| Park East Synagogue | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Park East Synagogue in 2021 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Modern Orthodox Judaism |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Synagogue |
| Leadership | RabbiArthur Schneier |
| Status | Active |
| Location | |
| Location | 163 East 67th Street,Upper East Side,Manhattan,New York City,New York 10065 |
| Country | United States |
  Location inManhattan | |
| Coordinates | 40°46′1″N73°57′48″W / 40.76694°N 73.96333°W /40.76694; -73.96333 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect | Schneider & Herter |
| Type | Synagogue |
| Style | |
| Established | 1890(as a congregation) |
| Completed |
|
| Dome | 2(since removed) |
| Website | |
| parkeastsynagogue | |
Park East Synagogue, Congregation Zichron Ephraim | |
| NRHP reference No. | 83001738[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | August 18, 1983 |
| Designated NYCL | January 8, 1980 |
ThePark East Synagogue is aModern Orthodox Jewishsynagogue originally calledCongregation Zichron Ephraim at 163 East 67th Street on theUpper East Side ofManhattan inNew York City,New York, United States. Built in 1890, the synagogue building was designated as aNew York City Landmark in 1980 and listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1983.[2]
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The building was built in 1889–1890. The architects wereSchneider and Herter,[3] who designed numeroustenements in Manhattan'sLower East Side andHell's Kitchen neighborhoods.[4]
The building is built in theMoorish Revival style[3] and features a prominentrose window. One of its most remarkable characteristics is the asymmetrical twin towers, as the eastern tower is taller. In comparison, most other synagogues of the period featured twin towers of similar height. The towers are also adorned differently. Each of the towers originally was also topped by a bulbous dome that has since been removed.[5] It is one of fewer than one hundredsurviving nineteenth-century American synagogues.[6] The synagogue building is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.[7]
Over the doorway, engraved in granite and written in Hebrew, is a verse fromPsalm 100. "Enter into His Gates with Thanksgiving and into His courts with praise."[5]
Congregation Zichron Ephraim was established by RabbiBernard Drachman and Jonas Weil to promoteOrthodox Judaism as an alternative toReform Judaism popular on the Upper East Side.[5]
Rabbi Drachman served as spiritual leader for fifty-one years. He died in 1945. Rabbi Zev Zahavy was appointed rabbi of the synagogue on September 1, 1952. He was known as a dynamic spokesman for Orthodox Judaism and many of his sermons were reported on in the New York Times.[8] He and his wife Edith, a noted educator, founded the Park East Day School. On March 16, 1957,Robert Briscoe, the JewishLord Mayor of Dublin, carrying histallis bag, visited and prayed at the synagogue onShabbos morning.
Since 1962, the synagogue's rabbi has beenArthur Schneier. Rabbi Schneier serves Park East Synagogue full-time while also drawing a salary from the Appeal of Conscience Foundation he founded.[9] This leadership structure was criticized in 2021 by Daniel L. Kurtz, former head of the Charities Bureau at the New York State Attorney General’s Office,[10] when he alleged that Park East has failed to hold regular membership meetings to ensure financial transparency.[11] Kurtz also alleged that Park East’s trustees are directly appointed not elected, in a process which he has called “blatantly illegal”.[11]
Rabbi Harold Einsidler is the religious spiritual organizer; his wife Toby is the office and youth leader. The synagogue's chief cantor isYitzchak Meir Helfgot.[12]
In a letter sent to synagogue membership on October 4, 2021, a group of congregants expressed concern with the synagogue's trajectory and appointed committee which included a longtime assistant rabbi, Benjamin Goldschmidt, the son of RabbiPinchas Goldschmidt. Less than two weeks later, Goldschmidt was fired.[13] The dismissal of Goldschmidt sparked a protest within the synagogue community[14][15][16] and a public objection from Israeli government ministerYoel Razvozov.[11] In February 2022, Goldschmidt and his wife Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt announced that they would create theAltneu along with former Park East members.[17]
ThePark East Day School educates children from early childhood through eighth grade.
In 2008,Pope Benedict XVI visited the synagogue in the midst of a visit to New York City. This was the third papal visit to a synagogue and the only such visit in the United States.[18][19] In 2016, members of the synagogue heckled and jeered U.N. Director GeneralBan Ki-moon as he gave an address in honor ofInternational Holocaust Remembrance Day.[20]
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Media related toPark East Synagogue at Wikimedia Commons
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