Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights explained

Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights
Image Upright:1.4
Religious Affiliation:Reform Judaism
Festivals:-->
Organizational Status:-->
Leadership:Rabbi Paula Feldstein
Functional Status:Active
Location:551 Fort Washington Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York
Country:United States
Map Type:New York City
Map Size:250
Map Relief:1
Coordinates:40.8536°N -73.9375°W
Architecture Type:Church
Architecture Style:Art Deco
Established:1905
Date Destroyed:-->
Dome Quantity:One
Elevation Ft:-->
Module:
Embed:yes
Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist, The
Nrhp Type:Historic
Added:August 31, 2011
Refnum:11000620
Footnotes:[1]

The Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights is an historic Reform Jewish synagogue located at 551 Fort Washington Avenue, on the corner of 185th Street, in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. The domed Art Deco style building was built as a church for the Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist, in 1932 and converted to a synagogue in 1973.[2] [3] [4]

History as a church

The Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist was founded in 1896 as West Side Church of Christ, Scientist. Initially located in the Solon Spencer Beman-designed Neoclassical building at West 178th Street and Fort Washington Avenue, it sold the church building to provide land for the George Washington Bridge. The building at 551 Fort Washington Avenue, across from Bennett Park on West 185th Street, was designed by architects Cherry & Matz of Manhattan and built during the years 1931 to 1932.[5] It is Art Deco, with a bold and chalky limestone facade, with stainless steel and brass.[5] [6]

The Fourth Church is no longer in existence.[7]

Synagogue

The Hebrew Tabernacle Congregation purchased the building in 1973, as the church faced a dwindling congregation and increasing costs, and the building became a synagogue. The Hebrew Tabernacle Congregation, founded in 1905 in Harlem by German-Jewish founders, had outgrown its 1920s building on West 161st Street between Broadway and Fort Washington Avenue, and its Jewish congregants there were becoming increasingly isolated.[8] [9] [10]

As of 1982, many of the synagogue's members had come to New York in the 1930s as Jewish refugees from central Europe (in fact, so many German Jews were in the neighborhood, that it was jokingly referred to as "Frankfurt on the Hudson"), and the synagogue had 500 families as members.[11] [12] The congregation is a member of the Union for Reform Judaism.[2]

On August 31, 2011, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[1] [13] [14]

Notable members

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist, The . . National Park Service . August 31, 2011 . December 31, 2023 .
  2. Web site: Hebrew Tabernacle Bulletin . January–February 2019 . Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights .
  3. Book: Quack, Sibylle . 2002 . Between Sorrow and Strength; Women Refugees of the Nazi Period . . .
  4. Book: Rischin, Moses . Asher, Raphael . 1991 . The Jewish Legacy and the German Conscience; Essays in Memory of Rabbi Joseph Asher . .
  5. Book: Dunlap, David W. . David W. Dunlap . 2004 . From Abyssinian to Zion; A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship . Columbia University Press . .
  6. Book: White, Norval . Willensky, Elliot . Leadon, Fran . 2010 . American Institute of Architects' Guide to New York City . . .
  7. The Christian Science Journal, February, 2007, p. 110
  8. Book: Snyder, Robert W. . 2014 . Crossing Broadway; Washington Heights and the Promise of New York City . Cornell University Press . .
  9. Book: Olitzky, Kerry M. . Kerry M. Olitzky . Raphael, Marc Lee . 1996 . The American Synagogue; A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook . .
  10. Book: Lowenstein, Steven M. . 1989 . Frankfurt on the Hudson; The German-Jewish Community of Washington Heights, 1933-1983, Its Structure and Culture . Wayne State University Press. . .
  11. News: Hebrew Tabernacle Marking 75th Anniversary . May 2, 1982 . .
  12. Book: Crowns, Crosses, and Stars; My Youth in Prussia, Surviving Hitler, and a Life Beyond . .
  13. Web site: Draft NRHP nomination form . Robbins, Tony . New York Parks .
  14. Web site: National Park Service: NRHP weekly listings . September 9, 2011 . National Park Service . April 15, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120415072033/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/listings/20110909.htm . dead .
  15. Web site: Mark Levine, NYC's pandemic darling, vies for Manhattan borough president . Kassel, Matthew . April 13, 2021 . Jewish Insider .
  16. Web site: NYC mayoral and City Council elections: Here's what Jewish voters need to know . . November 2, 2021 . Gergely, Julia .