Sutton Place Synagogue | |
---|---|
| |
Religion | |
Affiliation | Traditional Judaism |
Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Synagogue |
Leadership |
|
Status | Active |
Location | |
Location | 225 East 51st Street, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York |
Country | United States |
Location in Manhattan | |
Geographic coordinates | 40°45′22″N73°58′09″W / 40.756089°N 73.969193°W |
Architecture | |
Date established | 1901 (as a congregation) |
Completed |
|
Website | |
spsnyc |
Sutton Place Synagogue, also called the Jewish Center for the United Nations, is a Traditional synagogue and congregation located at 225 East 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States.
The congregation was founded in 1901 as Congregation "Beth Hamedrash Hachodosh Talmud Torah" (New House of Study for the Study of the Torah). [1] Its first religious leader, Rabbi Meyer Freeman, [2] published a book entitled "The Talmud" to raise money for a synagogue building. [3] The congregation, originally founded as an Orthodox synagogue, [1] acquired a synagogue building at 221 East 51st Street from Congregation Orach Chaim in 1906. [1]
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 announcement was made by U. S. Sen. Jacob K. Javits, the honorary chairman of the project. [4]
The Inaugural Dinner, kicking off the Capital Campaign, was held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Sunday, May 2, 1965. The Honorary Chairmen were United Nations Ambassador Arthur Goldberg and US Senators Jacob K. Javits and Abraham A. Ribicoff.
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. [5]
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. [2]
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." [6]
From the late 1970s to early 1980s Sutton Place Synagogue began to establish itself as a destination for singles, young couples and families. [7] [8] Established by Rabbi David Kahane in 1981, the synagogue's Jewish Town Hall put the congregation at the forefront of political discourse. Cardinal-designte John O’Connor, [9] Jackie Mason, [10] Ellie Wiesel, [11] Henry A. Kissinger, [11] [12] [13] and Ariel Sharon [14] 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, [15] the current site of the Sachs Family Educational Center housing the Kaplan Nursery School and the Nathaniel and Fanny Stricks Jackson Religious School.
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 congregation's spiritual and longest tenured leader. [2] On May 12, 1951, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion visited the then called East Fifty-First Street Synagogue, where he received blessings from Rabbi Kahane. [16]
In 1991, Rabbi David Kahane had a stroke. His son, Rabbi Reuven Kahane, served as the synagogue Rabbi for almost three years before moving to Jerusalem and becoming a businessperson in Israel and New York. [17] [18] [19]
Rabbi David Kahane died in 1996. [20]
In 1994, the congregation elected Rabbi Richard Thaler to be its religious leader. [21] Rabbi Thaler died on November 27, 1997. [22]
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 and Stephen Dubner. [23] Rabbi Schranz died on April 16, 2015. [24]
Since 2012, the synagogue has been led by Rabbi Rachel Ain.
In 2023, the synagogue brought on Rabbi David Levy as their second Rabbi, serving as the Director of the Block Center for Jewish Exploration and Education. Followed by Cantor Luis Cattan, as the musical leader. Both partnering with Rabbi Rachel Ain.
Congregation Baith Israel Anshei Emes, more commonly known as the Kane Street Synagogue, is an egalitarian Conservative synagogue at 236 Kane Street in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, New York, United States. It is the oldest continuously operating synagogue in Brooklyn.
Congregation Beth Elohim, also known as the Garfield Temple and the Eighth Avenue Temple, is a Reform Jewish congregation and historic synagogue located at 274 Garfield Place and Eighth Avenue, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, New York, United States.
Congregation Mikveh Israel, is a Sephardic Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 44 North Fourth Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The congregation traces its history from 1740. Mikveh Israel is a Spanish and Portuguese congregation that follows the rite of the Amsterdam esnoga. It is the oldest synagogue in Philadelphia, and the longest running in the United States.
The Park East Synagogue is a Modern Orthodox Jewish synagogue for Congregation Zichron Ephraim at 163 East 67th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Built in 1890, the synagogue building was designated as a New York City Landmark in 1980 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Beth Hamedrash Hagodol is an Orthodox Jewish congregation that for over 120 years was located in a historic building at 60–64 Norfolk Street between Grand and Broome Streets in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was the first Eastern European congregation founded in New York City and the oldest Russian Jewish Orthodox congregation in the United States.
Central Synagogue is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue at 652 Lexington Avenue, at the corner with 55th Street, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The current congregation was formed in 1898 through the merger of two 19th-century synagogues: Shaar Hashomayim and Ahawath Chesed. The synagogue building was constructed from 1870 to 1872 for Ahawath Chesed. As of 2014, Angela Buchdahl is Central's senior rabbi.
Adath Jeshurun Congregation is a Conservative synagogue located in Minnetonka, Minnesota, in the United States, with about 1,200 members. Founded in 1884, it is a founding member of the United Synagogue of America, a founding member of the Women's League for Conservative Judaism, and the oldest affiliate of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism west of Chicago.
Breed Street Shul, also known as Congregation Talmud Torah of Los Angeles or Breed Street Synagogue, is a former Orthodox Jewish synagogue in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles, California, in the United States. It was the largest Orthodox synagogue west of Chicago from 1915 to 1951, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Temple Sinai is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 2808 Summit Street in Oakland, California, in the United States. Founded in 1875, it is the oldest Jewish congregation in the East San Francisco Bay region.
Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 10460 North 56th Street in Scottsdale, Arizona, in the United States. Incorporated in 1920, the congregation affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism in 1935.
Congregation Beth Israel, commonly referred to as the West Side Jewish Center or, in more recent years, the Hudson Yards Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 347 West 34th Street, in the Garment District of Manhattan, in New York City, New York, in the United States. Established in 1890, the congregation completed its current building near Penn Station in 1925.
B'nai Jeshurun is a non-denominational Jewish synagogue located at 257 West 88th Street and 270 West 89th Street, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City, New York, United States.
The Park Avenue Synagogue is a Conservative Jewish congregation at 50 East 87th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York. Founded in 1882, the congregation is one of the largest congregations in the United States.
Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 130 Riverside Drive in Dayton, Ohio, in the United States.
Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 2004 East 22nd Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the United States. Founded in 1914, the congregation affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism in 1915, and constructed its first building on the corner of 14th and Cheyenne Streets in 1919. Early rabbis included Jacob Menkes, Charles Latz, Samuel Kaplan, Jacob Krohngold, and Benjamin Kelsen.
Temple Israel of the City of New York is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 112 East 75th Street, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. The congregation was incorporated by German Jews in 1873.
Temple Shaaray Tefila is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 250 East 79th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States.
Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation is a Conservative Jewish synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The congregation moved into its present synagogue building in 1953. It merged with Congregation Or L'Simcha in 2010, bringing its membership to 530 families.
The Great Park Synagogue is an Orthodox synagogue situated in Houghton, Johannesburg. The present building was consecrated in 2000, after the congregation vacated their long-time home, the Great Synagogue on Wolmarans Street, Hillbrow in 1994, after eighty years. The Wolmarans Street synagogue came to be known as the city's mother synagogue and "the crown jewel of Orthodox Judaism in South Africa." All large-scale Jewish events in Johannesburg were held in the building, and throughout its existence it was the seat of the country's chief rabbi. Northward migration by congregation members led to the synagogue closing its doors in 1994. The relocated synagogue was built on the model of the Great Synagogue, whose own architecture in turn was inspired by the Hagia Sophia. Great Park Synagogue was also the original name of the synagogue on Wolmarans Street before it became the Great Synagogue.
Congregation Ahavath Torah is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located at 240 Broad Avenue, in Englewood, Bergen County, New Jersey, in the United States.