The Fifth Avenue Synagogue (, officially Congregation Ateret Tsvi) is an

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

located at 5 East 62nd Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States.

Founding

The synagogue was founded in 1958, by former members of Congregation Zichron Ephraim (now called Park East Synagogue) who opposed that congregation's decision to seat men and women together during services. Henry Hirsch, Myrtle Hirsch, Leib Merkin, and Hermann Merkin were among the congregation's founders. Author

Herman Wouk Herman Wouk ( ; May 27, 1915 – May 17, 2019) was an American author. He published fifteen novels, many of them historical fiction such as ''The Caine Mutiny'' (1951), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Pulitzer Prize in fiction. ...

was an early member of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue.

Building

The stone-clad building was designed by

Percival Goodman Percival Goodman (January 13, 1904 – October 11, 1989) was an American urban theorist and architect who designed more than 50 synagogues between 1948 and 1983. He has been called the "leading theorist" of modern synagogue design,Philip N ...

, an architect who described himself as "an agnostic who was converted by Hitler." Goodman sought to interpret Jewish tradition in modern ways in the more than 50 synagogues he designed. Herman Wouk described Goodman's design as a "traditional

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

layout" with the bimah and aron in the center area facing rows of seats, thereby taking advantage of the depth of the property. In May 2010, a new

mikvah A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or ( Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. In Orthodox Judaism, these regulations are steadfastly adhered t ...

at the Fifth Avenue Synagogue was dedicated. Funding for construction was provided by Ira Rennert and family.

Clergy

Rabbi

Immanuel Jakobovits Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits (8 February 192131 October 1999) was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1967 to 1991. Prior to this, he had served as Chief Rabbi of Ireland and as rabbi of the Fi ...

was the founding Rabbi of the congregation in 1959 until 1967 when he was elected to serve as Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. Jakobovitz was succeeded by Rabbi

Emanuel Rackman Rabbi (Menachem) Emanuel Rackman ( ''Menachem 'immanuel Raqman''; June 24, 1910 in Albany – December 1, 2008) was an American Modern Orthodox Rabbi, president of the RCA, vice-president of Yeshiva University. President of Bar-Ilan University ...

, who served until 1977, when he was selected to serve as President of

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

. Rabbi Nisson Shulman served as the congregation's rabbi from 1977 until 1985. Rabbi Sol Roth assumed the leadership of the synagogue in 1986. Rabbi Yaakov Kermaier assumed leadership of the synagogue in 2003 and made

aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

with his family in 2015. Rabbi Eli Babich, who was the associate Rabbi of Fifth Avenue Synagogue since 2013, was named the head Rabbi in 2019. The

Chazzan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' (, plural ; ; ) is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term al ...

is the noted cantor Joseph Malovany.

In popular culture

The synagogue appeared as a "cool 1950's apartment house" in a 2003 advertisement for the Infiniti Q45 luxury car in an ad created by the TBWA\Chiat\Day. The agency received permission to use the building in the background of the shot under the proviso that it not be identifiable, so the address on the awning was changed to the non-existent "63003 77th Street". The congregation was paid an undisclosed fee. In the 1986

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

film, ''

Hannah and her Sisters ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' is a 1986 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. It tells the intertwined stories of an extended family over two years that begins and ends with a family Thanksgiving#Thanksgiving dinner, Than ...

'' the building is panned across while being criticized for its architectural incongruity — "That's disgusting. That's really terrible." — after a shot of the consistent facades of the rest of the block.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Synagogues in Manhattan Orthodox synagogues in New York City Upper East Side Jewish organizations established in 1958 1958 establishments in New York City Merkin family Synagogues completed in 1958 Percival Goodman synagogues Modernist architecture in New York City 20th-century synagogues in the United States