Sutton Place Synagogue (Jewish Center for the United Nations) is a
Traditional Jewish congregation located at 225
East 51st Street in
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
,
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 ...
.
The congregation was founded in 1901 as Congregation "Beth Hamedrash Hachodosh Talmud Torah" (New House of Study for the Study of the Torah).
Its first religious leader, Rabbi Meyer Freeman
published a book entitled "The Talmud" to raise money for a synagogue building. The congregation, originally founded 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 ...
Synagogue,
acquired a synagogue building at 221 East 51st Street from Congregation Orach Chaim in 1906.
In 1950, Rabbi David B. Kahane the youngest student to ever be granted a Rabbinical degree from Yeshiva University and a Columbia University P.H.D candidate became the congregations spiritual and longest tenured leader.
On May 12, 1951, Prime Minister
David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the name ...
visited the then called East Fifty-First Street Synagogue, where he received blessings from Rabbi Kahane.
On January 24, 1965, Sutton Place Synagogue announced plans for the construction of a Jewish Center for the United Nations, complementing similar religious centers near the
UN Headquarters
The United Nations is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States, and the complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1951. It is in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neig ...
. The announcement was made by U. S. Sen.
Jacob K. Javits
Jacob Koppel Javits ( ; May 18, 1904 – March 7, 1986) was an American lawyer and politician. During his time in politics, he represented the state of New York in both houses of the United States Congress. A member of the Republican Party, he a ...
, the honorary chairman of the project.
The Inaugural Dinner, kicking off the Capital Campaign, was held at the
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze ...
on Sunday, May 2, 1965. The Honorary Chairmen were United Nations Ambassador
Arthur Goldberg
Arthur Joseph Goldberg (August 8, 1908January 19, 1990) was an American statesman and jurist who served as the 9th U.S. Secretary of Labor, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the 6th United States Ambassador to ...
and US Senators
Jacob K. Javits
Jacob Koppel Javits ( ; May 18, 1904 – March 7, 1986) was an American lawyer and politician. During his time in politics, he represented the state of New York in both houses of the United States Congress. A member of the Republican Party, he a ...
and
Abraham A. Ribicoff
Abraham Alexander Ribicoff (April 9, 1910 – February 22, 1998) was an American Democratic Party politician from the state of Connecticut. He represented Connecticut in the United States House of Representatives and Senate and was the 80th ...
.
Ambassador Goldberg said this in his opening remarks for the evening:
I am very much pleased to participate this evening in the Inaugural dinner for the Jewish Center for the United Nations. This dinner appropriately takes place on the 60th anniversary of the Sutton Place Synagogue Thus It both commemorates the Sutton Place Synagogue's venerable history of religious service and marks the extension of that worthy tradition through the creation of a center, which will serve both local and international Jewish communities. On an occasion such as this one, it is fitting to renew our dedication to the United Nations.
Abby Rockefeller, in 1971, purchased property from the synagogue to develop Greenacre Park and, as a result, the congregation purchased property on East 51st and 52nd Streets. The congregation moved to the property on East 52nd street while the construction occurred on the new building on 51st street.
On September 3, 1975, the congregation opened a new synagogue building and became known as "Sutton Place Synagogue - The Jewish Center for the United Nations."
From the late 70's to early 80's Sutton Place Synagogue began to establish itself as the leading destination for singles, young couples and families. By 1985, they had grown the numbers of members to over 1850 families as their High Holiday service grew to over 2500 congregants when they moved their secondary services to the Waldorf-Astoria. Established by Rabbi Kahane in 1981, the synagogue's most famous program, the Jewish Town Hall, put the congregation at the forefront of political discourse. Cardinal-designate
John O’Connor,
Jackie Mason
Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza; yi, יעקב משה מזא; June 9, 1928 – July 24, 2021) was an American stand-up comedian and actor.
His 1986 one-man show ''The World According to Me!'' won a Special Tony Award, an Outer Critics Cir ...
,
Ellie Wiesel,
Henry A. Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the preside ...
, and
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006.
S ...
all participated in a Jewish Town Hall at Suton Place Synagogue.
On December 11, 1985, the synagogue became the owners of 229 East 51st Street, the current site of the Sachs Family Educational Center housing the
Kaplan Kaplan may refer to:
Places
* Kapłań, Poland
* Kaplan, Louisiana, U.S.
* Kaplan Medical Center, a hospital in Rehovot, Israel
* Kaplan Street, in Tel Aviv, Israel
* Mount Kaplan, Antarctica
* Kaplan Arena, at the College of William & Mary in W ...
Nursery School and the Nathaniel and Fanny Stricks Jackson Religious School.
In 1991, Rabbi David Kahane, who was referred to as one of the three most prominent Rabbis in New York and America's most powerful and eloquent speaker for over four decades, suffered a stroke.
His son, Rabbi Reuven Kahane Esq. served successfully as the synagogue Rabbi for almost three years before moving to Jerusalem and becoming a prominent entrepreneur and Real Estate Developer in Israel and New York.
https://www.amimagazine.org/2021/08/18/reuven-kahane/
Rabbi David Kahane died in January 1996.
In 1994, the congregation elected Rabbi Richard Thaler to be its religious leader. Rabbi Thaler died on November 27, 1997.
In 1998, Rabbi Allen Schranz became the religious leader of Sutton Place Synagogue. During his time as Rabbi of the congregation he instituted a film salon series and short story course, inviting such authors as
Pete Hamill
Pete Hamill (born William Peter Hamill; June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a New York City journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture th ...
and
Stephen Dubner. Rabbi Schranz died on April 16, 2015.
Since 2012, the synagogue has been led by Rabbi Ain.
References
External links
*
{{coord, 40.756089, -73.969193, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NY, display=title
Conservative synagogues in New York City
Turtle Bay, Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
1901 establishments in New York City