- B'nai Jeshurun (Manhattan, New York)
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Congregation B'nai Jeshurun Synagogue and Community HouseCongregation B'Nai, March 2009
Location: 257 W. 88th St. and 270 W. 89th St., New York, New York Coordinates: 40°47′24″N 73°58′35″W / 40.79°N 73.97639°WCoordinates: 40°47′24″N 73°58′35″W / 40.79°N 73.97639°W Area: 0.9 acres (0.36 ha) Built: 1917 Architect: Schneider,Walter S.; Et al. Architectural style: Late 19th And Early 20th Century American Movements, Semitic Revival Governing body: Private NRHP Reference#: 89000474
[1]Added to NRHP: June 2, 1989 B'nai Jeshurun is a synagogue in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City.
Contents
History
Founded in 1825, Bnai Jeshurun was the second synagogue founded in New York and the third oldest Ashkenazi synagogue in the United States.
The synagogue was founded by a coalition of young members of congregation Shearith Israel and immigrants and the descendants of immigrants from the German and Polish lands. It was the stated intention to follow the "German and Polish minhag (rite)."[2] The order of prayers followed that of the Ashkenazi Great Synagogue of London and sought the guidance of the British chief Rabbi Solomon Hirschell on matters of ritual. The congregation dedicated its first building on Elm Street in Manhattan in 1827. In 1828, at a time of rapid growth in the New York Jewish community, a group left B'nai Jeshurun to found Ansche Chesed.[3] The first rabbi, Samuel Isaacs, was appointed in 1839. By 1850, the congregation had grown large enough to make it necessary to build a new synagogue on Green Street.
In 1865, the congregation moved yet again, to a new building on 34th Street, part of the site of the flagship Macy's store. And, driven by the rapid expansion of the city, yet again in 1885 to Madison Avenue at 65th Street. That building was designed by Rafael Guastavino and Schwarzmann & Buchman.
The present building, located at 257 West 88th Street between Broadway and West End Avenue was dedicated in 1917. It was designed by Henry B. Herts, a congregant and celebrated theater architect, with Walter S. Schneider.[4] In addition to its place on the National Register of Historic Places, the synagogue was included in the New York City Riverside Drive-West End Historic District created in 1990. The muqarna-studded ceiling was redesigned following its collapse during renovations in the early 1990s and was replaced with a future-invoking space frame back-lit to simulate a nighttime sky [2].
Affiliation
B'nai Jeshurun took a leading role in founding the Board of Directors of American Israelites in 1859 and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1886. When the Board of Delegates merged with the (Reform) Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1878 the congregation went along, but in 1884 it left the Reform Movement to join the United Synagogue of America, now the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. In 1889, the congregation published its own edition of the prayer book. In the 1990s the congregation left the Conservative movement and is now independent.
Contemporary
A spiritual and demographic renaissance began in 1985, with the arrival of Rabbi Marshall Meyer.
Notable clergy and members
- Rabbi Judah Leon Magnes
- Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise
- Rabbi Israel Goldstein
- Rabbi Marshall Meyer
- Rabbi Rolando Matalon
External links
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
- ^ Sarna, Jonathan, American Judaism, Yale University Press, 2004, p. 56.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Kathleen LaFrank (March 1989). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Congregation B'nai Jeshurun Synagogue and Community House". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=5169. Retrieved March 25, 2011. See also: "Accompanying six photos". http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=5168.
Categories:- 1917 architecture
- Synagogues in Manhattan
- Upper West Side
- Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan
- Neo-Byzantine synagogues
- Unaffiliated synagogues in New York City
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