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Temple Emanu-El Synagogue

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Temple Emanu-El Synogogue<br /> <br /> Construction on the Temple started in 1927 and was completed two years later. It is the largest synagogue in the world, measuring 100 feet wide, 175 feet long, and 103 feet high. This was an early example of architectural steel frame enabling the 103 foot height without supporting pillars. The architectural firm of Kohn, Butler & Stein led the team that also included the firms of Goodhue Associates and Mayers, Murray & Phillip as consultants.
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Temple Emanu-El Synogogue

Construction on the Temple started in 1927 and was completed two years later. It is the largest synagogue in the world, measuring 100 feet wide, 175 feet long, and 103 feet high. This was an early example of architectural steel frame enabling the 103 foot height without supporting pillars. The architectural firm of Kohn, Butler & Stein led the team that also included the firms of Goodhue Associates and Mayers, Murray & Phillip as consultants.

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  • Temple Emanu-El Synogogue <br><br> Temple Emanu-El (Emanu-El means “God is with us” in Hebrew) was the first Reform Jewish congregation in New York City and because of its size and prominence, has served as a flagship congregation in the Reform branch of Judaism since its founding in 1845, according to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congregation_Emanu-El_of_New_York">Wikipedia.</a> The congregation, with 3,000 families, is located at East 65th Street and 5th Avenue. Its Romanesque Revival building is one of the largest and most beautiful synagogues in the world. <br><br> According to the <a href="http://www.emanuelnyc.org/simple.php/about_history">Temple website,</a> the congregation was founded by 33 mainly German Jews who assembled for services in 1845 in a rented hall in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. In 1847, the congregation moved to a former Methodist church at Chrystie Street. With more Jews coming from Germany to New York, the congregation moved progressively uptown. <br><br> In 1868, the congregation moved into a building at 5th Avenue and 43rd Street, the largest synagogue structure in the U.S. Temple leaders decided to move again as the area was becoming more commercialized. The synagogue was sold to the Durst family and demolished in 1927 for to make room for commercial development. Consolidating in 1927 with Temple Beth-El (5th Avenue and 76th Street) the congregation built the current structure at 5th Avenue and 65th Street. From the Temple Emanu-El website: “Over the years, and owing to the long history of the congregation, the mode of worship conducted at Temple Emanu-El has been called “Classical Reform.” Today, we prefer the appellation of “practical reform,” a spirit in the congregation that is open to inclusion, flexibility and sensitivity to the needs and desires of our various constituent members.” <br><br> According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congregation_Emanu-El_of_New_York">Wikipedia,</a> prominent members of Temple Emanu-El include New York Times owner and publisher Adolph Ochs (1858-1935), banker Solomon Loeb (1828-1903), first Jewish cabinet secretary Oscar Solomon Straus (1850-1926), lawyer Louis Marshall (1856-1929), banker Felix Warburg (1871-1937), Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals Lewis Strauss (1896-1974), Governor of New York Herbert Lehman (1876-1963), Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer, banker Ace Greenberg, comedian Joan Rivers, financier Leon Black, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker. <br><br> Recent funerals at the Temple include <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/16/obituaries/16pollack.html"> noted Federal District Judge Milton Pollack,</a> New York City Mayor Ed Koch, and composer Marvin Hamlisch.
  • Temple Emanu-El Synogogue <br><br> Construction on the Temple started in 1927 and was completed two years later. It is the largest synagogue in the world, measuring 100 feet wide, 175 feet long, and 103 feet high. This was an early example of architectural steel frame enabling the 103 foot height without supporting pillars. The architectural firm of Kohn, Butler & Stein led the team that also included the firms of Goodhue Associates and Mayers, Murray & Phillip as consultants. <br><br> This photo captures the brilliant late morning/early afternoon December sun streaming through the stained glass windows, producing beautiful rainbow colors throughout the Temple.
