Beth Hamedrash Hagadol

Infobox religious building
building_name =Beth Hamedrash Hagadol
infobox_width =295px

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location =60-64 Norfolk Street,
Lower East Side,
Manhattan, New York,
flag|United States
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latitude =40.7173
longitude =-73.987922
religious_affiliation =Orthodox Judaism
rite =
province =
district =
consecration_year =
functional_status =Active
leadership =Rabbi Mendl GreenbaumTaylor (2008).]
website =
architect =Schneider & Herter.]
architecture_type =
architecture_style =Gothic Revival
facade_direction =West
year_completed =1850
specifications =yes
construction_cost =
capacity =1,200
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nrhp =yes
added =November 30, 1999.]
refnum =99001438
designated =

Beth Hamedrash Hagadol (also Beth Hamidrash Hagadol or Beth Hamedrash Hagodol or Beth Midrash Hagadol) is an Orthodox synagogue located at 60-64 Norfolk Street in Manhattan, New York, on the Lower East Side. It is the first Eastern European synagogue founded in New York City and the oldest Orthodox Russian Jewish congregation in the United States.

From 1888 to 1902 the congregation was led by Rabbi Jacob Joseph, the first and only Chief Rabbi of New York City. From 1952 to 2003 the congregation was led by Rabbi Ephraim Oshry, a noted Torah scholar and one of the few European "posek"s to survive The Holocaust.

The congregation's building, a Gothic Revival structure built in 1850 and purchased in 1885, is one of the largest synagogues on the Lower East Side, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. However, the congregation has dwindled and is unable to maintain the building, which has been damaged by storms and fires, and despite some funding and grants, the synagogue is critically endangered. As of|2008 the Lower East Side Conservancy was trying to raise an estimate $4.5 million for repairs, with the intent of turning it into an educational center.

Early History

Beth Hamedrash Hagadol was founded by Russian American Jews in 1852, and included both a rabbinic family court and a group devoted to daily study of the Talmud.Sussman.] Mark (2004).] The founding rabbi, Abraham Joseph Ash, was born in Siemiatycze (then in Congress Poland) in 1813Sherman (1996), p. 21] or 1821,"The New York Times", May 10, 1887, p. 5.] and emigrated to New York City in 1851 or 1852.Sherman (1996), p. 22] Ash "rejected the reformist tendencies of the German Jewish congregations" there,Kaufman (1999), p. 175.] and soon organized a "minyan" of like-minded "Polish" Jews, and by 1852Kaufman (1999), p. 174.] began conducting services as Beth Hamedrash (literally "study hall", but colloquially used in Yiddish as the term for a synagogue). The congregation moved frequently in its early years: in 1852 it was located first at at 83 Bayard Street, then at Elm and Canal; from 1853 to 1856 in a hall at Pearl and Chatham/Centre Streets.Eldridge Street Synagogue NRHP Registration Form, p. 15, footnote 16.]

In 1856, with the assistance of wealthy Sephardi Jews who sympathized with the traditionalism of the congregation's members, a Welsh chapel was purchased on Allen Street. The synagogue, a place both of prayer and study,Maffi (1994), p. 122.] "rapidly became the most important center for Orthodox Jewish guidance in the country". For the first six years of the congregation's existence Ash was not paid for his work as rabbi, instead earning a living as a peddler.

Beth Hamedrash was the prototypical American synagogue for early immigrant Eastern European Jews, who began entering the United States in large numbers only in the 1870s. They found the synagogues of the German Jewish immigrants who preceded them to be unfamiliar, both religiously and culturally. Russian Jews had been more excluded from Russian society than German Jews from German society, for both linguistic and social reasons, and rather than viewing religion and the synagogue as marginal, the Jews who founded Beth Hamedrash viewed both as central to their lives. They attempted to re-create, in Beth Hamedrash, the kind of synagogue they had attended in Europe.Olitzky & Raphael (1996), p. 8.] Gurock (1998), p. 47.]

