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

Acknowledgments

photographers jo renée fine, ph.d., was the official photographerforthe first edition of The Synagogues of New York’s Lower East Side (1978), and her contribution to the present edition brings togetherthe best of herunique early retrospective photos. She is the Directorof Training forHarris, Rothenberg International in New York City. Dr. Fine holds a B.A. from Smith College and a Ph.D. from New York University, where she was Adjunct Assistant Professorin the Graduate School of Education.Sheisinvolvedinnumerouscommunityactivities and currently serves on the national Board of Governors of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), as well as the Board of the NY Region. She is board co-chairforProject People Foundation,providingopportunitiesforlow-incomewomen and children in South Africa. norman borden is a photographerand writerwho earned hisB.A.fromtheUniversityofNorthCarolinainChapelHill andhonedhisphotographicskillsattheInternationalCenter of Photography in New York City and the Maine Media Workshops.Responsibleforthecontemporaryphotographs in this book, he has exhibited his work at the Washington Square East Galleries and at Soho Photo Gallery in New York City, where he is on the board of directors. A native NewYorker,NormanlivesconvenientlyneartheLowerEast Side, which facilitated his documenting a close-up view of the neighborhood and its synagogues, as well as the opportunity to record the many important changes that have occurred in recent years. cartographer albert lorenz: maps of the active synagogues contributing editor justin ferate is New York’s most distinguished and internationally recognized tourguide and has been honored for hisworkbyNewYorkGovernorGeorgePatakiandtheNew York State Tourism Council. He is the authorof the Official New York City Tour Guide Licensing Exam, and is known forhis role as Urban Historian. Time Out New York selected him as “One of New York’s 50 Essential Secrets.” In addition to a wide variety of New York City tours, Justin’s bus and train trips go beyond the city to such places as New York’s Hudson Valley, Newark, Long Island, Philadelphia, and Baltimore , with emphasis on history and architecture. Among his highly popular walking tours, the Lower East Side has acknowledgments xv 18317-Wolfe_Synagogues 9/24/12 12:05 PM Page xv always been one of his favorites. Justin is a Board Member of the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy. In his role as Contributing Editor, Justin Ferate’s broad and varied backgroundandhissuperbeditorialskillshaveaddedimmeasur ably to the success of this book. contributors (in alphabetical order) celiabergoffen,phd,isbothaprofessionalarchaeologist and an art historian. She teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and is also affiliated with the University of Vienna as one of an international team of scholars studying thechronologyofthesecondmillenniumBCEintheeastern Mediterranean. In her role as an urban archaeologist, she researched a lot located behind the Eldridge Street Synagogue ,andthensuperviseditsexcavation,aprojectthatled to the discovery of a historic mikvah—the oldest kosherritual bath everfound in New York City. laurietobiascohen,ExecutiveDirectoroftheLowerEast SideJewishConservancy,isworthyofspecialrecognitionfor herleadershipinprotectingandpromotingthecultureofthe Lower East Side through her informative educational tour programsandforherfund-raisingeffortstosavethoseneighborhoodsynagoguesindistress .Overtheyears,theConservancy has been remarkably successful in obtaining grants from public and private sources to ensure that all aspects of JewishcultureontheLowerEastSidearepreservedandcarried on well beyond the twenty-first century. bonnie dimun, the Executive Director of the Eldridge Street Museum, is an active preservationist, and has been an enthusiastic supporter of this book. She contributed the afterword to the recently published BeyondtheFaçade:ASynagogue ,aRestoration,aLegacy:TheMuseumatEldridgeStreet. jill h. gotthelf, aia, fapt, Principal at Walter Sedovic Architects,setsaprodigiousstandardfortheopenexchange of ideas among peers, clients, and constituents resulting in projects, workshops, presentations, and publications that embodytheessenceofsustainableandhistoricpreservation. She embraces a holistic view by pushing beyond the limits of the traditional definition to establish a balance between economics,environment,socialandcultural equity,authenticity , and education. Applying this philosophy, Jill developed the master plan that guided the restoration of the Eldridge Street Synagogue unfailingly overits twenty-year duration.Jill,togetherwithherpartnerWalterSedovicFAIA, designedandorchestratedamasterfulrestoration,bringing this project worldwide visibility and thirteen prestigious awards. roberta brandes gratz is a journalist, urban critic, historic preservationist, and the directorof the Eldridge Street Projectin1981,whichwasresponsibleforthemajorrestorationoftheEldridgeStreetSynagogue .Roberta’ssystematic andhighlysuccessfulfund-raisingprogram,conductedover several years with the assistance of Executive DirectorAmy E. Waterman and Treasurer William Josephson, brought majorfinancial support in the form of a million-dollargrant from the City of New York, substantial grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and from private foundations, as well as contributions from more than 18,000 individual donors—all of which helped save and preserve theEldridgeStreetSynagogue.Thesefundsalsocontributed to the ultimate creation of the Museum at Eldridge Street. xvi acknowledgments 18317-Wolfe_Synagogues 9/24/12 12:05 PM Page xvi william josephson, esq., was a founder...