First American-Roumanian congregation

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First American-Roumanian congregation
Basic information
Location 89-93 Rivington Street,
Lower East Side,
Manhattan, New York,
Flag of the United States United States
Geographic coordinates 40°43′13″N 73°59′20″W / 40.720227, -73.988869Coordinates: 40°43′13″N 73°59′20″W / 40.720227, -73.988869
Religious affiliation Orthodox Judaism
Functional status Destroyed
Architectural description
Architectural style Romanesque Revival
Year completed 1857 or 1888
Specifications
Capacity ~1800
(U.S. National Register of Historic Places)
Added to NRHP: March 12, 1998
NRHP Reference#: 98000239

First American-Roumanian congregation (also First Roumanian-American congregation, Congregation Shaarey Shomoyim, Congregation Shaarey Shamoyimor the Roumanishe Shul), was an Orthodox synagogue located at 89-93 Rivington Street in Manhattan, New York, on the Lower East Side.

Contents

[edit] Origins

Sources disagree as to the origins of both the Romanesque Revival[1] building and the congregation which owned it. According to some, the synagogue was originally built around 1857 as the German Evangelical Church, which was designed to convert Jews. It was bought in 1864 by Shaaray Hashomayim, New York's oldest Orthodox German-Jewish congregation. In 1890 it reverted back to a church when a Methodist mission society moved the Allen Street Memorial Church, though in 1902, it was finally bought by Congregation Shaarey Shamoyim.[2][3]

An article in The New York Times, however, says the structure was built as a church in the 1860s,[4] and a number of sources state that in the 2000s the building was around 140[5] or 150[1][6] years old.

Other sources, however, say that it was Congregation Shaarey Shamoyim which was founded in 1860 on nearby Hester Street. The synagogue building was constructed in 1888 as the Allen Street Methodist Episcopal Church as a ministry intended to convert Jews. Finding few converts, the church sold its building in 1890[7] or in the early 1900s to Congregation Shaarey Shamoyim.[8]

Still other sources say that the congregation was organized in 1885.[9]

Regardless of its origins, when the building was acquired congregants who contributed as little as $10 towards the purchase were honored with having their names engraved on four marble slabs in the stairway to the main sanctuary (the most generous gift being $500, at a time when $10 was two-weeks pay).[5]

[edit] "Cantor's Carnegie Hall"

The synagogue's sanctuary, seating approximately 1,800,[10] contained multiple levels to separate men from women and, with such a lofted ceiling, it became renowned for its acoustics. Known as "the Cantor's Carnegie Hall," the synagogue became a center for cantorial music, and many of the greatest cantors of the 20th century led services there. Yossele Rosenblatt and Moshe Koussevitzky began their American careers there, and Moishe Oysher "the greatest of all popularizers of cantorial singing", was a cantor there as well. Jan Peerce and Richard Tucker were also cantors there before becoming famous opera singers.[7] Choir members included Red Buttons and Eddie Cantor,[11] and George Burns was a member.[12]

The congregation's membership peaked in the 1940s, when it numbered in the thousands.[8]

[edit] Decline

With the dissipation of the Jewish population out of the Lower East Side during the latter half of the 20th century, the synagogue's constituency dwindled. By 1996, the membership was down to around two dozen,[10] and the synagogue's leader, Rabbi Jacob Spiegel began holding services in the small social hall in the basement, as the main sanctuary had become too expensive to maintain.[4]

In 1998 the synagogue building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[13]

After suffering a heart attack in 2001, Spiegel died, leaving charge of the synagogue to the youngest of his three sons, Rabbi Shmuel Spiegel.[4] In June of 2003 the corner of Rivington Street and Ludlow Street near the synagogue location, and the stretch of Rivington in front of the synagogue, was co-named "Rabbi Yaakov Spiegel Way."[14]

At the time of Jacob Spiegel's death, the roof had long been in bad shape, and in 2001 was threatening to collapse. In December, 2001, Shmuel Speigel managed to raise $25,000 for emergency repairs,[5] but by 2004 the regular membership still hovered around 40.[5]

[edit] Collapse

In January of 2006, the roof of the synagogue caved in, severely damaging the main sanctuary. No one was injured, since services had long since been held in the basement.[1] In a press release, the National Trust for Historic Preservation stated

The roof collapse at First Roumanian-American Synagogue this week demonstrates that houses of worship must have access to necessary technical assistance, staff and board training, and the development of new funding sources in order to save these landmarks of spirituality, cultural tradition, and community service.[15]

Because the synagogue had never been registered as a National Historic Landmark, it was thereafter demolished in March 2006.[1]

[edit] Controversy

The destruction of the synagogue generated widespread criticism among conservationists. A New York Times article states that Peg Breen, president of the New York Landmarks Conservancy said congregational leaders "had refused offers of help, including one of up to $10,000 from the conservancy and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The money would have been designated for engineering work to determine whether the roof could be replaced." Holly Kaye, a consultant to the Lower East Side Conservancy, said that in 1997 the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation had made an offer of $280,000 to "help shore up the roof, which was already at risk of collapse then."[6]

According to a Wall Street Journal article, however, Breen stated that the Conservancy had only "paid for a building conditions survey and commissioned [a write up for] a national register description that would make the synagogue eligible for New York state government aid." In addition, the New York Landmarks Conservancy had only offered a grant of $4,000, and the Lower East Side Conservancy had only helped "apply for a state grant of $280,000."[8]

The congregation, then under the leadership of Jacob Spiegel, rejected these offers of assistance.[6][8] According to The Wall Street Journal, Shmuel Speigel was not sure why the offers were rejected, as the records were "buried in the rubble". The Wall Street Journal speculates that "[p]erhaps congregants were fearful of signing the required covenant preventing the sale or alteration of the building for 20 years without the state's permission."[8] According to The New York Times, Speigel stated that the repairs required were so extensive that the congregation could not have made them even with this financial assistance.[6]

[edit] Film appearance

The synagogue can be seen in the motion picture I Am Josh Polonski's Brother by Raphael Nadjari, shot in 2000 in New York City and starring Richard Edson, and Rabbi Spiegel as himself.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Joselit, Jenna Weissman. "THE WONDERS OF AMERICA: Mourning the Loss of a Lower East Side Jewel", The Forward, April 14, 2006.
  2. ^ Bloch, Mark. First Roumanian-American Synagogue, Panmodern website. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
  3. ^ "First Roumanian-American Congregation (89 Rivington, between Orchard and Ludlow Streets). Built as a church in 1857 and home to successive religious groups (both Jewish and missionary Christian), the building was acquired in 1902 by Shaarey Shamoyim, the First-Roumanian American congregation." Other synagogues, Museum at Eldridge Street website. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
  4. ^ a b c Barry, Dan. "Prayers Rose, a Ceiling Fell, and a Rabbi's Hope Endures", The New York Times, January 25, 2006.
  5. ^ a b c d "Rivington synagogue hangs on, hoping for a revival", The Villager, Volume 73, Number 46, March 17 -23, 2004.
  6. ^ a b c d Lueck, Thomas J. "Questions Rise From the Dust of an Old Synagogue", The New York Times, March 7, 2006.
  7. ^ a b Sanders, Ronald. The Lower East Side: A Guide to Its Jewish Past with 99 New Photographs, Courier Dover Publications, 1979, p. 36.
  8. ^ a b c d e Vitullo-Martin, Julia. "Still Standing: The worshippers move out, the ceiling falls in. What to do?", The Wall Street Journal, February 3, 2006.
  9. ^ Homberger, Eric. New York City: A Cultural and Literary Companion, Signal Books, 2002, p. 85.
  10. ^ a b Jacobs, Andrew. "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: LOWER MANHATTAN;Rabbi Sees Hope for His Dwindling Congregation", The New York Times, June 9, 1996.
  11. ^ Lueck, Thomas J. and Moynihan, Colin. "Roof Collapses at Historic Lower Manhattan Synagogue", The New York Times, January 23, 2006.
  12. ^ Zakrzewski, Paul. "A Tale Of Two Synagogues", The Jewish Week, March 24, 2006.
  13. ^ National Register of Historic Places. "WEEKLY LIST OF ACTIONS TAKEN ON PROPERTIES: 3/09/98 THROUGH 3/13/98".
  14. ^ "Late Rivington rabbi gets his way", The Villager, Volume 73, Number 6, June 11-17, 2003.
  15. ^ National Trust for Historic Preservation. "National Trust Responds to First Roumanian-American Synagogue Roof Collapse", Press Release, January 27, 2006.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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