New York religious gem undergoes rehabilitation.The historic Eldridge Street Synagogue The Eldridge Street Synagogue is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States, and was the first one built in the United States by Eastern European Jews, who now make up the vast majority of American Jews. It opened at 12 Eldridge Street in New York's Lower East Side in 1887. in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. is now undergoing an extensive rehabilitation. The $12 million project is being undertaken by the Seaboard Weatherproofing & Restoration Company. In the course of the next few months, Seaboard will clean the Synagogue's beige brick facade, repoint Verb 1. repoint - repair the joints of bricks; "point a chimney" point fix, furbish up, mend, repair, bushel, doctor, touch on, restore - restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken; "She repaired her TV set"; "Repair my shoes please" the masonry and restore the large terra-cotta center window. Seaboard will also replace seven ornamental finials removed from the building in 1960. All work will be conducted by hand, using the same methods the original craftsmen used to give the building its special character. Completed in 1887, the Synagogue is the first great house of worship Noun 1. house of worship - any building where congregations gather for prayer house of God, house of prayer, place of worship bethel - a house of worship (especially one for sailors) built in the United States by East European Jews Until the Holocaust, Jews were a significant part of the population of Eastern Europe. Outside Poland, the largest population was in the European part of the USSR, especially Ukraine (1.5 million in the 1930s), but major populations also existed in Hungary, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. . The building's facade features a large rose window, elaborate cornices, molded brick work and central gable, along with keyhole-shaped windows that accomodate stained glass. Moorish touches include rounded arches, bell-shaped pinnacles and intricately carved columns. Seaboard expects to complete the Synagogue's rehabilitation by December of 2005. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion