Museum on Lower East Side Attempts to Keep the Jewish Culture Alive
By Lea George
Little remains of the First Roumanian American Synagogue. Inside a metal fence covered in graffiti lies a rectangular strip of uncut disordered grass, trash, and discarded lunches. The religious building that once drew hundreds of congregants of the Lower East Side (LES), has been nearly erased.
A jewelry shop, a corner store called Corner Grocers, and a cluster of men sitting around a table on the bottom floor of a mostly empty building, all remember the synagogue that used to stand there, but have no recollection of the individual worshippers who gathered for Friday and Saturday prayers. Yet memories of the once vibrant Jewish community of the Lower East Side are preserved nearby in the Eldridge Street Museum, a converted synagogue that strives to keep Jewish culture present in the neighborhood.
The Manager of Operations and Visitor Services, Bradley Shaw, 64, first came to the museum as a visitor, but immediately felt the need to become more involved.
“I was upstairs and sat in the sanctuary for an hour just looking at the place, I couldn’t believe it. I immediately came down and I volunteered,” Shaw said. “You need a sense of tradition in a community because that’s sometimes all you have.”
The synagogue was built in 1887, taking a total of ten months to construct and $93,000 to complete. According to Shaw, although it proved to be very popular for 40 years or so, unfortunately, it was abandoned in the 1950s and then rebuilt from 1987 to 2007, taking a grand total of $20 million to complete. Shaw said that the decision to create the museum was made after the congregation shrank and dissipated. “We would like a congregation to come here, but it’s just not here,” he said.
When the building functioned as a synagogue, it drew in Orthodox worshippers, reflecting the religious bent of most Jewish residents in the area. Today it houses many exhibitions, such as one display of a Jewish community in Harbin, China. The museum also offers a variety of tours and classes to help visitors learn about and stay in touch with the Jewish history and culture of the area. Activities include an “Introduction to Jewish Law” class, or an opportunity for visitors to experience the synagogue glow in the morning light.
Only five active synagogues remain on the Lower East Side, as opposed to around 500 in the 1920s. According to the United Jewish Appeal (UJA), New York City’s Jewish population was 1.1 million. “The four distinct areas with large Jewish populations that would each qualify as one of America’s 20 largest Jewish communities are the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and in Brooklyn, Borough Park, Williamsburg, and Flatbush/Midwood/Kensington.” The Lower East Side no longer claims the top place.
A 2011 study conducted by the UJA states that from 1880 to 1924, 2.5 million Jews came to reside in the United States, and of that number, 1,875,000 lived in the Lower East Side. The report adds that Lower Manhattan East, which includes the Lower East Side, has lost approximately 17,000 Jewish residents since 2002. The Jewish population of the Lower East Side left partly because, as they prospered, they chose to move to richer neighborhoods of the city, Long Island, and New Jersey. Moreover, as older folks passed away, once-popular Jewish establishments closed down. Iconic businesses including the Schapiro Wine Company, whose building was sold in 2000, as well as Ratner’s, which closed in 2002 after 92 years of business, reflect these changes.
Remnants of this past are visible throughout the neighborhood. Buildings with Hebrew writing line East Broadway, such as the United Jewish Council of The East Side Multi-Service Center, yet appear to be either abandoned or currently not populated.
Some of these buildings were left unlocked and open for anyone to step inside. No answer came when waiting at the door for five minutes, after having knocked seven times on tall glass and wooden doors, waiting patiently for someone who was no longer there. The United Jewish Council had trash bags blocking the main entrance of the building, possibly hinting to a lack of anyone’s presence.
Yet, although the Jewish population of the Lower East Side has shriveled, a desire for community hangs on among some people, particularly the old-timer who recall better days when pushcarts rattled through the streets and many vendors sold pickles out of barrels, and when the streets grew quiet on Sabbath. Melvin Birnbaum, 85, a small, white-haired docent, joked that at one point he didn’t even know that it existed. “When I retired and was looking for things to do, I saw a small article looking for a docent on Eldridge Street. I thought, ‘what the hell is a docent?’, and ‘where the hell is Eldridge Street?’” Birnbaum said.
Yet for Birnbaum, the importance of maintaining traditions is a serious matter and critical for the well being of any community. “Survival,” he said succinctly, with a firm nod of the head.