chism

In 1859,According to Kaufman (1999) p. 175 and the Eldridge Street Synagogue NRHP Registration Form, p. 16. Karp (2003) p. 14, while agreeing substantively on the details, gives the date of the split as 1858.] disagreement broke out between Ash and the synagogue's president, Joshua Rothstein,Olitzky & Raphael (1996), p. 251.] over who had been responsible for procuring the Allen Street location,Eldridge Street Synagogue NRHP Registration Form, p. 16.] and escalated into a conflict "over the question of official authority and 'honor'".Karp (2003), p. 14.] Members took sides in the dispute, and, following synagogue disturbances and a contested election, Ash took Rothstein to an American court in an attempt to oust him as president of the congregation. After the court rejected Ash's arguments, a large majority of members left with Ash to form Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, adding the word "Hagadol" ("the great") to the name. The followers of Rothstein would stay at the Allen Street location, and retain the name "Beth Hamedrash", until the mid-1880s, when they adopted the name "Kahal Adath Jeshurun", and built the Eldridge Street Synagogue.Eldridge Street Synagogue NRHP Registration Form, p. 17, and footnote 22.]

Beth Hamedrash Hagadol provided, according to historian and long-time member Judah David Eisenstein, an atmosphere that was "socially religious", in which Jews "combine [d] piety with pleasure; they call [ed] their "shule" a "shtibl" or prayer-club room; they desire [d] to be on familiar terms with the Almighty and abhor [red] decorum; they want [ed] everyone present to join and chant the prayers; above all they scorn [ed] a regularly ordained cantor." Despite the informality of the services, members scrupulously observed the laws of "kashrut", and every member personally oversaw the baking of his "matzos" for use on Passover.Gurock (1998), p. 48.]

The congregation initially moved to the top floor of a building at the corner of Grand and Forsyth Streets, and in 1865 moved again, to a former courthouse on Clinton Street. In 1872, the congregation built a synagogue at Ludlow and Hester Streets. There the congregation's younger members gained greater control, and introduced some mild innovations—changing the title of "parnas" to president, and, in 1877, hiring a professional cantor in order to bring greater decorum to the services—but in general remained quite traditional, still training men for rabbinic ordination, and sponsoring Talmud and Mishna study groups, which were founded in the 1870s, and held both mornings and evenings.

Ash had only served as Beth Hamedrash Hagadol's rabbi intermittently during this time; congregants had a number of issues with him, including his outside business ventures and an alleged inclination towards hasidism, and more learned members of the congregation contested his scholarship.Levine (2008).] In 1879, directors of Beth Hamedrash Hagadol proposed that a Chief Rabbi be hired for New York.Sherman (1996), p. 5.] A large number of New York City synagoguesLevine (2008) writes that the meeting was "attended by delegates from 32 New York City congregations". Gurock (1998), p. 76, footnote 51 writes that an announcement in Philadelphia's "Jewish Record" "noted that twenty-four synagogues signed the call and twenty-five others were prepared to cooperate".] agreed to select the Malbim (Meïr Leibush ben Jehiel Michel Weiser),Gurock (1998), p. 51.] and the appointment was announced in Philadelphia's "Jewish Record",Gurock (1998), p. 76, footnote 51.] but the Malbim never filled the position,Levine (2008) writes that he instead accepted the "rabbinate of Krementchug in Russia". Gurock (1998), p. 51 writes the he accepted the New York position, but "passed away en route".] and Beth Hamedrash Hagadol re-hired Ash.

Move to current building, Jacob Joseph

In 1885, the congregation acquired its current building at 60 Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side, built in 1850 in the Gothic Revival style, and formerly occupied by a Baptist [http://www.gothamcenter.org/resource/detail.cfm?id=205&ff=Houses Beth Hamedrash Hagadol] , Gotham Center for New York City History. Accessed August 24, 2008.] Dewan (2001).] or Methodist Episcopal"The New York Times", August 17, 1885, p. 8.] Eldridge Street Synagogue NRHP Registration Form, p. 17.] church. The building was purchased for $45,000, and alterations and repairs cost an additional $10,000, but no external modifications were made. The sanctuary ceilings were painted blue and studded with stars.

The intent of the purchase was, in part, to garner prestige for the relatively new immigrant Jews from Eastern Europe, and to show that Jews on the Lower East Side could be just as "civilized" as the reform-minded Jews of uptown Manhattan. To that endKaufman (1999), p. 176.] (and also to attract new members),Sherman (1996), p. 4.] the congregation also hired a famous and highly-paid cantor, Israel Michaelowsky, (or Michalovsky), and by 1888 there could be counted among its membership "several bankers, lawyers, importers and wholesale merchants, besides a fair sprinkling of the American element."Diner (2000), footnote 52, p. 204.]

