Congregation Rodeph Sholom is a

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Founded in 1842 by immigrants from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

lands, it is one of the

oldest synagogues in the United States Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

History

City directories from the year 1845 to 1853 list the congregation as having met at 156 Attorney Street. The first building constructed by Rodeph Sholom, at 8 Clinton Street on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

in 1853, is still in use by Congregation Chasam Sopher. It is the second-oldest surviving synagogue building in New York City. Rodeph Sholom moved to Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street, to a new Victorian Romanesque building designed by D. & J. Jardine and built in 1872-73 for

Ansche Chesed Ansche Chesed is a synagogue on the Upper West Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. History The congregation was founded in 1828 by a group of German, Dutch, and Polish Jews who split off from Congregation B'nai Jeshurun. Before 1850 ...

. A man named Simeon Abrahams conveyed land to the congregation for a burial ground in 1842. This cemetery was on 88th Street between Madison and Park Avenues. By 1879, there had not been a burial in twenty-six years. It was removed sometime in between 1897 and 1911. Rudolph Grossman was rabbi of Rodeph Sholom from 1896 until his death in 1927. In 1930, Rodeph Sholom moved to its present location at 7 West 83rd Street on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

. The move was supervised by Mitchell Fisher; then acting rabbi of the congregation, he would resign a month later due to what he described as "institutional restraint". The Romanesque temple house and sanctuary, designed by Charles B. Meyers, were built between 1929–30 and dedicated on

Purim Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jews, Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Boo ...

in March 1930. Benjamin H. Spratt is the senior

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

. Shoshana Nambi, the rabbinical intern and author of the best selling children’s book, The Very Best Sukkah (Kalaniot Books, 2022), grew up in the Ugandan

Abayudaya The Abayudaya (''Abayudaya'' is Luganda for "People of Judah") are a community in eastern Uganda, near the town of Mbale, who practice Judaism. They are devout in their practice, keeping kashrut and observing Shabbat. There are several differ ...

communities, and intends to become the first female rabbi for the community following her ordination from Hebrew Union College in 2024.

Day school

In 1970, Rodeph Sholom opened the first Reform movement Jewish day school in the United States. Its goal is to help

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

become self-aware adults in the world today. In 1972, the school expanded to move all the way through sixth grade, and since then it has expanded through eighth grade. The elementary and middle school stands on 79th Street, between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenue. Danny Karpf is Head of School.

Notable congregants

Joshua Lionel Cowen Joshua Lionel Cowen (; August 25, 1877 – September 8, 1965) was an American electrical engineer and inventor. Cowen attended two different colleges but never obtained a degree. He had a mechanical inclination and was interested in the principa ...

Robert Lansing (actor) Robert Lansing (; born Robert Howell Brown, June 5, 1928 – October 23, 1994) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Lansing is probably best remembered as the authoritarian Brigadier General Frank Savage in ''12 O'Clock Hi ...

* Joseph E. Newburger *

Mack Rossoff Mack Rossoff is an American financier and investment banker. He is Managing Director at GLC Advisors, LLC and the founder of Rossoff & Co., an independent financial advisory firm based in New York City. Rossoff has had a long career in investment b ...

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he ...

Randi Zuckerberg Randi Jayne Zuckerberg (born February 28, 1982) is an American businesswoman. She is the former director of market development and spokesperson for Facebook, and a sister of the company's co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Prior to working at ...

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodeph Shalom German-Jewish culture in New York City Synagogues in Manhattan Religious organizations established in 1842 Reform synagogues in New York City Romanesque Revival synagogues Upper West Side 1842 establishments in New York (state)

History

Day school

Notable congregants

See also

External links

References