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Congregation Emanu-El of New York

January 01, 1970

This article is about the Jewish congregation or organization. For the congregation's former synagogue at 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue, see Temple Emanu-El (New York, 1868). For the congregation's current synagogue at East 65th Street, see Temple Emanu-El of New York (New York, 1930). For other uses, see Emanu-El (disambiguation).

Congregation Emanu-El of New York is the first Reform Jewish congregation in New York City. It has served as a flagship congregation in the Reform branch of Judaism since its founding in 1845. The congregation uses Temple Emanu-El of New York, one of the largest synagogues in the world.

Congregation Emanu-El of New York
Formation1845; 179 years ago (1845)
TypeReligious congregation
PurposeReform Judaism
Location
Membership
About 2,000 families
Senior Rabbi
Joshua M. Davidson
Main organ
Board of Directors
Volunteers
Yes
Websiteemanuelnyc.org

The congregation currently comprises about 2,000 families and has been led by Senior Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson since July 2013.[1] The congregation is located at 1 East 65th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The Temple houses the Bernard Museum of Judaica, the congregation's collection of more than 1,000 Jewish ceremonial art objects.

History edit

1845–1926 edit

 
Temple Emanu-El Front Facade

The congregation was founded by 33 mainly German Jews who assembled for services in April 1845 in a rented hall near Grand and Clinton Streets in Manhattan's Lower East Side. The first services they held were highly traditional. The Temple (as it became known) moved several times as the congregation grew larger and wealthier.

In October 1847, the congregation moved to a former Methodist church at 56 Chrystie Street. The congregation commissioned architect Leopold Eidlitz to draw up plans for renovation of the church into a synagogue.[2] Radical departures from Orthodox religious practice were soon introduced to Temple Emanu-El, setting precedents which proclaimed the principles of "classical" Reform Judaism in America. In 1848, the German vernacular spoken by the congregants replaced the traditional liturgical language of Hebrew in prayer books. Instrumental music, formerly banished from synagogues, was first played during services in 1849, when an organ was installed. In 1853, the tradition of calling congregants for aliyot was abolished (but retained for bar mitzvah ceremonies), leaving the reading of the Torah exclusively to the presiding rabbi. By 1869 the Chrystie Street building became the home of Congregation Beth Israel Bikur Cholim.[3][4]

Further changes were made in 1854 when Temple Emanu-El moved to 12th Street. Most controversially, mixed seating was adopted, allowing families to sit together, instead of segregating the sexes on opposite sides of a mechitza. After much heated debate, the congregation also resolved to observe Rosh Hashanah for only one day rather than the customary two.

In 1857, after the death of Founding Rabbi Leo Merzbacher, German speakers still formed a majority of the congregation and appointed another German Jew, Samuel Adler, to be his successor.

 
Interior of the old (1868) Temple Emanu-El then on 43rd Street and 5th Avenue.
 
The Temple Beth-El congregation (synagogue pictured) at 76th Street merged in 1927 with Congregation Emanu-El.
 
The Temple Beth-El synagogue seen from Central Park.

In 1868, Emanu-El erected a new building for the first time, a Moorish Revival structure by Leopold Eidlitz, assisted by Henry Fernbach at 43rd Street and 5th Avenue after raising about $650,000.[5]

The congregation hired its first English-speaking rabbi, Gustav Gottheil, in 1873, from Manchester, England.

In 1888, Joseph Silverman became the first American-born rabbi to officiate at the Temple. He was a member of the second class to graduate from Hebrew Union College.

The 1870s and 1880s witnessed further departures from traditional ritual. Men could now pray without wearing kippot to cover their heads. Bar mitzvah ceremonies were no longer held. The Union Prayer Book was adopted in 1895.

Felix Adler, the founder of the Ethical Culture movement, came to New York as a child when his father, Samuel L. Adler, took over as the rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, an appointment that placed him among the most influential figures in Reform Judaism.

In 1924, Lazare Saminsky became music director of the Temple, and made it a center of Jewish music. He also composed and commissioned music for the Temple services.

