Eldridge Street Synagogue
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| Eldridge Street Synagogue | |
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| (U.S. National Historic Landmark) | |
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| Location: | 12 Eldridge Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City, NY |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Built/Founded: | 1887 |
| Architect: | Herter Brothers |
| Architectural style(s): | Gothic, Romanesque |
| Designated as NHL: | June 19, 1996[1],[2] |
| Added to NRHP: | March 28, 1980[3] |
| NRHP Reference#: | 80002687 |
| Governing body: | Private synagogue |
The Eldridge Street Synagogue, built in 1887, is National Historic Landmark synagogue on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
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[edit] History
The Eldridge Street Synagogue was among the earliest synagogue buildings erected in the United States by Eastern European Jews. It opened at 12 Eldridge Street in New York's Lower East Side in 1887. The building was designed by the architects Peter and Francis William Herter, the Herter Brothers. The brothers subsequently received many commissions in the Lower East Side and incorporated elements from the synagogue, such as the stars of David, in their buildings, mainly tenements.[2] When completed, the synagogue was reviewed in the local press. Writers marveled at the imposing Moorish Revival building, with its 70-foot-high vaulted ceiling, magnificent stained-glass rose windows, elaborate brass fixtures and hand-stenciled walls.
Thousands participated in religious services in the building's heyday, from its opening through the 1920s. On High Holidays, police were stationed in the street to control the crowds. Rabbis of the congregation included the famed Rabbi Abraham Aharon Yudelovich, author of many works of Torah scholarship. Throughout these decades the Synagogue functioned not only as a house of worship but as an agency for acculturation, a place to welcome new Americans. Before the settlement houses were established and long afterward, poor people could come to be fed, secure a loan, learn about job and housing opportunities, and make arrangements to care for the sick and the dying. The Synagogue was, in this sense, a mutual aid society.
For fifty years, the Eldridge Street Synagogue flourished. Then membership began to dwindle as members moved to other areas, immigration quotas limited the number of new arrivals, and the Great Depression affected the congregants' fortunes. The exquisite main sanctuary was used less and less from the 1930s on. By the 1950s, with the rain leaking in and inner stairs unsound, the congregants cordoned off the sanctuary.
Without the resources needed to heat and maintain the sanctuary, they chose to worship downstairs in the more intimate house of study (Beth Midrash). The main sanctuary remained empty for twenty-five years, from approximately 1955 to 1980. Currently, after extensive renovations, evening services are held in the Beth Midrash and daytime services in the main sanctuary.
The Eldridge Street Synagogue was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1996.[1],[2]
[edit] Renovation and reopening
On December 2, 2007, after 20 years of renovation work that cost US$20 million, [4] the synagogue reopened to the public. It continues to serve as an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, with regular weekly services on the Sabbath and Holidays, and is also the Museum at Eldridge Street offering informative tours that relate to American Jewish history, the history of the Lower East Side and immigration. [5]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Eldridge Street Synagogue. National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service (2007-09-11).
- ^ a b c [http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/samples/ny/eldridge.pdf "Eldridge Street Synagogue", June 1, 1995, by Renee Newman, Maria Schlanger, and Amy E. WatermanPDF (270 KiB) National Historic Landmark Nomination]. National Park Service (1983).
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/01/arts/design/01eldr.html New York Times, December 1, 2007
- ^ Historic New York synagogue celebrates $20M restoration - Haaretz - Israel News
[edit] External links
- Eldridge Street Project homepage
- Eldridge Street Synagogue online tour
- Eldridge Street Congregation Homepage
- Eldridge Street Synagogue is at coordinates Coordinates:
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