  • Temple Emanu-El Ark, Mosaic by Hildreth Meière <br><br> From a pdf file from the <a href="http://www.emanuelnyc.org/simple.php/about_tour">Temple Emanu-El website:</a> <br><br> “As in the tradition, Temple Emanu-El’s ark is located on the eastern wall of the sanctuary, facing Jerusalem. Emanu-El’s ark was designed to depict an open Torah scroll, with the side pillars representing staves (atzei chayim) and the finials atop servicing as the scroll decorations (rimonim). The gates become the open scroll with the depiction of the Tablets of the Law set in the center. Emanu-El’s “Torah within a Torah” gives added meaning to the phrase from Pirkei Avot, “Turn the Torah and turn it again for everything is in it.” The distinctive glass-and-marble mosaic arch that frames the bimah was deigned by Hildreth Meière-one of the very few women whose achievements gained the recognition of the established art world during the first half of the 20th century. The work was executed by Ravenna Mosaics of Berlin, whose skilled personnel hand laid the millions of tiles that make up Meiere's designs.” Hildreth Meière (1892-1961) was one of the most influential and creative decorative artists of the 20th century and ranks with a small number of women artists whose achievements gained the recognition of the art world in the first half of the century according to the <a href="http://www.hildrethmeiere.com"> International Hildreth Meiere Association website.</a> She was born in New York City. After studying in Florence and exposed to the Renaissance masters, she said “After that I could not be satisfied with anything less than a big wall to paint on. I just had to be a mural painter,” according to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildreth_Meiere"> Wikipedia.</a> She continued her studies at the Art Students League of New York, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, New York School of Applied Design for Women. She served as a draftsman in the U.S. Navy during World War I after training as a mapmaker. “Her military service proved to be a valuable addition to her training for her career as a mural painter and designer,” according to the Meière website. <br><br> After the war, she was introduced to Bertram Goodhue, one of America’s leading architects. Goodhue gave her the opportunity to paint the high altar for one of his church projects, Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Mt. Kisco, New York. Afterward, she did most of the mural work for Goodhue’s firm. She next worked with Goodhue on the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington, D.C. He chose her to do the decorative mosaic work for the dome and arches in the Great Hall. <br><br> Goodhue was selected the architect for the Nebraska state Capital in Lincoln. He gave her a great opportunity as the principal designer of the decorative art for the interior of the building to interpret the history and symbolism of the state of Nebraska. She received eight commissions over the next eight years to design the dome, ceilings, floors, and various spaces in the building. <br><br> Meière received a Gold Medal from the Architectural League of New York in 1928 for her work on the Nebraska State Capital. This project was at the beginning of her career and established her as a leading designer of mural and mosaic work and interiors, according to the Meière website. <br><br> In 1928.1929, she had commissions to design interior mosaics for Temple Emanu-El and Saint Bartholomew’s in New York City. For Saint Bartholomew’s, she used glass mosaic for the ”Tranfiguration of Christ” in the apse above the Altar. <br><br> Meière served on the Citizen’s Committee for the Army and Navy, providing altarpieces for military chaplains used on base camps, battleships, and hospitals worldwide. <br><br> She served as President of the National Society of Mural Painters and the Liturgical arts Society, First Vice President of the Architectural League of New York (one of the first women members, she received its Gold Medal in Mural Painting in 1928), director of the Municipal Arts Society, and Associate of the National Academy of Design, and was appointed the first woman on the New York City Art Commission. <br><br> Some of her most notable work includes: <br><br> Mosaics for the Great Hall of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.; Evolution-themed floor and ceiling art in Nebraska’s State Capital, Lincoln, Nebraska; Saint Bartholomew’s glass mosaic for the ”Transfiguration of Christ” in the apse above the altar, New York City; 75-foot mosaic arch over the sanctuary, and mosaics surrounding the Torah-shaped bronze arc, Temple Emanu-El, New York City; Radio Center Music Hall building façade: three metal rondels called Song, Drama, and Dance; Washington National Cathedral, “The Resurrected Christ”. <br><br> From the Meière website: <br><br> “Hildreth Meière as an artist was a significant figure in several important areas of American visual culture. First, she was most famous as an Art Deco muralist and decorator whose work stands among the most distinguished of her era. Second, she is an important figure in the history of American Liturgical Art, and one of its most ecumenical practitioners. Third, she is one of the preeminent mosaicists in the history of American art. Finally, she is a woman artist who was able to gain the respect of the greatest muralists and architects of her day. In 1956 she was the first woman honored with The Fine Arts Medal of the American Institute of Architects: <br><br> A Master of Murals: the world of art might write your name high on the list of the great among our painters and write truly, but not fully. Mosaic, terra cotta, leaded glass, metal, gesso -- these and still other media respond gratefully to the direction of your heart and hands. Your collaboration with architects and other artists brings more than the addition of beauty; it transfuses the joint concept and makes it indivisible. In accepting one more token, added to all the expressions of grateful appreciation your work has earned, you will permit us the realization that you are giving the institute the greater honor.” <br><br> She died in 1961. The requiem mass was held for her at Saint Vincent Ferrer Church in New York City, a church designed by Goodhue.
