This growing website
will tell the amazing story in words,
documents, artwork and photographs, of
the Eighth Street Shul and its rebirth
and brief but vibrant life.
Against all odds, this synagogue, amidst
the swirling and feisty history of the
Lower East Side, during its brief
existence, actually added a notable
chapter to world Jewish history, and
enriched the uniquely multicultural life
of the surrounding community. It
generated a one-of-a-kind interaction
between the Jewish remnant and the
general melting pot of coexisting
ethnicities that makes the neighborhood
what it is, unlike any other.
All this, in spite of, and because of, a
massive though never complete exodus of a
once gigantic and in some areas
predominant Jewish population, a
dwindling degree of traditional religious
practice among many combined with an
intensification among others, a
destructive fire that made the building
unusable without serious repairs, a
despairing abandonment by erstwhile
Congregation officials bent on selling
the House of Worship for conversion into
ordinary real estate for personal profit,
and heroic exertions by a diverse
assortment of characters who came from
near and far to rescue, resuscitate and
remodel the living landmark. Each crisis
would call forth an answer in strenuous
efforts to breathe yet another life into
this institution.
The information and photos in this
website are largely based on the
extensive pro-se legal submissions of
Clayton Patterson in response to the
lawsuit aimed at closing down the 8th
Street Shul. These submissions contained
semi-formal legal papers, surrounded by
the collection of memoribilia exhibited
herein. |
LINKS
- One of the last "tenement shuls", this congregation on NYC's Lower East Side struggles on, refusing to take "no" for an answer. The Stanton Street Shul's Congregation, Bnai Jacob Anschei Brzezan, has protected its House of Worship by landmarking it into the United States and New York Registries of Historic Places , followed by an $8,000 grant from the New York Landmark Conservancy to repair the roof. Read more on their website.
- "Memorial
to the Fallen Twelve Designed and
produced by Ralph Feldman,
retired FDNY Firefighter and Fire
Marshal, commemorating the
victims of the 23rd Street fire
of October 17, 1966. The piece is
on display at St. John the Divine
Cathedral in Manhattan.
- "The
23rd Street Fire" by Frank
Cull, from the pages of With
New York Firefighters Fourth
Issue 1976, ending in a
description of Ralph Feldman's
creation of the Memorial to the
Fallen Twelve described above
(photos to be added).
- "Waiting
for a Jew: Marginal Redemption at
the Eighth Street Shul"
- Poems
by Ira Cohen, including
"Purim '96" for Ralph
Feldman and and the Eighth Street
Shul
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September 29, 2000: Rabbi Isaac/Itzhak Fried is evicted at NYPD gunpoint by NYC Marshalls. For whatever it may signify, this was the same date that the Al Aksa, or Second, Intifada broke out after General Arial Sharon led a military march on the Al Aksa Mosque. |
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A police car outside the 8th Street Shul
after the Fire of 1982.
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Facts
in the Life
of the 8th Street Shul:
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- Revived Jewish
religious practices with
outreach and other
functions for the entire
community.
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- Ralph Feldman's
central contributions
volunteered in material
and labor to save the 8th
Street Shul.
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- Other
contributions volunteered
in material and labor to
save the 8th Street Shul.
(Soon to be added)
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- Legal pleadings
in defense of
preservation of the 8th
Street Shul against
$1,000,000 lawsuit by
derelict former
Congregation's usurpers
and misleaders, who
sought to shut it down
and sell it as common
real estate.
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- Correspondence
of community support and
appeals to politicians.
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- Media Coverage
of Activities and Repairs
at the 8th Street Shul.
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- Ralph Feldman's Page: Biography and Accomplishments.
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- Photo Gallery,
under construction (This
can take several minutes
to load, but will shortly
be improved).
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