Congregation Talmud Torah Adereth El

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Congregation Talmud Torah Adereth El, or Adereth El for short, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 135 East 29th Street, New York City, New York USA. Founded in 1857, it claims to be the oldest synagogue in its original location with continuous services at the same location.^[1]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Founding and early years 1.2 Late 19th century 2 Rabbis 3 Congregation 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

The Adereth El synagogue was founded by German Jewish immigrants in the fall of 1857. The synagogue opened its current building on 29th Street in 1863, having purchased the lot for $5,000.^[2]

[edit] Founding and early years

On the holiday of Shavuos in 1857, a small group of German Jews met on 23rd Street and 4th Avenue and founded Congregation M'Adereth El (sic - the "M" was later dropped from the name).

The original seal of the congregation reads in English, "80 years of the Indep." This seal appears later in a document in the hall of Records, October 31, Chamber Street, 7th floor (SP19100), N.Y.C. The document is a petition to the Supreme Court of the State of New York dated July 23, 1869, asking for an order authorizing the Congregation to mortgage the property to the Mutual Life Insurance Co. The document is signed by the President, Morris Leon and Samuel Sulke, Vice-president. The document also gives a detailed description of the exact location and boundaries of the building on 29th Street.

The first minutes of the Congregation begin with the date October 18, 1859 and are written in German. They specify that the President was Mr. Mode, the Vice-president was Mr. Sulke, the Trustees were Mr. Gluck, Mr. Abraham, Mr. Cattlow, Mr. Littman, and Mr. T. Cohn was Secretary. Their income from October 1858 to October 1859 was $361.31 and their disbursements were $315.67, leaving a balance of $45.64. The Congregation decided to celebrate the evening of Hoshana Rabba by learning and serving refreshments during the night. On April 16, Mr. Mode was re-elected President by 18 votes. On August 5, 1860 it is recorded that the Congregation rented a hall in College House for the High Holy Days.

In a letter sent by Abraham L. Danish, an attorney, to the Congregation, there is the following statement of the record of Conveyance of the Congregation: "The Congregation was incorporated May 15, 1863. The trustees who were elected by the majority vote for the purpose of incorporating the religious society were as follows: Louis Silver, Joseph Unger and Solomon Frederick. The place of worship where whey worshipped then, was at Number 106 East 23rd Street, N.Y.C. (now occupied by Roth Brothers, watchmakers). The first meeting was held on April 5th, 1863. The certificate of incorporation as a religious society was filed in New York County on May 15th, 1863. The certificate was drawn on April 6th, 1863."

[edit] Late 19th century

In 1860 the Congregation decided to acquire a second Sefer Torah to be purchased by Mr. Frederick who would write to Germany for that purpose. The words "Sefer Torah" in the minutes is written in Hebrew script. On March 1861 the assets of the Congregation were insured with a "good" insurance company, for $200. A committee of six was appointed to purchase burial ground from Congregation Shaare Zedek (now located on 212 West 93rd Street). The President, Mr. Gluck and the Vice-president, Sam Sulke, were thanked for their loan to the Congregation to help pay for the purchase of the burial ground. On August 1861 a constitution was written. The Congregation agreed to buy two Etrogs costing no more than $2.50. On April 1862 it was resolved to obtain a charter, and this required a modification of the original Constitution.

The winter of 1862 must have been a very cold one, for a motion was made to buy a stove to cost no more than $10 so that the Synagogue should be heated and the cost of the heating should not exceed "two shillings." The finance committee in these early days of the Congregation was called Cheshbon Tzedek.

In February 1863, a motion was made to seek new quarters to build a new Synagogue. On May 1, 1864 at the inauguration of the new President, Charles Misch, the old President, Mr. Gluck turned over to the incoming President the following: 1 Bank Book $567, 2nd Bank Book $300, Synagogue contract with a M. Miller (Mr. Miller was the landlord of the old Synagogue), contract of the cemetery, permit book of the funerals, seal of the Congregation, Yad (pointer used for Torah reading) Synagogue charter, President's chair and a tenth item which is not readable.

