NYC landmark synagogue ready for 125th year

The historic Eldridge Street Synagogue on the Lower East Side -- the nation's first Eastern European Jewish temple -- is celebrating its 125th anniversary, after 20 years and $20 million in renovations.

The work included restoration of its stained-glass windows and 50-foot ceiling, refurbished wooden pews to its ark and bimah, a platform where the Torah is read, and a majestic brass chandelier. The project was paid for by private donations -- from individuals, foundations and cultural institutions -- and New York City, which funded a third of the project, said Amy Stein-Milford, museum deputy director.

The Orthodox synagogue, whose sanctuary is a museum, opened in 1887 in what was then a thriving Jewish neighborhood.

Barry Feldman, 73, a retired New York City school superintendent and social studies teacher, who gives tours of the synagogue, said he was always confident the building would be fully restored.

"This is a resurrection," Feldman said. "It was really horrible back then," he recalled of the conditions at the synagogue 15 years ago when he attended a lesson on how to roll rugelach, the Jewish pastry. The building, a national historic landmark, was then just five years into its restoration.

"We had to wear heavy coats and scarves. There was no heat. We would have to go outside the building in 20-degree weather just to warm up," he said. "But this building just promised a beautiful future," Feldman said.

Feldman got his first glimpse of the new sanctuary two days before it officially opened after restoration in October. "It was really quite emotional to walk in and see the ark -- the wood and stained-glass windows," he said.

A modern sky-blue stained-glass window with the Star of David has been installed as the synagogue's main window centerpiece.

"This was an opportunity to add a new element that symbolizes the new life of the museum and its move into the future," said Sarah Verity, 29, director of visitor's services.

Some 35,000 people visited the museum last year. Volunteer docent, Patti Myers, of Manhattan and formerly of Merrick, said giving tours has inspired her to reconnect with her great-grandparent's Jewish immigrant roots in Romania and Russia.

"I grew up a Reform Jew, and I really didn't know about the sections of the Torah or the pogroms in Russia" that triggered thousands of Eastern European Jews' immigration to Manhattan's Lower East Side, Myers said.

"Every tour I give always feels like the first. I see the stained-glass windows and an overwhelming feeling of spirituality, gratitude and peace comes over me. It is breathtaking."

This year the museum will kick off its anniversary celebration in March with concerts and lectures featuring readings that pay tribute to the great Yiddish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer, as well as its annual neighborhood block party "Egg Rolls and Egg Cream." There are two anniversaries that are recognized later on in the year: the opening of the synagogue on Sept. 4, 1887, and the laying of the cornerstone on Nov. 14, 1886.

The block party brings Chinese and Jewish families together to celebrate their shared immigrant experience, Stein-Milford said.

"Last year, 9,000 people came. It's a very colorful festival with food booths and music," she said.