1926–present edit

In January 1926, the 1868 synagogue was sold for $6,500,000 to the developer Benjamin Winter Sr., who sold it to Joseph Durst in December 1926 for $7,000,000.[6][7] In 1927, Durst demolished the building to make room for commercial development.[8]

Emanu-El merged with New York's Temple Beth-El on April 11, 1927; they are considered co-equal parents of the current Emanu-El. The new synagogue was built in 1928 to 1930.

By the 1930s, Emanu-El began to absorb large numbers of Jews whose families had arrived in poverty from Eastern Europe and brought with them their Yiddish language and devoutly Orthodox religious heritage. In contrast, Emanu-El was dominated by affluent German-speaking Jews whose liberal approaches to Judaism originated in Western Europe, where civic emancipation had enticed Jews to discard many of their ethnoreligious customs and embrace the lifestyles of their neighbors. For the descendants of Eastern European immigrants, joining Temple Emanu-El often signified their upward mobility and progress in assimilating into American society. However, the intake of these new congregants also helped to slow or halt, if not force a limited retreat from, the 'rejectionist' attitude which "classical" Reform had espoused towards traditional ritual.

From 1934 to 1947, Dr. Samuel H. Goldenson (1878–1962) was the senior rabbi of Temple Emanu-El. He was president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis from 1933 to 1935.[9]

In 1973, David M. Posner joined the rabbinical staff. Known for his active involvement in the community,[10] he served as the congregation's Senior Emeritus rabbi after his retirement.

Synagogues of Congregation Emanu-El edit

 
Stained glass windows designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany for the 1868 Temple Emanu-El; now installed in the current building's chapel

Congregation Emanu-El has occupied five buildings throughout its history:

The current building at Fifth Avenue and 65th Street was built between 1928 and 1929[11][12] and consecrated in 1930.[13]

Notable members and funerals edit

References edit

  1. ^ . Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
  2. ^ Rachel Wischnitzer, Synagogue Architecture in the United States, Jewish Publication Society of America, 1955, p. 48
  3. ^ New York as it was and as it is, Pub. D van Nostrand, New York, 1876,p. 131
  4. ^ "John Disturnell". from the original on 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
  5. ^ Kathryn E. Holliday, Leopold Eidlitz: Architecture and Idealism in the Gilded Age. New York: W. W. Norton, 2008, p. 71 ff.
  6. ^ The San Bernardino County Sun: "N. Y. Church Site Sold for $7,000,000 for Skyscraper Use" 2016-08-04 at the Wayback Machine December 15, 1926 | Temple Emanu-El, at the north-cast corner of Forty-third street, conceded to be one of the most valuable pieces of real estate of its size in the world, has been sold to Joseph Durst, vice president of the Capital National bank, at a valuation of $7,000,000, almost $370 a square foot. Mr. Durst plans to erect a 40-story office building on the site when he gains possession In May, 1928. The temple was purchased from the congregation last January by Benjamin Winter, real estate dealer, for $6,500,000.
  7. ^ The Durst Organization: Timeline 2015-12-25 at the Wayback Machine retrieved July 8, 2012
  8. ^ The Museum of the City of New York: "Temple Emanu-El" by Lauren Robinson 2013-11-05 at the Wayback Machine October 11, 2011
  9. ^ "Samuel H. Goldenson Papers". Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives. from the original on 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2019-09-16.
  10. ^ Lipman, Steve (23 October 2018). "The Consummate Congregational Rabbi". jewishweek.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  11. ^ . Archived from the original on 2008-07-19.
  12. ^ "Temple Emanu-El".
  13. ^ "2,500 at Dedication of Temple Emanu-el; Rabbis and Officers of the Congregation in Ceremony atNew House of Worship". The New York Times. January 11, 1930. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  14. ^ "The Lehmans? They've moved on. Sad? A little". The Forward. 18 September 2008. from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  15. ^ "Harvey Blau obituary". Legacy.com. The New York Times. from the original on 22 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  16. ^ "Samuel Bloomingdale, 94, Dies; Department Store Head, '05-'30; Son of Co-Founder Was an Innovator in Retailing -- Active in Charities". timesmachine.nytimes.com. from the original on 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  17. ^ "Lefcourt Funeral Services Here Today". The Jewish Telegraphic Agency. November 15, 1932. from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  18. ^ Jewish Women's Archive: "Adele Lewisohn Lehman 1882–1965" by Laurie Sokol 2018-08-09 at the Wayback Machine retrieved October 30, 2015
  19. ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths Moses, William A." The New York Times. January 8, 2002. from the original on February 26, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  20. ^ "Chester Roth, Dies at 75; Founded Hosiery Concern That Became Kayser‐Roth". The New York Times. July 27, 1977. from the original on August 25, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  21. ^ "Simon Rothschild, Merchant Leader, Dies in 75th Year". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 6, 1936. from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  22. ^ "Frank Russek Dies at 73; Founder of 5th Ave. Firm". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 11, 1948. from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  23. ^ "Thousands Gather At Schiff Funeral". The New York Times. September 29, 1920. from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2020.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Temple Emanu-El, New York.
  • Official website