In the late 1800s, synagogues in Manhattan each focussed on a particular constituency, typically Jews from a single region or city in Europe. Beth Hamedrash Hagadol was unique in welcoming and assisting all Jews, regardless of origins. The synagogue's Passover Relief Committee (dedicated to providing funds and food to poor Jews so that they could properly celebrate the holiday of Passover), stated "In dispensing money and matzos to the poor, all are recognized as the children of one Father, and no lines are drawn between natives of different countries."Rischin (1977), p. 105.]

Ash passed away in 1887, and the congregation hired Jacob Joseph, the first and only Chief Rabbi of New York City; he would serve as the congregation's rabbi from his arrival in the United States in 1888 until his death in 1902.Tannenbaum (2007).] Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, the Eldridge Street Synagogue, and 13 other Lower East Side synagogues had raised $2,500 towards the creation of a European style "kehilla" to oversee New York's Orthodox community, and had imported Joseph to achieve that (ultimately unsuccessful) goal.Joselit (1990), p. 5.] Joseph's inaugural speech at Beth Hamedrash Hagadol attracted a huge crowd, with over 1,500 men crowded into the sanctuary,"The New York Times", July 22, 1888, p. 8.] and thousands more outside.Blondheim (1998), p. 191.] The police had to call extra reinforcements to control the throngs, and to escort Joseph into the synagogue. Though Joseph had been chosen, in part, for his "fabulous skills as an orator", his speaking style and sermons, which had been so beloved in Europe, did not impress New York audiences: according to Abraham Cahan " [S] ome of the very people who drank in his words thirstily in Vilna left the synagogue in the middle of his sermon here."According to Blondheim (1998), p. 192. Gurock (2003), p. 52 writes that "his East-European-style oratory packed Beth Hamidrash Hagadol".] Joseph was also unable to stop those who came to hear him speak from desecrating the Sabbath, and his Yiddish sermons had no impact on the younger generation.Gurock (2003), p. 52.] When he died, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol secured the right to bury him in its cemetery by promising his widow $1,500 and a monthly $15 stipend; in turn, the synagogue was offered large sums ($5,000 in one case) for the right to be buried near him.Goren (1999), p. 233, footnote 16.]

Post-Joseph era

Joseph was succeeded by Rabbi Shalom Elchanan Jaffe, a founder of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis and a strong supporter of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Jaffe, who was born near Vilna, studied at the Volozhin yeshiva and received his "semicha" from Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin and Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor. The author of several books of religious commentary, Jaffe was an influential rabbi on the Lower East Side, in part because of his authority over kosher supervision of New York's butcher stores and slaughterhouses.Sherman (1996), pp. 108-109.]

Harry Fischel was the congregation's Vice President until 1902; there he first met and eventually attended the Bar Mitzvah of his future son-in-law, Herbert S. Goldstein.Goldstein (1928), p. xvi.] Goldstein, who would receive "semicha" from both Rabbi Jaffe and from the Jewish Theological Seminary,Gurock (2003), p. 58. Gurock calls Jaffe "Jaffee".] would found the Institutional Synagogue in Harlem, and is the only person to have been president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the Rabbinical Council of America (first presidium), and the Synagogue Council of America.Reichel (2005).]

In 1913, the synagogue was the site of a "historic mass meeting" to raise funds for the first Young Israel synagogue, at which Jacob Schiff was the guest speaker.Kaufman (1999), p. 203.]

Ephraim Oshry, noted Torah scholar and religious leader in the Kovno Ghetto, and one of the few European "posek"s to survive The Holocaust, became the synagogue's rabbi in 1952, a post he retained for over 50 years.Amateau (2003).] His Sunday afternoon lectures were so popular that the entire 1,200-seat sanctuary would be filled, and the overflow would have to sit on the stairs.

The congregation's building was threatened with demolition in 1967, but Oshry, possibly the first Lower East Side rabbi to recognize the value of landmark designation, got it designated a New York city landmark, and saved it.Mark (2006).] Dunlap (2004), p. 22] Siegel (2006).] The building was repainted and repaired in 1977,Sanders & Gillon (1980), p. 47.] but in subsequent years deteriorated and suffered damage.

