Reflections of our past as we build toward our future This page includes posts from the Bernard Museum of Judaica spanning Temple Emanu-El’s history in New York City. In April 2020, Temple Emanu-El celebrated its 175th anniversary, and we will continue to celebrate this milestone with special events, posts, and more. The below posts are …
Dear Friends, One hundred seventy-five years ago today, April 13, 1845, thirty-three German immigrants, refugees of the despotism surging in Western Europe, founded Temple Emanu-El in a small rented facility downtown on the corner of Clinton and Grand streets. It was the city’s first Reform synagogue, and soon became the model for Reform congregations around …
Mark Heutlinger, Temple Administrator Click here to learn more about Temple Emanu-El. Since its founding in 1845, Congregation Emanu-El has moved five times. Its first home was on the second floor of a private dwelling located at the corner of Grand and Clinton Streets on the Lower East Side. Later, it occupied in succession two …
The Spirit of Emanu-El Celebrating our past, present and future on our 175th anniversary Rabbi Joshua Davidson By now, you may be familiar with our synagogue’s founding story — our journey from a second-floor loft on the Lower East Side to our majestic Fifth Avenue sanctuary; our emergence from a small gathering of thirty-three German …
Last weekend, Young Families of Emanu-El and Young Members of Emanu-El, our 20s and 30s community group, joined in with our Sunday Lunch Program in making and distributing lunches. For over 25 years, Temple Emanu-El’s Sunday Lunch Program has been preparing meals for those in need, whether they are homeless, underemployed or food insecure. Click …
“Just follow Norden’s instructions.” That’s the most important turkey carving tip from the seasoned volunteer carvers at Temple Emanu-El’s Thanksgiving Dinner. The Dinner isn’t for our members, but for those less fortunate who have nowhere to go on Thanksgiving. Our members coordinated volunteers, delegated, and prepared an entire meal for 200 guests — which involved …
A huge thank you to everyone: Wise Hall looked abundantly full on Mitzvah Day, when we all came together as one Temple community to volunteer, side by side. In the space of a morning, we accomplished an amazing mitzvah: 2,200 gift packages were assembled with love, ranging from dignity kits to Purim treats for the …
From the appetizer to the delicious desserts, which included Thanksgiving cupcakes festively decorated by our volunteers, cinnamon doughnuts and a chocolate and vanilla parfait topped with fresh blueberries and raspberries, this Thanksgiving meal was a special way to share the warmth of the holiday with those who would otherwise be alone. All of our guests …
How Temple Emanu-El creates programs for Gen Z and Millennials It is a common trope today that there is something within Gen Z and Millennials that is fundamentally opposed to joining institutions. At Temple Emanu-El, through thoughtful recalibration of our own efforts, we have begun to grow our capacity to engage this cohort. By partnering …
By Jackie Peterson, Communications Manager Religious School is a time to learn about Jewish identity and history, to develop a sense of right and wrong, to make lasting friendships, to study for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah… and, for some, a time to meet their future spouse. Matt and Annabel Perelman did not start their …
Temple Emanu-El is home to an extremely active Tikkun Olam committee. Each year, they seek to impact our community in a meaningful way — mitzvah by mitzvah, they work to repair the world. The Tikkun Olam committee not only betters countless lives in our city, but also creates and strengthens meangingful connections in our temple …
This article originally appeared in our May/June 2019 Bulletin. By Beth Pilchik Temple Member and Religious School Parent On February 9, 2019, we celebrated our older son Miles’s bar mitzvah. We chose Temple Emanu-El for many reasons: Our friends belonged and liked it, religious school was one day a week, everyone seemed nice, and a …