  • Temple Emanu-El Rose Window by Oliver Smith <br><br> From a pdf file from the <a href="http://www.emanuelnyc.org/simple.php/about_tour">Temple Emanu-El website:</a> <br><br> “Most prominent of the stained-glass windows featured on the sanctuary’s western façade is Oliver Smith’s rose or wheel window, which is replete with numerical strategies that are a subtext of Jewish mysticism. Emanu-El’s “signature” window is comprised of 12 panes (symbolic of the tribes of Israel) surrounding a six-pointed Magen David (or Star of David). Circling the rose are 36 small panes-36 being significant because of the Talmudic reference to 36 righteous men in each generation who are responsible for preserving the world; 36 also signifies “double life” in gematria (numerology of the Hebrew language and alphabet) because 2 X 18 = 36 and 18 is the numerical value of the Hebrew word chai, which means “life.” The rose window was donated to the congregation in honor of Babette and Mayer Lehman by their children, who included New York Supreme Court Justice Irving Lehman (a former Emanu-El president) and New York Governor Herbert Lehman (the first Jewish governor of New York). <br><br> Caai likewise is symbolized in the 18 marquis-shaped panes that arch around the rose and four lancet windows (each of which have 10 panes). The 18 panes of the arch may suggest the Amidah, our 18-part daily prayer. The seven windows located at the top imitate the seven-branched menorahs on the bimah. The center high window of the seven was donated to the congregation by Florette Guggenheim-widow of Benjamin Guggenheim (who died aboard Titanic), mother of arts patron Peggy Guggenheim and daughter of Joseph Seligman (a member of the Seligman banking family and a long-time vice president of the congregation.” <br><br> According to the <a href="http://www.rodephsholom.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159&Itemid=155">Congregation Rodeph Sholom website, </a> Oliver Smith was a master craftsman in the art of stained glass, most notably in the Arts and Crafts style. Smith’s studio was in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania as early as 1929, possibly earlier. His windows are at the Princeton Chapel, Princeton, New Jersey; Clothier Memorial Hall, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania; and Temple B’nai Brith, Los Angeles. Additionally, Smith’s paintings have been exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., the National Academy of Design and the Kennedy Gallery, both in New York City.
  • Temple Emanu-El Ark <br><br> From a pdf file from the <a href="http://www.emanuelnyc.org/simple.php/about_tour">Temple Emanu-El website:</a> <br><br> “The single most important element within the sanctuary is the ark, which in Emanu-El’s case houses seven Torah scrolls (seferei Torot). The ark doors are made of cast and hand-finished bronze in a pierced design with the Ten Commandments at the center. The Torah crowns situated on the upper Torahs of the ark are know as the Bloomingdale Crowns and were given to Congregation Beth-El by Lyman Bloomingdale (founder of the department store) in memory of his mother, brother and daughter in 1891 when the members of Beth-El dedicated their former home at 76th Street and Fifth Avenue. The perpetual light (ner tamid) suspended over the ark is enclosed in ruby glass set in bronze and was executed by Edward F. Caldwell & Company. The frame of the ark opening is crafted in Siena marble with mosaic inserts. Decorative metalwork at the top of the ark was executed by the General Bronze Corporation. The columns of the ark are made of French Benou Jaume marble, which varies in color from deep purple to orange.” <br><br> “The menorahs that flank the ark are seven-branched lamp stands, representing those that were used in the Tabernacle. The menorahs were produced by Edward F. Caldwell & Company. The enamel embellishments at the base were executed by the master metalworker and artist Oscar Bach.”
  • Temple Emanu-El Stained Glass Windows <br><br> From a pdf file from the <a href="http://www.emanuelnyc.org/simple.php/about_tour">Temple Emanu-El website:</a> <br><br> Located along the street level is a series of smaller stained-glass windows depicting noted synagogues from around the world. The window on the right depicts the Great Synagogue of Toledo, Spain-a Moorish-style synagogue built in the 12th century. See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Mar%C3%ADa_la_Blanca">Wikipedia</a> for more detail on the Spanish Temple. <br><br> In this photo, I was attracted by the beautiful light from the stained glass windows and the reflection off the marble columns on both sides of the windows.
  • Temple Emanu-El Synogogue<br /> <br /> Construction on the Temple started in 1927 and was completed two years later. It is the largest synagogue in the world, measuring 100 feet wide, 175 feet long, and 103 feet high. This was an early example of architectural steel frame enabling the 103 foot height without supporting pillars. The architectural firm of Kohn, Butler & Stein led the team that also included the firms of Goodhue Associates and Mayers, Murray & Phillip as consultants.
  • Temple Emanu-El Synogogue<br /> <br /> Construction on the Temple started in 1927 and was completed two years later. It is the largest synagogue in the world, measuring 100 feet wide, 175 feet long, and 103 feet high. This was an early example of architectural steel frame enabling the 103 foot height without supporting pillars. The architectural firm of Kohn, Butler & Stein led the team that also included the firms of Goodhue Associates and Mayers, Murray & Phillip as consultants.
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