Temple Emanu-El, home to New York's first Reform Jewish congregation and the largest synagogue in the city, sits on the spot of Mrs. Caroline Astor's former Gilded Age mansion. Out with the old, in with the new.

The synagogue shimmers with Jazz Age style from vibrant stained-glass windows to its Art Deco tiles and mosaics. When its doors opened in 1929, the congregation was making a very powerful statement. New York's Jewish community had arrived.

This story begins on the Lower East Side with the first major arrival of German immigrants in the 1830s. New Jewish congregations splintered from old ones, inspired by the Reform movement from Europe and the possibilities of life in America.

Congregation Emanu-El grew rapidly, moving from the Lower East Side to Fifth Avenue in 1868. Their beautiful new synagogue reflected the prosperity of its congregants who were nonetheless excluded from mainstream (Christian oriented, old moneyed) high society.

Why did they move to the spot of the old Astor mansion? What does the current synagogue's architecture say about its congregation? And where in the sanctuary can you find a tribute to the congregation's Lower East Side roots?

PLUS Greg visits Temple Emanu-El and chats with Mark Heutlinger, administrator of the congregation, and Warren Klein of the Herbert and Eileen Bernard Museum of Judaica. 

FURTHER READING

Stephen Birmingham / Our Crowd
Stephen Birmingham / The Rest of Us
Michael A. Meyer / Response to Modernity: A History of the Reform Movement in Judaism
Deborah Dash Moore / Jewish New York: The Remarkable Story of a City and a People
Marc Lee Raphael / Judaism In America
Steven R. Weisman / The Chosen Wars: How Judaism Became An American Religion
The Jewish Metropolis: New York City from the 17th Century to the 21st Century / Edited by Daniel Soyer

FURTHER LISTENING

After listening to this week’s episode on Temple Emanu-El, dive back into past episodes which intersect with his story:

The Miracle on Eldridge Street: The Eldridge Street Synagogue

Welcome to Yorkville: German Life on the Upper East Side

The Real Mrs. Astor: Ruler or Rebel?