40°46′4.89″N 73°58′10.89″W / 40.7680250°N 73.9696917°W / 40.7680250; -73.9696917

January 01, 1970
congregation, emanu, york, this, article, about, jewish, congregation, organization, congregation, former, synagogue, 43rd, street, fifth, avenue, temple, emanu, york, 1868, congregation, current, synagogue, east, 65th, street, temple, emanu, york, york, 1930,. This article is about the Jewish congregation or organization For the congregation s former synagogue at 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue see Temple Emanu El New York 1868 For the congregation s current synagogue at East 65th Street see Temple Emanu El of New York New York 1930 For other uses see Emanu El disambiguation Congregation Emanu El of New York is the first Reform Jewish congregation in New York City It has served as a flagship congregation in the Reform branch of Judaism since its founding in 1845 The congregation uses Temple Emanu El of New York one of the largest synagogues in the world Congregation Emanu El of New YorkThe current synagogue building completed in 1930Formation1845 179 years ago 1845 TypeReligious congregationPurposeReform JudaismLocationUpper East Side Manhattan New York CityMembershipAbout 2 000 familiesSenior RabbiJoshua M DavidsonMain organBoard of DirectorsVolunteersYesWebsiteemanuelnyc wbr org The congregation currently comprises about 2 000 families and has been led by Senior Rabbi Joshua M Davidson since July 2013 1 The congregation is located at 1 East 65th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan The Temple houses the Bernard Museum of Judaica the congregation s collection of more than 1 000 Jewish ceremonial art objects Contents 1 History 1 1 1845 1926 1 2 1926 present 2 Synagogues of Congregation Emanu El 3 Notable members and funerals 4 References 5 External linksHistory edit1845 1926 edit nbsp Temple Emanu El Front Facade The congregation was founded by 33 mainly German Jews who assembled for services in April 1845 in a rented hall near Grand and Clinton Streets in Manhattan s Lower East Side The first services they held were highly traditional The Temple as it became known moved several times as the congregation grew larger and wealthier In October 1847 the congregation moved to a former Methodist church at 56 Chrystie Street The congregation commissioned architect Leopold Eidlitz to draw up plans for renovation of the church into a synagogue 2 Radical departures from Orthodox religious practice were soon introduced to Temple Emanu El setting precedents which proclaimed the principles of classical Reform Judaism in America In 1848 the German vernacular spoken by the congregants replaced the traditional liturgical language of Hebrew in prayer books Instrumental music formerly banished from synagogues was first played during services in 1849 when an organ was installed In 1853 the tradition of calling congregants for aliyot was abolished but retained for bar mitzvah ceremonies leaving the reading of the Torah exclusively to the presiding rabbi By 1869 the Chrystie Street building became the home of Congregation Beth Israel Bikur Cholim 3 4 Further changes were made in 1854 when Temple Emanu El moved to 12th Street Most controversially mixed seating was adopted allowing families to sit together instead of segregating the sexes on opposite sides of a mechitza After much heated debate the congregation also resolved to observe Rosh Hashanah for only one day rather than the customary two In 1857 after the death of Founding Rabbi Leo Merzbacher German speakers still formed a majority of the congregation and appointed another German Jew Samuel Adler to be his successor nbsp Interior of the old 1868 Temple Emanu El then on 43rd Street and 5th Avenue nbsp The Temple Beth El congregation synagogue pictured at 76th Street merged in 1927 with Congregation Emanu El nbsp The Temple Beth El synagogue seen from Central Park In 1868 Emanu El erected a new building for the first time a Moorish Revival structure by Leopold Eidlitz assisted by Henry Fernbach