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Millinery Center Synagogue

Millinery Center Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located in the Garment District of Manhattan, in New York City, New York, 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,[6] a prolific,[8] Yale-educated architect who designed thousands of Art Deco and Modernist-style buildings in New York City,[9][10] notably 1025 Fifth Avenue (between 83rd and 84th Streets) on the Upper East Side and the LaGuardia Houses on the Lower East Side, as well as many buildings that line the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. Feldman and his company, The Feldman Company, also built the 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:

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. ^ "Millinery: Millinery Center Synagogue In Lease". Women's Wear Daily. Vol. 50, no. 37. Fairchild Fashion Media. February 21, 1935. p. 18. ISSN 0043-7581. ProQuest 1653253799. ProQuest document ID 1653253799
  5. ^ Brillstein, Bernie; Rensin, David (1999). Where Did I Go Right?: You're No One in Hollywood Unless Someone Wants You Dead! (1st ed.). Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-11885-9. 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. ^ "Feldman Notes Widening Field For Architects in Last 30 Years". New York Herald Tribune. IHT Corporation. September 2, 1951. p. 1C. 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. ^ a b c "Millinery Area Synagogue Is Dedicated Here: New Limestone Structure in Avenue of Americas Will Accommodate 125". New York Herald Tribune. IHT Corporation. September 13, 1948. p. 9. ProQuest 1327476516. ProQuest document ID 1327476516
  13. ^ Levitt, Ellen (2013). The Lost Synagogues of Manhattan: Including Shuls from Staten Island and Governors Island: Including Shuls from Staten Island and Governors Island. Bergenfield, N.J.: Avotaynu, Inc. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-983-69752-7. 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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