolding inside the main sanctuary in preparation for its restoration. Workers then cleaned, repainted, and repaired the interior. The finials above the roof were reinstalled in March 2006, and the stained glass window above the main entrance was restored in September 2007. A genealogical research center in
71500-412: Was hired. Joseph spoke at the Eldridge Street synagogue exactly once in 15 years, and Kahal Adath Jeshurun's worshippers often disregarded his decrees. Worshippers also disagreed among themselves on what their priorities should be. The congregation hired at least 21 temporary rabbis from 1890 to 1914; they did not hold leadership positions, but they led study groups and taught lessons. Between 1905 and 1910,
71775-520: Was largely subsided; the latter were even dubbed henceforth as "Litvaks", as the anti-Hasidic component in their identity was marginalized. In the interwar period, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan emerged as the popular leader of the Eastern European Orthodox, particularly the Agudah-leaning. American Jewry of the 19th century was small and lacked traditional institutions or strong rabbinic presence due to its immigrant-based nature. This informality allow religious innovation to flourish. Voluntary congregations were
72050-484: Was loyal to its rabbi, the congregation of the original Beth Hamedrash mainly was led by its lay president. Beth Hamedrash's first president was the banker Sender Jarmulowsky , who was appointed in 1872 and served for two years. The Manhattan Railway Company 's Second Avenue Elevated opened above Allen Street in the late 1870s, causing pollution and casting shadows. The congregation successfully sued for damages, although it would not receive any compensation until 1899. By
72325-409: 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
72600-414: Was on top of its average $ 15 (today $ 500) weekly contributions to the poor, and those of individual congregational members of around $ 2,000 (today $ 73,000) per annum. By 1901, annual revenues were around $ 6,000 (today $ 220,000), and the congregation had 150 members. During Joseph's tenure, Beth Hamedrash Hagodol helped found the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (the " Orthodox Union "). In
72875-448: Was one of the main disciples of Yisroel Salanter , and in 1883 had been appointed the maggid (preacher) of Vilna . Beth Hamedrash Hagodol, the Eldridge Street Synagogue, and 13 other Lower East Side synagogues had raised $ 2,500 (today $ 85,000) 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
73150-419: Was originally a study hall , which has been converted to galleries. The modern-day museum is focused on history and culture, and a small number of worshippers of continue to hold services there. Over the years, the synagogue has received architectural commentary and has influenced the designs of other local synagogues. Many immigrants who came to New York City in the late 19th and early 20th centuries settled in
73425-399: Was read by a single person, rather than seven different people. Members were called to the bimah several times a year for Torah blessings and were required to pledge at least $ 4 annually for such blessings. On most weeks, there would be blessings from at least five members, and physical and verbal disputes sometimes arose when congregants tried to make blessings simultaneously. By the 1910s,
73700-484: Was rebuked, but tolerated) invoking all communal sanctions: imprisonment, taxation, flogging, pillorying, and, especially, excommunication . Cultural, economic, and social exchange with non-Jewish society was limited and regulated. This state of affairs came to an end with the rise of the modern, centralized state, which appropriated all authority. The nobility, clergy, urban guilds, and all other corporate estates were gradually stripped of privileges, inadvertently creating
73975-475: Was reformed to match prevalent aesthetic conceptions, much like non-Orthodox synagogues though without the ideological undertone, and the liturgy was often abbreviated. Neo-Orthodoxy mostly did not attempt to reconcile its conduct and halakhic or moral norms. Instead it adopted compartmentalization, de facto limiting Judaism to the private and religious spheres, while otherwise yielding to outer society. While conservative Rabbis in Hungary still thought in terms of
74250-437: Was renamed Kahal Adath Jeshurun after merging with Holkhe Yosher Vizaner in 1886. Kahal Adath Jeshurun acquired a site for a new synagogue on Eldridge Street in 1886, and the building was dedicated on September 4, 1887. The congregation's membership peaked between 1890 and 1915, with up to 800 members, and the congregation merged with Anshe Lubz in 1909. Membership dwindled significantly after the 1920s, as congregants relocated and
74525-429: Was renamed the Museum at Eldridge Street, reflecting its cultural and educational mission. Initially, the museum was closed on Fridays, Saturdays, and American and Jewish holidays. Kahal Adath Jeshurun remained at the synagogue, though it still had few members, and there were often not enough people to form a minyan on weekdays or for Friday-night Shabbat services. The presence of the surrounding Chinese businesses reflected
74800-550: Was reorganized as a Modern Orthodox institution, and a merger with the JTS was discussed. In 1923, the Rabbinical Council of America was established as the OU's clerical association. Between the ultra-Orthodox and Conservatives, Modern Orthodoxy emerged as a distinct movement. Its postwar leader, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik , left Agudas Israel to adopt a positive, if reserved, attitude toward Western culture. As dean of RIETS and honorary chair of RCA's halakha committee, Soloveitchik shaped Modern Orthodoxy for decades. RCA stressed
75075-499: Was the first Orthodox rabbi from Eastern Europe to serve in the United States. After moving around several times, the congregation purchased a Welsh chapel on Allen Street in 1856. Following a petty dispute over the Allen Street synagogue, 23 members of Beth Hamedrash split in 1859 to form Beth Hamedrash Hagodol , adding the word "Hagodol" ("Great") to the original name. The remaining 46 members remained on Allen Street for over two decades. In contrast to Beth Hamedrash Hagrodol, which
75350-485: Was the first regular Orthodox newspaper, signifying the coalescence of a distinct Orthodox millieu, rejected their call. Ettlinger, and German neo-Orthodoxy in his wake, chose to regard the modern secularized Jew as a transgressor rather than a schismatic. He adopted Maimonides' interpretation of the Talmudic concept tinok shenishba (captured infant), a Jew by birth who was not raised as such and therefore could be absolved for not practicing, and greatly expanded it to serve
75625-496: 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 Hagodol. The speech attracted
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