Brooklyn, NY – Jewish life in Brownsville, East New York, Flatbush-East Flatbush, Bedford-Stuyvesant and other nearby areas of Brooklyn through the 1950s was a lively, rich and varied environment. Over the next few decades it dissipated greatly. As Jews moved to other areas, they left behind their synagogues. This book is a photographic essay of these ex-shuls; what happened to them, and how do they appear today. Many became churches whose facades still have Jewish symbols.
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Each of the 91 features ex-shuls include a photograph of how it appears today with a narrative that explains the history of the building.
Synagogues Illustrated In Book
Congregation Adath Yeshurun, 1403 Eastern Parkway at Lincoln Place, Brownsville
Congregation Agudas Achim Ansche Bobruisk, 729 Saratoga Avenue, Brownsville
Agudas Achim Anshei Mishnitz, 726 Driggs Avenue, Lower Williamsburg
Agudas Achim Anshei New Lots, 43 Malta Street, New Lots
Agudath Achim Anshei David Horodok, 855 Saratoga Avenue, Brownsville
Congregation Ahavath Achim of Bedford Section, 404 (402) Gates Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant
Agudath Achim Bnei Jacob of [email protected] New York, 503 Glenmore Avenue, East New York
Congregation Ahavas Achim B’nai Abraham, 394–396 Logan Street, East New York
Ahavath Achim Anshei Brownsville, 105 Riverdale Avenue, Brownsville
Congregation Ahavas Achim of East Flatbush, 203 East 37th Street, East Flatbush
Congregation Ahavath Chesed Day Nursery, 394 Hendrix Street, East New York
Ahavath Chesed, 740-742 Jefferson Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant
Ahavath Israel, 760 Sackman Street, East New York/New Lots
Ahavath Reyim, 209 Rochester Avenue, Northern Crown Heights
Anshei Azaritz/Azaritz Young Friends, 885–887 Thomas Boyland (Hopkinson) Street, Brownsville
Anshei Krashnik of East New York Nusach Sfard, 473 Vermont Street, East New York
Congregation Beth Abraham, 770 Howard Avenue near Livonia Avenue, Brownsville
Beth Hamedrash HaGadol, 777–779 Schenectady Avenue (East 47th Street), East Flatbush
Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Nachloth Zion of South Flatbush, 2175 East 22nd Street, Sheepshead Bay
Beth Hemidrash Hagadol, 611 Williams Street, East New York/New Lots
Congregation Beth Israel, 771 Sackman Street, Brownsville
Congregation Beth Israel, 8910 Remsen Avenue/ 650 Avenue A, Remsen Heights/ East Flatbush
Beth Israel, 231–233 Ainslie Street, Williamsburg
Bikur Cholim, 3 (or 3–5–7) Lewis Avenue, Northern Bedford-Stuyvesant
Congregation Bikur Cholim Bnai Jacob, 2134 Dean Street, Weeksville-Bedford-Stuyvesant
B’nai Israel Jewish Center, 9517 Kings Highway, East Flatbush/Brownsville border
Chevra Ahavath Israel Anshei Ostrolenker, 375 Bristol Street, Brownsville
Chevra Poelei Tzedek Anschei Glubucker of Brownsville, 167–169 Chester Street, Brownsville
Unlock the Hidden Power of Google for Your Genealogy Research Congregation Chevra Tehillim Nusach Ashkenaz, 511 Elton Street, East New York
Chevra Torah Anshei Radishkowitz, 135–139 Amboy Street, Brownsville
Chevre Anshei Zedek/ Talmud Torah Anshei Zedek of East New York, 308–310 Atkins Avenue, East New York
Daughters of Zion, 130 Boerum Street, East Williamsburg
Congregation Dorshe Tov Anshei New Lots, 21 Louisiana Avenue, New Lots
Congregation Eliezer of East New York, 133 Hinsdale Street, East New York
Etz Chaim Machzikei Hadath, 1477 Lincoln Place, Brownsville
Ezrath Israel, 496 Gates Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant
Congregation Friends Oholei Torah, 890 Lenox Road, East Flatbush
Gates of Prayer/Community Center Congregation and Talmud Torah/Odessa Benevolent, 180–182 Van Buren Street, Bedford-Stuyvesant
Glenwood Jewish Center-Lila R. Korf Talmud Torah, 888 East 56th Street, Old Mill Basin
H.E.S. (Hebrew Educational Society), Thomas Boyland (Hopkinson) Street at Sutter Avenue, Brownsville
Hebrew Ladies Day Nursery, 521 Thomas Boyland Street, Brownsville
Hebrew School of Williamsburg, 310 South 1st Street, Williamsburg
