Temple Israel of the City of New York 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 ...
congregation in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. It was incorporated in 1873
[ by ]German Jews
The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...
.[
It purchased its first ]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 ...
building Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
and 125th Street in 1887, constructed its own at 201 Lenox Avenue
Lenox Avenue – also named Malcolm X Boulevard; both names are officially recognized – is the primary north–south route through Harlem in the upper portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan. This two-way street runs from F ...
and 120th Street in 1907,[ and constructed another at 210 West 91st Street in 1920.][ Its current ]Brutalist
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
style building, at 112 East 75th Street on the Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
, was completed in 1967.[
Since its founding, Temple Israel has been served by only five 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 ...
s: Maurice H. Harris (1882–1930), William Rosenblum (1930–1963), Martin Zion (1963–1991), Judith Lewis (1991–2006), and David Gelfand since 2006.[
]
Early history
Temple Israel was incorporated in 1873[ as Yod b'Yod ("Hand in Hand") congregation][ (formally Congregation Hand in Hand of Harlem][), the first synagogue in Harlem.][ The founders were ]German Jews
The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...
,[ typically shopkeepers, traditionally observant, and first worshiped above a printing shop on East 125th Street in ]Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
.[ An early trustee was Cyrus L. Sulzberger, father of '']New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger
Arthur Hays Sulzberger (September 12, 1891December 11, 1968) was the publisher of ''The New York Times'' from 1935 to 1961. During that time, daily circulation rose from 465,000 to 713,000 and Sunday circulation from 745,000 to 1.4 million; the st ...
.[ They soon established a Hebrew school called "Gates of Learning" for the 45 children of the congregation.][ The congregation rented a larger space on 124th Street in 1874, and in 1876 leased a former church on 116th Street,][ between First Avenue and Second Avenue.][ In 1880, the congregation purchased the building on 116th Street.][
Temple Israel was initially lay-led, but in 1882 appointed Maurice H. Harris as the congregation's rabbi; at the time, he was still a student at ]Columbia College, Columbia University
Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded by the Church of England in 1754 as King' ...
, and at Emanu-El Theological Seminary.[ That year, the congregation changed its name to Temple Israel of Harlem][ (though the name change wasn't formally legalized until 1894][). In 1884, Harris' installation was made official.][
]
First buildings
In 1887, the congregation purchased a building at Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
and 125th Street, and the following year re-dedicated it as their synagogue.[
Designed by John W. Welch, the building had been formerly owned by the Holy Trinity Church, and was constructed in 1869–1870.][ In 1888 the congregation also re-organized, changing its name to Temple Israel of Harlem.][ In 1898, the congregation celebrated its 25-year anniversary and 10 years in its current home.
The congregation constructed its own synagogue building at 201 ]Lenox Avenue
Lenox Avenue – also named Malcolm X Boulevard; both names are officially recognized – is the primary north–south route through Harlem in the upper portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan. This two-way street runs from F ...
, at 120th Street, in 1907.[ The limestone][ building was not designed in the typical ]Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...
style of other synagogues of the time; the designer, Arnold Brunner
Arnold William Brunner (September 25, 1857 – February 14, 1925) was an American architect who was born and died in New York City. Brunner was educated in New York and in Manchester, England. He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wh ...
, argued that "synagogues have no traditional lines of architectural expression".[ According to David W. Dunlap, the building "looks like a ]Roman temple
Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of Ro ...
until you notice the Stars of David
The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles.
A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...
in the column capitals, fanlight
A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...
s, and spandrel
A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...
panels",[ and "may rank as the single best Neoclassical synagogue in Manhattan".][ Temple Israel joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now ]Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms established ...
) in 1909,[ and a few years later][ merged with Shaarey Borocho (or Shaaray Beracha), a synagogue of Alsatian Jews.][
During ]World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the loyalties of the still mostly German-Jewish members were, at first, divided between the Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
and the Allied Powers, though Harris supported the Allies.[
]
Moves to West 91st Street and East 75th Street
In 1920, the members moved to a new Neoclassical building at 210 West 91st Street, designed by William Tachau;[ the old building on Lenox Avenue was sold to the Seventh-Day Adventist Temple, which in turn sold it in 1925 to the Mount Olivet Baptist Church.][ Temple Israel elected its first woman trustee in 1921,][ dedicated its new building in 1922, and in 1924 officially changed its name to Temple Israel of the City of New York.][ By 1929, membership exceeded 950.][
William Franklin Rosenblum succeeded Harris as Temple Israel's second rabbi in 1930, and Harris died just a few months later that year.][ The congregation was active during the ]Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, and supported Jewish education programs for poor children of the neighborhood.[ Temple Israel actively supported the war effort during ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
,[ and afterward Rosenblum opposed the creation of ]Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,[ though he would later become a supporter of the country.][
Rosenblum retired in 1963, and Martin Zion succeeded him that year as Temple Israel's third rabbi.][ At the time, the congregation's trustees had decided to relocate the synagogue from 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 ...
to the Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
of Manhattan,[ and in 1964 began construction of a new building at Temple Israel's current location, 112 East 75th Street.][ Designed by architect Peter Claman of Schuman & Lichtenstein, the ]Brutalist
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
structure was completed in 1967. The previous building on West 91st Street was sold to the Young Israel of the West Side congregation, who still occupy it.[
]
Events since 1980
Robert Abelson became leader of the congregation's music program in 1980.[ In 1985, Judith Lewis became Temple Israel's Director of Education, and in 1991 she succeeded Zion as the synagogue's fourth senior rabbi. By 1995, membership was over four hundred families.][
In 2006 David Gelfand succeeded Lewis, becoming Temple Israel's fifth Senior Rabbi in 2006,][ after an acrimonious departure from the ]Jewish Center of the Hamptons Gates of the Grove (''Shaarey Pardes''), the sanctuary of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, is a synagogue designed by noted architect Norman Jaffe and built in East Hampton, New York in 1989. It has been called a masterpiece.
The cedar shingled ...
.[ Gelfand had previously served as rabbi in Temple Beth-El in Great Neck, New York; Har Sinai Temple in Pennington, New Jersey; and the Fairmount Temple in Beachwood, Ohio. He helped found and served as a national officer of the ]Interfaith Alliance
Interfaith Alliance is a national interfaith organization in the United States founded in 1994 to counteract the religious right. Its stated goal is to protect faith and freedom by respecting individual rights, preserving the boundaries between re ...
, and is a member of the National Council of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC ) is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States. One of several pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the United Stat ...
.[
Irena Altshul joined Temple Israel in 2003,][ left in 2006, and rejoined as ]cantor
A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds.
In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...
in 2013.[ Melissa Buyer-Wittman joined the synagogue as Director of Lifelong Learning in 2011, and David Reinhart became Assistant Rabbi in 2019.][
]
See also
*List of synagogues named Temple Israel
Numerous synagogues in North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to ...
Notes
References
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*Temple Israel website:
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External links
*
Temple Israel
New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists
The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educat ...
website
*For more on Temple Israel during Willam Rosenblum's tenure as rabbi (1930–1963), see his rabbinical career materials in th
William F. Rosenblum Papers.
P-327; American Jewish Historical Society, Boston, MA and New York, NY.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Israel (Manhattan, New York)
Brutalist synagogues
German-Jewish culture in New York City
Neoclassical synagogues
Reform synagogues in New York City
Religious organizations established in 1873
Synagogues completed in 1907
Synagogues completed in 1922
Synagogues completed in 1967
Synagogues in Manhattan
Upper East Side
Brutalist architecture in New York City