Congregation Kol Israel is a historic Mordern Orthodox

Jewish 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 ...

congregation and

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 ...

, located at 603 St. John's Place in the Crown Heights neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

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 ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, in the United States.

History

The congregation was established in 1924 as an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

congregation. The synagogue was built in 1928 and is a vernacular "tenement synagogue." It is a small, two story rectangular building faced in random laid

fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...

. It was designed by Brooklyn architect Tobias Goldstone. ''See also:'' The western side of its midblock lot overlooks the open cut of the Franklin Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. The synagogue building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2009.

Eruv

In 2015, "after several failed attempts to bring in new members," the board hired Rabbi Sam Reinstein to "transform his ailing Modern Orthodox synagogue into a place young people consider cool." In addition to adding monthly art shows and after-parties to its programming, the synagogue in 2016 hosted "the first Jewish Comic Con," which featured comics artists Isaac Goodheart of Postal and

Jordan B. Gorfinkel Jordan B. Gorfinkel, also known as Gorf (born July 7, 1967), is an American comic book creator, newspaper cartoonist, and an animation and multi-media entertainment producer. He is also an a cappella singer, most notably with the groups Beat'acho ...

. In June 2016, an

eruv An eruv (; he, עירוב, , also transliterated as eiruv or erub, plural: eruvin or eruvim) is a ritual halakhic enclosure made for the purpose of allowing activities which are normally prohibited on Shabbat (due to the prohibition of ''ho ...

built to benefit the Kol Israel congregation "increased sixfold the area in which observant Jews can carry items, and, most importantly, push strollers during Shabbat," but was opposed by

Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

Chabad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...

neighbors who believed the neighborhood was geographically and

halakhically ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

impossible to enclose in an eruv. Chabad's Crown Heights

beth din A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...

rabbinical court issued a ruling rejecting the eruv as a "devastation of the Shabbat." A few months after the eruv was repeatedly vandalized and its organizers allegedly harassed, two Chabad members were arrested and charged with criminal mischief, although the New York City Police Department had previously said that they would be charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime and criminal tampering.

References

External links

* * 1924 establishments in New York City 20th-century synagogues in the United States Jewish organizations established in 1924 Modern Orthodox synagogues in New York (state) Moorish Revival architecture in New York City Moorish Revival synagogues Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Brooklyn Synagogues completed in 1928 Synagogues in Brooklyn Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City {{NYC-religious-struct-stub