Hessed Ve Emeth Society of Castorialis, 69–71 Malta Street, East New York
Independent Chevra Sphard of Perryslaw, 247 Snediker Avenue, East New York
Congregation Independent Esrath (or Ezrath) Achim, 144 Newport Street, Brownsville
Israel Elioe Brethren of Yale, 474–476 Kosciuszko Street, upper Bedford-Stuyvesant
Jewish Center of Hyde Park, 779 East 49th Street, East Flatbush
Judea Center, 2059 Bedford Avenue, East Flatbush
Congregation Kachlow Israel, 220–222 Hegeman Avenue, Brownsville-East New York
Kenesseth Israel Beth Jacob, 35 Blake Avenue, Brownsville
Kesser Torah, 2310 Cortelyou Road at East 23rd Street, Flatbush
”Kevelson’s” Shul, 1387 East 96th Street, Canarsie
Machzikei Torah Bnei David, 175 Hart Street, Bedford-Stuyvesant
Men of Justice, 1676–1678 Park Place, Brownsville/East New York
New Hebrew School of Brooklyn/ Bnos Israel Malbush Arumim, 146 Stockton Street, Bedford-Stuyvesant
New Lots Talmud Torah, 330–370 New Lots Avenue at Pennsylvania Ave., East New York
Ohev Shalom (Bais Harav Midrash Eliyahu Anshei Charney?), 744 Dumont Avenue, East New York
Ohev Sholom Anshei Sfard, 157 Leonard Street at Stagg Street, East Williamsburg
The Parkway Theater, 1768 St. John’s Place, Brownsville
Congregation Petach Tikvah, 261 Rochester Avenue, Crown Heights
Petrikower Anshe Sfard of Brownsville, 493 Herzl Street, Brownsville
Prospect Park Jewish Center and Yeshiva, 153 Ocean Avenue, Flatbush
Rishon L’Zion, 409 East 95th Street, East Flatbush
Shaare Torah, 305 East 21st Street at Albemarle Road, Flatbush
Shaari Israel, 810 East 49th Street, East Flatbush
Shaari Zedek, then Ahavath Achim, 765–767 Putnam Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant
Shaari Zedek, 221 Kingston Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant
Sheveth Achim (?), 276 Buffalo Avenue, Brownsville and The Little Temple Beth Jacob, 285 Buffalo Avenue, Brownsville
Sons of Abraham, 157 Leonard Street at Stagg Street, East Williamsburg
Congregation Sons of Isaac, 300 East 37th Street, East Flatbush
Congregation Sons of Judah, 864 Sutter Avenue, East New York
Talmud Torah Atereth Eliezer Glovinsky, 747 Hendrix Street, East New York
Talmud Torah Atereth Israel, 85–87 Fountain Avenue, East New York
Talmud Torah Beth Jacob Joseph, 368 Atlantic Avenue, Boerum Hill
Talmud Torah Tifereth Hagro (originally Talmud Torah Tifereth Zion), 425 Howard Avenue, Weeksville
Talmud Torah Tifereth Israel of West Flatbush, 1913–1915 West 7th Street, Gravesend
Temple Beth Ohr, 1010 Ocean Avenue, Flatbush
Temple Isaac (aka Ohel Yitzhok), 554 Prospect Place, Prospect Heights
Temple Sinai, 24 Arlington Avenue, Highland Park
Tifereth Israel, 656–8 Willoughby Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant
Tifereth Yehuda Nusach Sfard, 347 East 49th Street, East Flatbush
Tomchai Torah, 1320 Sutter Avenue, East New York
Mystery Jewish establishment on Varet Street, 101 Varet Street, East Williamsburg
Congregation Vezras Achim, 341 Pennsylvania Avenue, East New York
Woodruff Avenue Temple, 151 Woodruff Avenue at East 21st, Flatbush
Yeshivat Rabbi Meyer Simcha HaCohen, 309 East 53rd Street, East Flatbush
Yeshivath Torath Chaim of Greater New York (also Young Israel of East New York), 631 Belmont Avenue, East New York
Young Israel of Brownsville and East Flatbush, 1091 Winthrop Street at East 94th Street, East Flatbush-Brownsville
Young Israel of Prospect Park, 2170 Bedford Avenue, Flatbush
what about the shuls of the old Bronx-shuls that could seat 1000 people; with famed rabbonim!
Now they are lost as iglesia….
Prospect Park Jewish Center and Temple Isaac Ohel Yitzchok which are listed in the book have had a new home since the early 1970’s at 1419 Dorchester Rd. in Ditmas Park. The shul, under Rabbi Leib Kelman serves the Victorian Flatbush and Kensington area with a daily morning minyon and Shabbos and Yom Tov minyonim. The building is a church that was turned into a shul.
this book is brooklyn only
Oy the memories .
Was “Unlock the Hidden Power of Google for Your Genealogy Research” really part of the name of the shul?