at 43rd Street and 5th Avenue after raising about 650 000 5 The congregation hired its first English speaking rabbi Gustav Gottheil in 1873 from Manchester England In 1888 Joseph Silverman became the first American born rabbi to officiate at the Temple He was a member of the second class to graduate from Hebrew Union College The 1870s and 1880s witnessed further departures from traditional ritual Men could now pray without wearing kippot to cover their heads Bar mitzvah ceremonies were no longer held The Union Prayer Book was adopted in 1895 Felix Adler the founder of the Ethical Culture movement came to New York as a child when his father Samuel L Adler took over as the rabbi of Temple Emanu El an appointment that placed him among the most influential figures in Reform Judaism In 1924 Lazare Saminsky became music director of the Temple and made it a center of Jewish music He also composed and commissioned music for the Temple services 1926 present edit In January 1926 the 1868 synagogue was sold for 6 500 000 to the developer Benjamin Winter Sr who sold it to Joseph Durst in December 1926 for 7 000 000 6 7 In 1927 Durst demolished the building to make room for commercial development 8 Emanu El merged with New York s Temple Beth El on April 11 1927 they are considered co equal parents of the current Emanu El The new synagogue was built in 1928 to 1930 By the 1930s Emanu El began to absorb large numbers of Jews whose families had arrived in poverty from Eastern Europe and brought with them their Yiddish language and devoutly Orthodox religious heritage In contrast Emanu El was dominated by affluent German speaking Jews whose liberal approaches to Judaism originated in Western Europe where civic emancipation had enticed Jews to discard many of their ethnoreligious customs and embrace the lifestyles of their neighbors For the descendants of Eastern European immigrants joining Temple Emanu El often signified their upward mobility and progress in assimilating into American society However the intake of these new congregants also helped to slow or halt if not force a limited retreat from the rejectionist attitude which classical Reform had espoused towards traditional ritual From 1934 to 1947 Dr Samuel H Goldenson 1878 1962 was the senior rabbi of Temple Emanu El He was president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis from 1933 to 1935 9 In 1973 David M Posner joined the rabbinical staff Known for his active involvement in the community 10 he served as the congregation s Senior Emeritus rabbi after his retirement Synagogues of Congregation Emanu El edit nbsp Stained glass windows designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany for the 1868 Temple Emanu El now installed in the current building s chapel Congregation Emanu El has occupied five buildings throughout its history Temple Emanu El New York 1847 Temple Emanu El New York 1854 Temple Emanu El New York 1868 Temple Beth El New York City Temple Emanu El of New York 1930 The current building at Fifth Avenue and 65th Street was built between 1928 and 1929 11 12 and consecrated in 1930 13 Notable members and funerals editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Congregation Emanu El of New York news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Benjamin Altheimer Charles Benenson Robert A Bernhard 14 Dorothy Lehman Bernhard Milton H Biow Leon Black Harvey R Blau 15 Paul Block Michael Bloomberg Lyman Bloomingdale Samuel Bloomingdale 16 Nathan Burkan Benjamin Buttenwieser Barbaralee Diamonstein Spielvogel Simon M Ehrlich Lee K Frankel Alfred Frankenthaler Charles Frohman Bernard Gimbel Alan Ace Greenberg Joseph B Greenhut David M Heyman Martin Kimmel Ed Koch Alfred J Koeppel Andrew Lack Edgar J Lauer Abraham E Lefcourt 17 Adele Lewisohn Lehman 18 Herbert H Lehman Irving Lehman Samuel D Levy Walter Lippmann Solomon Loeb Louis Marshall Bernard H Mendik William A Moses 19 Adolph Ochs Milton Petrie Victor Potamkin Joan Rivers Chester H Roth 20 Simon F Rothschild 21 Frank Russek 