Old Broadway Synagogue

Old Broadway Synagogue, officially Chevra Talmud Torah Anshei Marovi, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 15 Old Broadway, in the Manhattanville neighborhood of Harlem, Manhattan, in New York City, New York, United States.[2] The congregation practices in the Ashkenazi rite.

Old Broadway Synagogue
Old Broadway Synagogue in 2014
Religion
AffiliationOrthodox Judaism
RiteNusach Ashkenaz
Synagogue
StatusActive
Location
Location15 Old Broadway, Manhattanville, Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York 10027
CountryUnited States
Old Broadway Synagogue is located in Manhattan
Old Broadway Synagogue
Location in Manhattan
Coordinates40°48′55″N 73°57′27″W / 40.81528°N 73.95750°W / 40.81528; -73.95750
Architecture
ArchitectsMeisner and Uffner
TypeSynagogue
StyleGothic Revival
Established1911 (as a congregation)
Completed1923
Website
oldbroadwaysynagogue.blogspot.com
Old Broadway Synagogue
Area0.1 acres (0.040 ha)
NRHP reference No.01001440
Added to NRHPJanuary 11, 2002
[1]

The congregation was incorporated in 1911 under the name Chevra Talmud Torah Anshei Marovi[2] by Morris Schiff, a Polish immigrant who lived in the Harlem area, an area with a high Jewish population at the time. As of 2011, the congregation claimed to represent the diversity of the West Harlem community,[3] including students from Columbia University, Barnard College, and the Jewish Theological Seminary.[4]

Built in 1923, the synagogue building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in January 2002.[5]

Rabbi Jacob Kret served as the Rabbi for 47 years from 1950 until 1997.[6][2]

Description

edit

The Synagogue is located at 15 Old Broadway (a rare vestige of the Bloomingdale Road in Manhattan). The Old Broadway Synagogue was built in 1923/1924 and designed by the architectural firm of Meisner and Uffner.[7][2] The congregation formed from the mostly Ashkenazic Jewish population of Russian and Polish immigrants to New York during the 1880s who had made their way up to Central Harlem, then migrated to blocks west as well as students for nearby schools.[2] The members initially met in storefronts and purportedly in the back room of a bar until the congregation purchased a house on Old Broadway. This structure was torn down shortly thereafter to make way for the synagogue. The congregation had an active Talmud Torah (Hebrew school) probably from its founding until the 1960s or 1970s. Among its early rabbis were the author Simon Glazer and Shepard Brodie.[citation needed]

Paul Radensky, Museum Educator for Jewish Schools for the Museum of Jewish Heritage is the president of the congregation.[8]

In 2003, the blue and green central windows were restored after being covered in brick in the 1960's.[2]

References

edit
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dunlap, David W. (2004). "O" In From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 162.
  3. "Old Broadway Synagogue". Welcome to Harlem. May 9, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  4. "Old Broadway Synagogue". Harlem One Stop. n.d. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  5. Kathleen A. Howe (June 2001). National Register of Historic Places Registration: New York SP Broadway Synagogue, Old. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved November 13, 2025. (Downloading may be slow.)
  6. https://oldbroadwaysynagogue.blogspot.com/p/about-us.html
  7. Dunlap, David W. (2004). From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 162. ISBN 0-231-12543-7.
  8. "Shabbos Dinner with Rabbi Avi Heller". Old Broadway Synagogue. October 9, 2018.
edit