Temple Emanu-El

Temple Emanu-El was the first Reform Jewish congregation in New York City. It was built in 1929 at 1 East 65th Street, on the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, at the corner of Fifth Avenue with 65th Street. It serves as the flagship congregation of the Reform branch of Judaism since its founding in 1845.

Temple Emanu-El interior, New York City
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_Emanu-El_New_York_1273.jpg
Author: Gryffindor


Temple Emanu-El became the largest synagogue in the world when the Nazis during Kristallnacht in 1938 destroyed Berlin's Oranienbergerstraße Synagogue, which was until then the largest synagogue in the world. To be pushed to first place due to the destruction of another is not exactly something Temple Emanu-El would want to celebrate, but it is the position it has now attained.

The Reform Jewish congregation was founded by thirty-three German Jews in April 1845. They held their first services in a rented hall in the Lower East Side. Then in 1847, they moved into a former Methodist church at 56 Chrystie Street. Hebrew was used as the traditional liturgical language until 1848, when it was replaced by the German vernacular. Musical instruments, banished from synagogues, were introduced into the services from 1849.

Temple Emanu-El, New York City
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emanu-elNYjeh.jpg
Author: Jim.henderson


In 1888, the Temple Emanu-El received its first American-born rabbi, Joseph Silverman. Over the decades, the congregation saw a dilution of the traditional rituals. From the 1880s, men could pray without wearinhg the kippot to cover their heads.

In 1927, Temple Emanu-El merged with Temple Beth-El, creating the present Emanu-El. The Temple building was designed by Robert D. Kohn, and the congregation relocated there in 1929. Its hall has a seating capacity of 2,500 worshippers, larger than that of the St Patrick's Cathedral.

Getting there

Take the 4, 6 or 6X train to the 68th Street-Hunter College Subway Station. Walk south on Lexington Avenue until intersection with 65th Street. Turn right and continue on 65th Street until you reach Temple Emanu-El at the junction with Fifth Avenue.

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