22 Mel Sachs David Sarnoff Jacob Schiff 23 M Lincoln Schuster Sime Silverman Carl Spielvogel Eliot Spitzer Alfred Steckler Oscar S Straus Lewis L Strauss Sarah Lavanburg Straus Kay Thompson Harold Uris Felix M Warburg Frieda Schiff Warburg Paul F Warburg Jeff ZuckerReferences edit Emanu El Home Archived from the original on 2020 04 17 Retrieved 2007 05 14 Rachel Wischnitzer Synagogue Architecture in the United States Jewish Publication Society of America 1955 p 48 New York as it was and as it is Pub D van Nostrand New York 1876 p 131 John Disturnell Archived from the original on 2009 01 06 Retrieved 2009 03 16 Kathryn E Holliday Leopold Eidlitz Architecture and Idealism in the Gilded Age New York W W Norton 2008 p 71 ff The San Bernardino County Sun N Y Church Site Sold for 7 000 000 for Skyscraper Use Archived 2016 08 04 at the Wayback Machine December 15 1926 Temple Emanu El at the north cast corner of Forty third street conceded to be one of the most valuable pieces of real estate of its size in the world has been sold to Joseph Durst vice president of the Capital National bank at a valuation of 7 000 000 almost 370 a square foot Mr Durst plans to erect a 40 story office building on the site when he gains possession In May 1928 The temple was purchased from the congregation last January by Benjamin Winter real estate dealer for 6 500 000 The Durst Organization Timeline Archived 2015 12 25 at the Wayback Machine retrieved July 8 2012 The Museum of the City of New York Temple Emanu El by Lauren Robinson Archived 2013 11 05 at the Wayback Machine October 11 2011 Samuel H Goldenson Papers Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives Archived from the original on 2018 06 29 Retrieved 2019 09 16 Lipman Steve 23 October 2018 The Consummate Congregational Rabbi jewishweek timesofisrael com Retrieved 2019 02 20 Temple Emanu El New York City New York Archived from the original on 2008 07 19 Temple Emanu El 2 500 at Dedication of Temple Emanu el Rabbis and Officers of the Congregation in Ceremony atNew House of Worship The New York Times January 11 1930 Retrieved April 20 2024 The Lehmans They ve moved on Sad A little The Forward 18 September 2008 Archived from the original on 17 March 2016 Retrieved 28 March 2016 Harvey Blau obituary Legacy com The New York Times Archived from the original on 22 January 2018 Retrieved 21 January 2018 Samuel Bloomingdale 94 Dies Department Store Head 05 30 Son of Co Founder Was an Innovator in Retailing Active in Charities timesmachine nytimes com Archived from the original on 2023 05 22 Retrieved 2020 12 07 Lefcourt Funeral Services Here Today The Jewish Telegraphic Agency November 15 1932 Archived from the original on March 5 2021 Retrieved August 20 2020 Jewish Women s Archive Adele Lewisohn Lehman 1882 1965 by Laurie Sokol Archived 2018 08 09 at the Wayback Machine retrieved October 30 2015 Paid Notice Deaths Moses William A The New York Times January 8 2002 Archived from the original on February 26 2019 Retrieved February 25 2019 Chester Roth Dies at 75 Founded Hosiery Concern That Became Kayser Roth The New York Times July 27 1977 Archived from the original on August 25 2019 Retrieved August 26 2019 Simon Rothschild Merchant Leader Dies in 75th Year The Brooklyn Daily Eagle January 6 1936 Archived from the original on March 4 2021 Retrieved August 8 2020 Frank Russek Dies at 73 Founder of 5th Ave Firm The Brooklyn Daily Eagle December 11 1948 Archived from the original on June 4 2020 Retrieved June 4 2020 Thousands Gather At Schiff Funeral The New York Times September 29 1920 Archived from the original on August 18 2020 Retrieved August 16 2020 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Temple Emanu El New York Official website 40 46 4 89 N 73 58 10 89 W 40 7680250 N 73 9696917 W 40 7680250 73 9696917 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Congregation Emanu El of New York amp oldid 1219936090, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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