Millinery Center Synagogue

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Coordinates: 40°45′09″N 73°59′10″W / 40.752615°N 73.986044°W / 40.752615; -73.986044
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Millinery Center Synagogue
Art Deco
Founder
  • Moe Brillstein
  • Sam Neger[1]
Date established1933 (as a congregation)
Completed1948
Construction cost$150,000
Specifications
Capacity125 worshippers
Length60 feet (18 m)
Width19 feet (5.8 m)
MaterialsLimestone
Website
millinerycs.org

Millinery Center Synagogue is an

Jewish synagogue located in the Garment District of Manhattan, in New York City, New York, in the United States.[2]

History

The synagogue was supported by the many millinery organizations that were based in the neighborhood.[3] A group of these ready-to-wear industry business men had been meeting in various spaces, mostly in a loft on West 36th Street. Their rabbi during this very loosely organized time was Rabbi Moshe Ralbag. In January 1933, the congregation was more formally organized and the name of the synagogue, the Millinery Center Synagogue, was agreed upon, although the meeting place was temporary, at 1011 Sixth Avenue, on the second floor.[4] Moe Brillstein (the father of film producer Bernie Brillstein)[5] became president and started a building fund. At that point the congregation came together and decided to build a synagogue.[6]

Due to the density of millinery businesses in the neighborhood, at its peak, services for daily minyan were typically so heavily attended that the prayer sessions were held in rotating shifts.[7]

Structure

A stone on the façade, marking the architect, H.I. Feldman
Millinery Center logo

The synagogue was designed by H.I. Feldman,

Federation of Jewish Philanthropies building (130 East 59th Street) and the United Jewish Appeal building (220 West 58th Street).[11]

There were wartime restrictions on building, so building was postponed for a time until 1947. The building's construction was completed in September 1948, and the synagogue was dedicated on September 12, 1948.[12]

Millinery Center Synagogue façade

The limestone building itself is narrow, approximately 19 feet (5.8 m) wide by 60 feet (18 m) deep,[13] and cost $150,000 to build.[12] It was notable for having air conditioning.[12]

Current

On May 3, 2017, the Board of Trustees of Millinery Center Synagogue nominated Rabbi Avrohom Dov Kahn to serve as rabbi. On May 10, 2017 Rabbi Kahn was elected in a landslide. It was the first election of a rabbi of the synagogue in over two decades.[14]

A week later on May 17, Rabbi Kahn was formally installed as rabbi in a program featuring three young professionals who spoke about the important impact the synagogue and Rabbi Kahn had made on them.[15] Harav Doniel Lander, Rosh Hayeshiva of Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim, spoke movingly of his decades-long close friendship with Rabbi Kahn and those attributes that made Rabbi Kahn eminently qualified to lead the synagogue in its rejuvenation and renewal efforts. Rabbi Kahn concluded the program by outlining what he hoped to do for the synagogue and how he hoped to guide MCS to reach out and benefit Jews throughout all of midtown Manhattan."[16]

Clergy

The following individuals have served as rabbi for the congregation:

Order Rabbi Term started Term ended Time in office Notes
1 Moshe Ralbag
2 Morris Gordon
3 Dr. Alexander J. Burnstein 1942 1970 27–28 years [17]
4 Abraham Berger 1980 1985 4–5 years [18]
5 David Friedberg 1985 1990 4–5 years
6 Leonard Guttman 1990 1992 1–2 years [19]
7 Hayim S. Wahrman 1992 2016 23–24 years [20][21][22]
8 Avrohom Dov Kahn 2017 incumbent 6–7 years [14]

References

  1. ^ "Sam Neger" (PDF). The New York Times. August 13, 1959. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  2. ^ Bleyer, Jennifer (March 18, 2007). "The City: 'City of Refuge'". The New York Times. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  3. ^ Miller, Tom (March 17, 2012). "The 1948 Millinery Center Synagogue – No. 1025 6th Avenue". Dayton in Manhattan. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  4. ProQuest 1653253799
    . ProQuest document ID 1653253799
  5. OCLC 40954091
    . Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "New Synagogue Is Planned" (PDF). The New York Times. October 7, 1945. p. 28. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  7. ^ Trebay, Guy (November 14, 2000). "Dot-Coms Intrude in the Land of Needle and Thread". The New York Times. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  8. ProQuest 1321533100
    . ProQuest document ID 1321533100
  9. ^ Gardner, James (July 21, 2007). "A Building Now To Be Remembered". The New York Sun. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  10. ^ Fatouros (née Feldman), Naomi (March 20, 2002). "H. I. Feldman, NYC Architect: To The Editor". The City Review. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  11. ^ Ennis, Thomas W. (January 27, 1981). "H.I. Feldman, Head of Architecture Concern, Dies". Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  12. ^
    ProQuest 1327476516
    . ProQuest document ID 1327476516
  13. OCLC 844074027
    .
  14. ^ a b Kadinsky, Sergey (May 17, 2017). "Storied Midtown Synagogue Installs Queens Rabbi". Queens Jewish Link.
  15. ^ Millinery Center Synagogue YouTube Account "Installation of Rabbi Avrohom Kahn" Uploaded June 8, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9TY9AdJLFI&list=PL42eFX5Yh9wAAYlqyIdGog6TgfmlF2K4j[self-published source?]
  16. ^ Millinery Center Synagogue YouTube Account "Installation of Rabbi Avrohom Kahn" Uploaded June 8, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9axds-0_Ik&list=PL42eFX5Yh9wAAYlqyIdGog6TgfmlF2K4j&index=6[self-published source?]
  17. ^ "Rabbi Alexander J. Burnstein, 80, Led Millinery Center Synagogue" (PDF). The New York Times. October 18, 1980. p. 30. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  18. ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths; Berger, Rabbi Abraham". The New York Times. February 7, 1999. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  19. ^ "Chanukah Benefit Party for Milinary Center Synagogue A Major Success". The Jewish Press. January 4, 1991. p. 9.
  20. ^ Millinery Center Synagogue [dead link]
  21. ^ The circumstances under which Wahrman's tenure extended to 2016 Millinery Center Synagogue [dead link]
  22. ^ "Holler v. Goldberg – Norbert P. Holler et al., as Members of the Millinery Center Synagogue, Petitioners, v. Jeffrey Goldberg et al., as Officers and Board Members of the Millinery Center Synagogue, et al., Respondents". Supreme Court, New York County. February 8, 1995. Retrieved September 23, 2015.

Further reading

External links

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