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

3. Congregation Chasam Sopher

3. congregation chasam sopher 8 Clinton Street (between Stanton and Houston Streets) 43 as the oldest continuously operating synagogue in New York City, as well as New York’s second oldest synagoguebuilding ,ChasamSopherhasmorethanhelditsown. Built in 1853 as a purpose-built synagogue (ratherthan as a church), the structure preserves many of its original architecturaldetails .Thered-brickbuildingwasbuiltinthenovel Rundbogenstil, or round-arch Romanesque Revival style by an unknown architect forthe German-Jewish congregation Rodeph Sholom. In 1842, Congregation Rodeph Sholom was founded as a Bikkur Cholim (society to care for the sick and needy) in a house located at 187 Attorney Street. The congregation began with eighty members and, from 1842 to 1853, worshipedinasmallspaceat156AttorneyStreet .By1853,when the congregation built the Clinton Street synagogue, it had nearly two hundred members. Initially, Rodeph Sholom followed the Orthodox tradition. In 1875, the congregation began using a Conservative service with organ music and a choir. Rodeph Sholom remained on Clinton Street until 1891 when the congregation moved uptown to East 63rd Street and Lexington Avenue. In 1901, ten years after having left the Lower East Side, Rodeph Sholom joined the Union of AmericanHebrewCongregations,thusofficiallyjoiningthe Reform movement. In 1930, Rodeph Sholom moved to its presentlocationatWest83rdStreetnearCentralParkWest. The congregation’s transitioning from an Orthodox service 18317-Wolfe_Synagogues 9/24/12 12:05 PM Page 43 44 the archive synagogues to a Conservative service to a Reform service was typical of numerous American congregations. In 1887, fouryears before Rodeph Sholom left the Lower East Side, their building was badly damaged in a fire. The building has since undergone many exterior and interior modifications and its original design with its central staircase , flanked by two doors and two towers, has been modi- fied. Among the various changes, the original ornamental castellated parapet atop the twin towers is now absent. Nonetheless, the building still presents a handsome visage to the street. With the departure of Rodeph Sholom, there was no shortage of congregations to take overthe building. Three years earlier, two small Polishchevros(small congregations), Congregation Chasam Sopher entrance prior to modifications Main entrance after modifications 18317-Wolfe_Synagogues 9/24/12 12:05 PM Page 44 named fortheirPolish shtetlach of origin, Czestochowa and Unterstanestier, merged to form Congregation Chasam Sopher. The congregation was named in honor of Rabbi Moshe Schreiber(1762–1839), one of the leading Orthodox rabbis ofEuropeanJewryinthefirsthalfofthenineteenthcentury. Born into a family who historically had been Torah scribes, or soferim (sopherim), Schreiber was born in Frankfurt and became one of Europe’s leading Orthodox rabbis and Talmudic scholars in the first half of the nineteenth century. To his own community and to Jewish posterity, Moshe Schreiberwas known by the name of his most famous work, Chasam Sopher (Sofer). The title translates as “Seal of the Scribe,” and also acts as an acronym forthe book’s full title, ChidusheiTeshuvotMosheSopher(TorahInsightsandResponsa of Moses the Scribe), so the book’s title is transformed into a pun. The author’s name is also a play on words as both Schreiber(German)andSopher(Hebrew)mean,“scribe.”The Chasam Sopher’s Torah chiddushim (original Torah insights) sparked a new style in rabbinic commentary and some contemporary editions of the Talmud contain his emendations and additions. The Chasam Sopherwas particularly well known forthe clarity and simplicity of his lectures. Rabbi Schreibertraveled widely throughout Europe, founding yeshivas and benevolent institutions in several cities of Austria-Hungary. In 1806, he settled in Pressburg (Bratislava) and became the Rav (Chief Rabbi), a position he retained until his passing in 1839. Rabbi Schreiberfounded the famous Pressburg Yeshiva, the largest and most influential Yeshiva in Central Europeinthenineteenthcentury.AftertheChasamSopher’s demise, his family published several books of the Rabbi’s congregation chasam sopher 45 Congregant with Torah 18317-Wolfe_Synagogues 9/24/12 12:05 PM Page 45 collected writings and speeches. These books are standard references in Jewish studies to this day. The Chasam Sopher was a teacher to thousands and was a powerful opponent to the Reform movement, which was making inroads into many Jewish communities in Austria-Hungary and beyond. In the LowerEast Side, German Jews had initially attempted to attract Eastern European Jews to more Americanized Reform services, offered through Jewish settlement houses and other charitable institutions. The renaming of a formerly Conservative synagogue fora staunchly Orthodox spiritual leadersignaled a transformation in the nature of both the synagogue and the neighborhood. In the 1970s and 1980s the congregation began suffering a dramatic membership decline—because of...