The Synagogues of New York's Lower East Side: A Retrospective and Contemporary View, 2nd Edition

U. Congregation Chevra Kadisha Anshe Sochaczew

u. congregation chevra kadisha anshe sochaczew (Congregation of the Ritual Cleansing of the Deceased and People of Sochaczew) (Repurposed to Commercial Use) 121 Ludlow Street (between Rivington and Delancey Streets) the congregation was loosely organized in the 1880s by groups of immigrants from the town of Sochaczew, now in Poland. Most of the congregants had fled the periodic pogromsthatravagedtheJewishcommunitiesofRussia.(At that time, parts of what had once been Poland had become partoftheRussianEmpire.)Thenewcomerswereprimarily Hasidim. Having only recently immigrated, they were too poorto build a synagogue forthemselves and chose to worship instead in nearby shtieblach. In 1904, the congregation officially organized and rented space in a tenement at 121 Ludlow Street, where they remained until 1920, when they managed to construct a “stately modern building” on the samesite.Thenewthree-storysynagoguebuildingwasconstructed of yellow brick and was set in the middle of the block. The building was noteworthy for its enormous third floorsemicircularwindow, which surmounts a large rectangularwindowonthesecond floor.AMogenDavidgracesthe building’s gable. (Note the plaques on the wall carved with the congregation’s name and the founding date of 1893.) Always a small congregation, the congregation from Sochaczew devoted much of its Orthodox religious activitiesinmaintainingandexpandingachevrakadisha —aritualcleansing bath forthe deceased, in accordance with Jewish law. Subsequent economic hardships and the decline of the neighborhood ultimately forced the congregation to give up its synagogue building. The building subsequently has housedanumberofrestaurantsthatsurvivedonlyforashort 169 18317-Wolfe_Synagogues 9/24/12 12:05 PM Page 169 170 the “lost” or endangered synagogues time and then went out of business. In 2011, a Japanese restaurant opened on the ground level. A chevra kadisha is generally a loosely structured but closedorganizationofJewishmenandwomenwhoseobjectiveistoensurethatthebodiesofJewsarepreparedforbur ialaccordingtoHalachaandareprotectedfromdesecration (willful or not) until burial. The main requirements are the demonstration of proper respect for the deceased by providing the ritual cleansing of the body and its subsequent dressing for burial. In English, a chevra kadisha is usually referred to as a “burial society.” InJewishtradition,themitzvah(commandment)ofburial is considered to be the ultimate kindness, for it is one that thedeceasedcanneverreturn.Inadditiontopreparingburials forthose with living relatives, a specific obligation fora burial society is to tend to the burial needs of those people who have no immediate next of kin. By Jewish Law, the burial of such an individual becomes the responsibility of the entire community. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, in the United States, chevra kadisha societies were often formed as part of landsmanshaftn fraternal societies. (A landsman is a compatriot from the same Eastern European shtetl, town, or geographic area.) A landsmanshaft minimally provided burial benefits, that is, covered the cost of the funeral for its members, and bought burial plots collectively so members could obtain them at a reasonable cost and families and landsleit would be able to be buried together in a “kosher” cemetery. An adjunct service was provided by those who created tombstones ormonuments (matsevos). Today, there is only one tombstone makerleft in the Lower East Side (Silver Monument Works at 125 Congregation Chevra Kadisha Anshe Sochaczew repurposed to commercial use 18317-Wolfe_Synagogues 9/24/12 12:05 PM Page 170 Stanton Street, off of Essex Street). Showrooms forordering a matsevah for the unveiling at the cemetery (a year after a funeral), were generally located near Houston Street. Matsevos makers were among the last institutions to leave the neighborhood. History buffs may find it interesting to note that to the right of the entrance is a city-installed replica of an old “bishop’s-crook” lamppost that once graced most New York City streets during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as electricity gradually replaced gas. (See photograph on page 170.) congregation chevra kadisha anshe sochaczew 171 18317-Wolfe_Synagogues 9/24/12 12:05 PM Page 171 Lemberger Shul repurposed to a church 18317-Wolfe_Synagogues 9/24/12 12:05 PM Page 172 ...