Millinery Center Synagogue Explained

Building Name:Millinery Center Synagogue
Image Upright:1.4
Map Type:Manhattan
Map Size:250
Map Relief:1
Location:1025 6th Avenue (38th St), Manhattan, New York City, New York 10018
Country:United States
Coordinates:40.7526°N -73.986°W
Religious Affiliation:Orthodox Judaism
Consecration Year:September 12, 1948
Status:Synagogue
Functional Status:Active
Leadership:Rabbi Avrohom Dov Kahn
Architect:Hyman Isaac "H.I." Feldman
Architecture Type:Synagogue
Established:1933
Year Completed:1948
Construction Cost:$150,000
Capacity:125 worshippers
Length:60feet
Width:19feet
Materials:Limestone

Millinery Center Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located in the Garment District of Manhattan, in New York City, New York, United States.[1]

History

The synagogue was supported by the many millinery organizations that were based in the neighborhood.[2] A group of these ready-to-wear industry business men had been meeting in various spaces, mostly in a loft on West 36th Street. Their rabbi during this very loosely organized time was Rabbi Moshe Ralbag. In January 1933, the congregation was more formally organized and the name of the synagogue, the Millinery Center Synagogue, was agreed upon, although the meeting place was temporary, at 1011 Sixth Avenue, on the second floor.[3] Moe Brillstein (the father of film producer Bernie Brillstein)[4] became president and started a building fund. At that point the congregation came together and decided to build a synagogue.[5]

Due to the density of millinery businesses in the neighborhood, at its peak, services for daily minyan were typically so heavily attended that the prayer sessions were held in rotating shifts.[6]

Structure

The synagogue was designed by H.I. Feldman, a prolific,[7] Yale-educated architect who designed thousands of Art Deco and Modernist-style buildings in New York City,[8] [9] notably 1025 Fifth Avenue (between 83rd and 84th Streets) on the Upper East Side and the LaGuardia Houses on the Lower East Side, as well as many buildings that line the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. Feldman and his company, The Feldman Company, also built the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies building (130 East 59th Street) and the United Jewish Appeal building (220 West 58th Street).[10]

There were wartime restrictions on building, so building was postponed for a time until 1947. The building's construction was completed in September 1948, and the synagogue was dedicated on September 12, 1948.[11] The limestone building itself is narrow, approximately 19feet wide by 60feet deep,[12] and cost $150,000 to build. It was notable for having air conditioning.

Current

On May 3, 2017, the Board of Trustees of Millinery Center Synagogue nominated Rabbi Avrohom Dov Kahn to serve as rabbi. On May 10, 2017 Rabbi Kahn was elected in a landslide. It was the first election of a rabbi of the synagogue in over two decades.[13]

A week later on May 17, Rabbi Kahn was formally installed as rabbi in a program featuring three young professionals who spoke about the important impact the synagogue and Rabbi Kahn had made on them.[14] Harav Doniel Lander, Rosh Hayeshiva of Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim, spoke movingly of his decades-long close friendship with Rabbi Kahn and those attributes that made Rabbi Kahn eminently qualified to lead the synagogue in its rejuvenation and renewal efforts. Rabbi Kahn concluded the program by outlining what he hoped to do for the synagogue and how he hoped to guide MCS to reach out and benefit Jews throughout all of midtown Manhattan."[15]

Clergy

The following individuals have served as rabbi for the congregation:

Order Rabbi Term started Term ended Time in office Notes
Moshe Ralbag
Morris Gordon
1942 1970 years [16]
Abraham Berger 1980 1985 years [17]
David Friedberg 1985 1990 years
Leonard Guttman 1990 1992 years [18]
Hayim S. Wahrman 1992 2016 years [19] [20] [21]
Avrohom Dov Kahn 2017 incumbent years

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Bleyer. Jennifer. The City: 'City of Refuge'. 21 September 2015. The New York Times. 18 March 2007.
  2. News: Miller. Tom. The 1948 Millinery Center Synagogue – No. 1025 6th Avenue. 21 September 2015. Dayton in Manhattan. 17 March 2012.
  3. News: Millinery: Millinery Center Synagogue In Lease. 50. Women's Wear Daily. 37. Fairchild Fashion Media. 21 February 1935. 18. 0043-7581. ProQuest document ID 1653253799. .
  4. Book: Brillstein. Bernie. Rensin. David. Where Did I Go Right?: You're No One in Hollywood Unless Someone Wants You Dead!. 1999. Little, Brown. Boston. 978-0-316-11885-9. 1st. 21 September 2015. 40954091. registration.
  5. News: New Synagogue Is Planned. 21 September 2015. The New York Times. 7 October 1945. 28.
  6. News: Trebay. Guy. Dot-Coms Intrude in the Land of Needle and Thread. 23 September 2015. The New York Times. 14 November 2000.
  7. News: Feldman Notes Widening Field For Architects in Last 30 Years. New York Herald Tribune. IHT Corporation. 2 September 1951. 1C. ProQuest document ID 1321533100. .
  8. News: Gardner. James. A Building Now To Be Remembered. 21 September 2015. The New York Sun. 21 July 2007.
  9. Web site: Fatouros (née Feldman). Naomi. H. I. Feldman, NYC Architect: To The Editor. The City Review. 21 September 2015. 20 March 2002.
  10. News: Ennis. Thomas W.. H.I. Feldman, Head of Architecture Concern, Dies. 21 September 2015. 27 January 1981.
  11. News: Millinery Area Synagogue Is Dedicated Here: New Limestone Structure in Avenue of Americas Will Accommodate 125. New York Herald Tribune. IHT Corporation. 13 September 1948. 9. ProQuest document ID 1327476516. .
  12. Book: Levitt. Ellen. The Lost Synagogues of Manhattan: Including Shuls from Staten Island and Governors Island: Including Shuls from Staten Island and Governors Island. 2013. Avotaynu, Inc.. Bergenfield, N.J.. 978-0-983-69752-7. 26. 844074027.
  13. News: Kadinsky, Sergey . Storied Midtown Synagogue Installs Queens Rabbi . Queens Jewish Link . May 17, 2017 .
  14. Millinery Center Synagogue YouTube Account "Installation of Rabbi Avrohom Kahn" Uploaded June 8, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9TY9AdJLFI&list=PL42eFX5Yh9wAAYlqyIdGog6TgfmlF2K4j
  15. Millinery Center Synagogue YouTube Account "Installation of Rabbi Avrohom Kahn" Uploaded June 8, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9axds-0_Ik&list=PL42eFX5Yh9wAAYlqyIdGog6TgfmlF2K4j&index=6
  16. News: Rabbi Alexander J. Burnstein, 80, Led Millinery Center Synagogue. 23 September 2015. The New York Times. 18 October 1980. 30.
  17. News: Paid Notice: Deaths; Berger, Rabbi Abraham. 21 September 2015. The New York Times. 7 February 1999.
  18. News: . Chanukah Benefit Party for Milinary Center Synagogue A Major Success . January 4, 1991 . 9.
  19. http://millinerycs.org/psak_din.pdf Millinery Center Synagogue
  20. The circumstances under which Wahrman's tenure extended to 2016 Millinery Center Synagogue
  21. Web site: Holler v. Goldberg – Norbert P. Holler et al., as Members of the Millinery Center Synagogue, Petitioners, v. Jeffrey Goldberg et al., as Officers and Board Members of the Millinery Center Synagogue, et al., Respondents.. Supreme Court, New York County. 23 September 2015. 8 February 1995.

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