Late 1990s to present

In 1997, a storm blew out the main two-story window at the front of the building, and the congregation did not have the $10,000 required to replace it. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

The congregation raised $40,000 in 2000 for emergency repairs, and was awarded $230,000 by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation for restoration work, including roof repair, but had not been able to raise the matching funds required to receive the grant. On December 6, 2001, a fire and subsequent fire-fighting efforts severely damaged the roof, ceiling, mural paintings and decorative plasterwork.

In 2003, the National Trust for Historic Preservation designated the building an endangered historic site, [PDFlink| [http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/historic-houses-of-worship/additional-resources/worship_endangered_urban.pdf "America’s Endangered Historic Urban Houses of Worship"] |138 KB, National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2003.] the only synagogue on the list. By 2006, $1 million of an estimated required $3.5 million had been raised for repairs to the structure. However, as of October 2007 it was still mostly closed to the public (as its damaged interior was considered a hazard for visitors), and its membership had dwindled to around 15.Austerlitz (2007).] As of|2008|alt=By 2008, the synagogue sat "padlocked and empty", with holes in the roof and plaster falling from the ceiling. Until it was closed, it was "the home of the oldest Orthodox congregation continuously housed in a single location in New York".

In 2008, the Lower East Side Conservancy was trying to raise an estimate $4.5 million for repairs, with the intent of turning the building into an educational center. It was granted $215,000 by the United States Department of Education and was promised an equal amount by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Several years before the Conservancy had also been promised a total of $980,000 from New York State, the City Council, Mayor Bloomberg, and the Manhattan Borough President's office, but has yet to receive most of the city funds. The group is also trying to raise $400,000 from private donors for the first phase of the renovation, which will secure the structure and roof.

As of|2008, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, which had around 20 regularly attending members, was sharing facilities with a congregation on Henry Street, and was led by Rabbi Mendl Greenbaum.