Who lives in these neighborhoods today? African American, Spanish or Asian? An out of towner asking…
oy lo ki hishbarnu, we should raiz kriah over what has become of our mekomos hakedoshim. I have passed such shuls nebach and said boruch dayan emes; but it brings tears to my eyes to see these places, nebach so much yiddishe neshomos and money went into building these edifices, may moshiach come so they can be returned to their former glory.
I hope Boro Park doesnt share the same fate as East New york did
This list doesn’t even look complete. Maybe it’s only the shuls that are now churches? Rabbi Teitz shul on S 2nd St and Driggs isn’t on the list. What a terrible thing this all is but hey that’s the history of klal yisroel. How many thousands of shuls in Europe were abandoned or destroyed during WW2? And this is only Brooklyn. There’s Bronx and so many other cities, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, where African Americans took over.
I used to drive by the shuls for Tisha Bav for a reminder of the churban habayis.
To #12 ;
Boro what?
Why should they goto E”Y; when there is so much in Brooklyn?
Golus
…I once passed by (what is now) a lumber yard in South Ozone park, Queens where the main structure (unused) still stands. The windows are all shot out and the Magen David is still intact. The bricks are all blackened by fire. A scene straight out of Kristallnacht. Except this was done by groups whose ancestors hail from different geographic locations than Central Europe!!!
I drove past the old Glenwood Jewish Center the other day – it’s now for rent, nebech. Rabbi Drillman Z”L was a real mensch and scholar.
In 1959 Pupa cheder was on Stockton St. near Tompkins Ave. it was a shul that
still had mispellelim, today it is a church.
just in the past few months i have seen shuls around queens turned into churches driving to work to and seeing the lower east side now to what it was! no more shteebles, very sad.
they def missed the old tenka shteeble on east 52 street between snyder and tilden ave and rav bukeits old shul on east 51 street between snyder and church ave . the mikva bh is still in use today on east 52 street and is open before yomtoivim
Does anyone know about the shul that once stood on Christopher Street #349 , called Beth Israel of Brownsville, or another one on 228 Christopher Street, also from the town of Radoshkovich?
TO #19 . The Tenkar Rov bought it from the Zmigroder Rebbe, an East NY refugee.
Dumont & Sheffield in East NY. Why travel abroad & give parnosah to the murderous poles ym”sh ?? I’d rather give it to the citizens of Brownsville. Signed ___ an old Easr New Yorker
The Zmigroder Bais Medrash is today flourishing in Boro Park (12 & 43)
By the way, we cam start tours of the old Mekomos Hakedoshim in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Did you know that the first Lanzeter Bais Medrash (and Klausenberger Cheder) was located
What about anshei kartofel?
It’s great to here that a former B’klyn congregation is now in the Jewish homeland.. How about Congregation B’nai Israel which in the 1960’s was located on Hendrix St. in East NY?
wow that is a good book. and it has pictures too. I am going to buy it right away and read it .I am so happy they made this book.I was waiting such a long time for a book like this to come out.
This is a good book. I miss the old days in brownsville
This is a good book. I miss the old days in brownsville
About 30 years ago I went with a friend to see the shuls we remembered in brownsville.at that time many shuls were in the process of being taken apart. We took photos but we ran when the natives started threatening to steal our camera…..does anyone remember the mizrachi shul on e.98th st.;yeshiva rishon l’tzion on E 95th st?
does anybody have any info on “Congregation Agudas Achim Ansche Bobruisk, 729 Saratoga Avenue, Brownsville” who was a Rov there, where did it move?
Were all these places orthodox? Was the Parkway Theater a shul? Is there a possuk one is supposed to say when seeing these former shuls?
People, this is not Eretz Yisroel. These are parts of New York City. Jewish geographical places evolves and neighborhoods change hands. Jews move/give up on some neighborhoods and move in to others. Nothing to sweat about, really. Nostalgic feelings? Sure. Preoccupation and anxiety? Now you’re pushing it.
I heard there are still a few elderly jews that live in brownsville. They have stayed there because they are in rent controlled apartements and paying 50 dollars a month rent.
all the shuls and kosher stores have disappeared 40 years ago, and unfortunately for a small handful of old people they are still stuck in this neighborhood.
Any remember which street was the manistrisher rebbe shteibel?
To #37 . Exactly as I wrote. In the early 1950’s, the Klausenburger Cheder was located there before moving to willmsb’g. The Lanceter Rebbe was still in East NY when his daughter Malkie A”H married R’ Leibesh’l Leiser YBL”CH, the present Rebbe of Pshevorsk. There were a few other shteeblach but mostly large shules – e.g. Rav Telushkin Z”L of Georgia Ave and Rav Sodden Z”L of Alabama Ave.
Does anyone out there remember the two shuls located on the same property on Sterling Place between Howard and Saratoga Avenues (north side of the street). I remember going there as a young boy with my father during the 1950’s.