On June 12, 1864 Mr. Gluck reported that the Congregation bought a lot 25 x 95 for $5000. The lot was purchased from Elizabeth E. Sandes and Joshua C. Sandes, June 17, 1864. Recorded on July 14th, 1864 in New York County, liber 905, page 378 of Conveyances, Section 3, Block 885, Lot 32. The deed for the property was to be given only after the erection of the synagogue building. Scrip was printed and issued to the members to help defray the cost of the lot and construction of the Synagogue. A great deal of discussion took place as to the exact location for the Holy Ark. The new synagogue had 16 windows and it was decided to build a gallery on three sides for the women. Mr. Wolf Lippman gave a mortgage of $7500, the interest to be seen as a donation of the congregation. This mortgage was later transferred to the Mutual Life Insurance Company which we have previously mentioned in a document as a petition to the Supreme Court of the State of N.Y. Appeals were made to various societies to help the Congregation carry the financial burden of the project. A donation of $50 was received from Achim Rahammim Society and other societies. Congregation B'Nai Joshuran expressed an interest to buy the equipment of the old synagogue. The Chinuch or dedication committee consisted of Mr. S. Gluck, chairman, S. Sulke, J. Kaufmann, Mr. Leyziger, Leo Lippman, R.J. Cohn, Silberstein and Silber. At this time the Congregation printed 500 tickets for the High Holy Days, 300 men and 200 women.

The Congregation at this time made a contribution of $30 for the construction of the Chapel at the Sharare Tzedek Cemetery. Mr. S. Louis and Charles Misch were appointed as delegates to the Board of Delegates of American Israelite. This Board was organized in 1859 in New York City and was modeled after the board of Deputies of the British Jews founded in 1760 so that the Jews could speak as a united body for the redress of grievances.

A donation of $200 was made to the Relief Fund of Eretz Israel. In November 1866 Chevra Adereth el Bikur Cholim was organized. On June 1867 the name of the Congregation was changed to Congregation Adereth El. The Congregation decided to conduct the services in the new Synagogue with dignity, solemnity and order. In September 1867, $165 was raised by the members and donated to the widows and orphans of New Orleans and Galveston who were stricken at that time with an epidemic.

On June 9. 1899 there is recorded the death of the Vice-president L. Cohen. A discussion took place as to whether it would be appropriate to drape his seat in the synagogue with black cloth for 30 days. This request was denied because it was not in accordance with the Jewish law. However, when the hearse passed the Synagogue, the doors of the Synagogue were opened. On Nov. 14, 1899 it was decided that the prayer of Hanosen Teshua (prayer for the welfare of the Government) at Saturday Services was to be read in Hebrew instead of German. On November 27, 1892, the Chevrar Kadisha of Adereth El was founded by Mr. Meyer. In November 1893 there were 37 members. In February 1894 there were 35 members. On February 10, 1895 a Bar Mitzvah certificate was issued for the first time. A woman recently came to our office (in 1957) with a document by which she wished to substantiate her husband's age so that he could collect social security. The document was a Bar Mitzvah certificate issued by the Congregation dated 10th day July 5067-1907 with the signatures of Rev. Dr. Max Fried, Julius Meyer, President and David Pollack, Secretary. On May 20 it was noted that tickets were received to help build Lebanon Hospital. On May 6, 1901 the by-laws were printed in German and in English.

[edit] Rabbis

Rabbi Sidney Kleiman is both the longest-serving and oldest active congregational rabbi in the United States. The 95-year old, now Adereth El’s rabbi emeritus, has served the congregation since 1939. In 1996, Rabbi Gideon Shloush joined Rabbi Kleiman in leading the congregation.

[edit] Congregation

Adereth El's current membership reflects the diversity of its neighborhood, Murray Hill. During the work week, many Jewish businessmen with nearby offices pray at the synagogue. The congregation now includes a number of young, single members due to the growing popularity of Murray Hill with this population. Of note, many Adereth El members are students and faculty at the nearby New York University (NYU) medical center. The synagogue’s proximity to the hospital also brings in many hospital patients’ visitors as guests at Adereth El services. In fact, the synagogue typically has multiple weekly baby-naming ceremonies due to the large number of labor and delivery visitors. Additionally, due to Adereth El’s location near Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women, many Stern students regularly attend the synagogue’s services.

In 2007, the congregation marked its 150th anniversary with a series of celebrations. A lecture series highlighted the history of Jews in New York City. A gala dinner was held at the Battery Gardens Restaurant in Battery Park in March.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Synagogue website