Notes

References

* [http://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/991210.htm WEEKLY LIST OF ACTIONS TAKEN ON PROPERTIES: 11/29/99 THROUGH 12/03/99] , National Register of Historic Places website. Accessed July 29, 2008.
* [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/ny/New+York/state2.html NEW YORK - New York County] , p. 2, State Listings, National Register of Historic Places website. Accessed August 18, 2008.
* PDFlink|1= [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9E01E3DD153FE533A25754C1A96E9C94649FD7CF "DEDICATING A SYNAGOGUE. THE NEW HOUSE OF THE CONGREGATION BETH HAMEDRASH HAGODOL."] , "The New York Times", August 17, 1885, p. 8.
* PDFlink|1= [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9A0CE6DE1730E633A25753C1A9639C94669FD7CF "RABBI ASH'S FUNERAL: SERVICES OVER ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE ORTHODOX JEWS"] , "The New York Times", May 10, 1887, p. 5.
* PDFlink|1= [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D00E1D6143AE033A25751C2A9619C94699FD7CF "HEARING THE NEW RABBI. THE SYNAGOGUE CROWDED AND HUNDREDS CAUSING DISORDER OUTSIDE."] , "The New York Times", July 22, 1888, p. 8.
* Amateau, Albert. [http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_24/rabbiephraim.html Rabbi Ephraim Oshry, 89, religious scholar, dies] , "Downtown Express", Volume 16, Issue 19, October 07-13, 2003.
* Austerlitz, Saul. [http://www.boston.com/travel/getaways/us/newyork/articles/2007/10/28/synagogues_tell_story_of_lower_east_sides_past/?page=2 "Synagogues tell story of Lower East Side's past"] , "The Boston Globe", October 28, 2007.
* Blondheim, Menahem. "Divine Comedy: The Jewish Orthodox Sermon in America, 1881-1939", in Sollors, Werner. "Multilingual America: Transnationalism, Ethnicity, and the Languages of American Literature", New York University Press, 1998. ISBN 0814780938
* Dewan, Shaila K. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903E5D7133CF934A35751C1A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all "Synagogue From 1800's Is Damaged In a Fire"] , "The New York Times", December 7, 2001.
* Dunlap, David W. "From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship", Columbia University Press, 2004. ISBN 0231125429
* Diner, Hasia R. "Lower East Side Memories: A Jewish Place in America", Princeton University Press, 2000. ISBN 0691095450
* Goldstein, Herbert S. "Forty Years of Struggle for a Principle: The Biography of Harry Fischel", Bloch Publishing Company, 1928.
* Goren, Arthur A. "The Politics and Public Culture of American Jews", Indiana University Press, 1999. ISBN 0253335353
* [http://www.gothamcenter.org/resource/detail.cfm?id=205&ff=Houses Beth Hamedrash Hagadol] , Gotham Center for New York City History. Accessed August 1, 2008.
* Gurock, Jeffrey S. "The history of Judaism in America: transplantations, transformations, and reconciliations", American Jewish History: Volume 5, Taylor and Francis, 1998, ISBN 0415919266.
* Gurock, Jeffrey S. "The Orthodox Synagogue", in Wertheimer, Jack. "The American Synagogue: A Sanctuary Transformed", Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 0521534542
* Joselit, Jenna Weissman. "New York's Jewish Jews: The Orthodox Community in the Interwar Years", Indiana University Press, 1990. ISBN 0253205549
* Karp, Abraham J., "Overview: The Synagogue in America - A Historical Typology", in Wertheimer, Jack. "The American Synagogue: A Sanctuary Transformed", Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 0521534542
* Kaufman, David. "Shul with a Pool: The "synagogue-center" in American Jewish History", Brandeis University Press, University Press of New England, 1999. ISBN 0874518938
* Levine, Yitzchok. [http://www.jewishpress.com/print.do/31977/Failed_Experiment:_New_York's_Only_Chief_Rabbi.html "Failed Experiment: New York's Only Chief Rabbi"] , "The Jewish Press", May 28, 2008.
* Maffi, Mario. "Gateway to the Promised Land: Ethnic Cultures on New York's Lower East Side", Rodopi Publishers, 1994. ISBN 9051836775
* Mark, Jonathan. [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-675641991.html "A Remnant Of Israel; The Colonial back story to what would become America's greatest Jewish community."] , "The Jewish Week", June 17, 2004.
* Mark, Jonathan. [http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a8761/News/New_York.html "More Renaissance Than 'Remnants'"] , "The Jewish Week", February 10, 2006.
* PDFlink| [http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/samples/ny/eldridge.pdf National Historic Landmark Nomination, Eldridge Street Synagogue] |270 KB, NPS Form 10-900, United States Department of the Interior/National Park Service NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86), OMB No. 1024-0018.
*, National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2003.
* Olitzky, Kerry M. & Raphael, Marc Lee. "The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook", Greenwood Press, June 30, 1996. ISBN 0-313-28856-9
* Reichel, Aaron I. [http://www.yucommentator.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=e09930be-0399-47eb-8c57-8c03014df5c0 "Pioneers of American Jewish Orthodoxy: Mr. Harry Fischel and Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein"] , "The Commentator", April 18, 2005.
* Rischin, Moses. "The Promised City: New York's Jews, 1870-1914", Harvard University Press, 1977. ISBN 0674715012
* Sanders, Ronald & Gillon, Edmund Vincent. "The Lower East Side: A Guide to Its Jewish Past with 99 New Photographs", Courier Dover Publications, 1980. ISBN 0486238717
* Sherman, Moshe D. "Orthodox Judaism in America: A Biographical Dictionary and Sourcebook", Greenwood Publishing Group. 1996. ISBN 0313243166
* Siegel, Jefferson. [http://www.thevillager.com/villager_173/rebirthandreunion.html Rebirth, and reunion, at historic Norfolk synagogue] , "The Villager", Volume 76, Number 14, August 23-29, 2006.
* Sussman, Lance J. [http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/research/res_topics_pgc_jewish_essay.shtml New York Jewish History] , Jewish History Resources, New York State State Archives. Accessed August 1, 2008.
* Tannenbaum, Rabbi Gershon. [http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/20457/My_Machberes.html My Machberes] , "The Jewish Press", January 24, 2007.
* Taylor, Candace. [http://www.nysun.com/new-york/lower-east-side-is-at-a-crossroads/82072/ "Lower East Side Is at a Crossroads"] , "New York Sun", July 17, 2008.

External links

* [http://pdberger.com/beth-hamedrash-hagadol/ Exterior view]
* [http://pdberger.com/images/Shull.jpgInterior view]
* [http://www.nyc-architecture.com/LES/LES014.htm Congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagodol (Synagogue)]