Eldridge Street Synagogue in New York’s Lower East Side

Sanctuary of Eldridge Street Synagogue National Historic Landmark.

Michael Lee. Courtesy of the Museum at Eldridge Street.

At Eldridge Street Synagogue in New York City, the members of Congregation Kahal Adath Jeshurun created community out of a shared faith and diverse cultures and traditions. In 1887, the congregation gathered to celebrate the completion of their new synagogue on Eldridge Street in the city’s Lower East Side neighborhood. Most members of the congregation were immigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe. Although they shared the beliefs of Orthodox Judaism, they came from many different countries, including present-day Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, and Russia. The history of Eldridge Street Synagogue and its congregation illustrates the faith and traditions of Orthodox Jewish communities in the Lower East Side from the 1880s through the early 1920s.

Orthodox Jewish Immigration to New York City

In the mid-nineteenth century, a small community of Orthodox Jews—mostly from Russia—lived in New York City’s Lower East Side. Many worshipped in small congregations with others from their hometown or region. However, the Beth Hamedrash congregation, which formed in 1852, included people from many different countries. Although they were all Orthodox Jews, different groups within the congregation had different customs and practices. One point of disagreement was the balance between religious and lay authority. In 1859, Beth Hamedrash split over this issue. One group followed Rabbi Joseph Abraham Ash and took the name Beth Hamedrash Hagodol. The group that followed the lay leadership later became Congregation Kahal Adath Jeshurun.

Kahal Adath Jeshurun grew rapidly in the 1880s as a result of a wave of Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe to New York City. During this period, millions of Jews fled to the United States from Russia and Eastern Europe to escape widespread persecution and violent attacks known as pogroms. While some moved to other parts of the country after arriving in New York City, most Orthodox Jewish immigrants remained in the city and settled in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan.

Eldridge Street Synagogue in 1995.

National Historic Landmark Nomination photograph by Fernando Joffroy, Public Art Fund, Inc.

A New Building for a Growing Community

By the mid-1880s, the congregation was outgrowing its existing synagogue. Kahal Adath Jeshurun had merged with another Lower East Side congregation (Holkhe Yosher Vizaner), and new immigrants were joining the congregation. The congregation had another reason to move as well: the city planned to construct an elevated rail line right next to their synagogue.

Completed in September 1887, the synagogue on Eldridge Street was one of the first grand synagogues built by Eastern European Orthodox Jews in the United States. The large and opulent house of worship made a powerful statement about the vibrancy and growth of Orthodox Judaism on the Lower East Side. The synagogue became a central institution in the neighborhood and in the city’s Orthodox communities. In 1896, representatives of Orthodox congregations met in Eldridge Street Synagogue to create a nationwide organization that two years later would become the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations.

Stained-glass window with the Star of David included in the design.

Erin Flynn. Courtesy of Museum at Eldridge Street.

Designed by German-born brothers Peter and William Francis Herter, Eldridge Street Synagogue reflects the diverse cultural influences in the city and congregation. The horseshoe-shaped arches are associated with the Moorish Revival style, which was a popular choice for synagogues. New York’s Central Synagogue, constructed in 1872 for a Reform congregation and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975, was built in the Moorish Revival style. Stained-glass windows at Eldridge Street Synagogue feature the Star of David, clearly identifying it as a synagogue. But the building also has architectural elements more commonly associated with Christian churches in the United States, such as a Gothic-style rose window. This combination of design elements symbolizes the immigrant congregation’s experience melding the traditions of their faith and homelands with the culture of their new home in the United States.

Congregational Decline

In 1909, Congregation Anshe Lubz joined Kahal Adath Jeshurun. Two years later, Eastern European Jewish immigration to the United States reached its peak. Immigration from Europe continued to decline after the outbreak of World War I in 1914. In 1924, Congress passed the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act, which set quotas for immigrants based on their country of origin. The act severely limited the number of Jewish immigrants moving to the United States and into the Lower East Side neighborhood. In the early twentieth century, Jewish residents also began to move out of the Lower East Side, into neighborhoods in Harlem, the Bronx, and Brooklyn.

As the Orthodox Jewish population in the Lower East Side declined, so too did membership in Congregation Kahal Adath Jeshurun with Anshe Lubz. In the 1930s, they held regular services in the study room (bes medresh) in the basement and only used the main sanctuary for special services. By the mid-1950s, the main sanctuary was sealed shut.

This photo shows the sanctuary before and after restoration. The glass blocks in the circular window in the “before” picture were inserted in 1944 after a storm destroyed the original rose window. The new window in the “after” picture was installed in 2010.

Courtesy of Museum at Eldridge Street.

Preservation

Opening the doors to the historic sanctuary in the early 1970s revealed finely crafted woodwork and plasterwork, including a wood ark, domed ceilings, and an elaborate chandelier. Although the interior was intact, it was damaged and endangered by water and insects. Grassroots preservation efforts led to the formation of the non-profit Eldridge Street Project in 1986. Led by Roberta Brandes Gratz, the organization raised funds and oversaw a complete restoration of the interior and exterior. In support of the preservation efforts, Eldridge Street Synagogue was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on March 29, 1980, and designated a National Historic Landmark on June 19, 1996.

The restoration was completed in 2007. The Museum at Eldridge Street is open to the public and interprets the history of the Lower East Side and synagogues. The museum offers tours of the building and neighborhood, exhibitions, and a variety of cultural programs.

Further Reading

Gurock, Jeffrey S. “A Stage in the Emergence of the Americanized Synagogue among East European Jews: 1890–1910.” Journal of American Ethnic History 9:2 (Spring 1990): 7–25.

Newman, Renee, Maria Schlanger, and Amy E. Waterman. Eldridge Street Synagogue, New York, New York. National Historic Landmark Nomination, 1995.

Polland, Annie. Landmark of the Spirit: The Eldridge Street Synagogue. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.

Wolfe, Gerard R., Jo Renee Fine, and Norman Borden. The Synagogues of New York's Lower East Side: A Retrospective and Contemporary View. 2nd Edition. New York: Fordham University Press, 2012. See especially Introduction and Chapter 1.