History — Kehilat Hadar Shaare Zedek (original) (raw)
History
Our community combines the historic Congregation Shaare Zedek (est. 1837) and the independent minyan Kehilat Hadar (est. 2001) into a lay-led, multigenerational, traditional, egalitarian community with robust opportunities for participation. Read below to learn about the history of Shaare Zedek, Kehilat Hadar, and our joint operations as a combined community.
Congregation Shaare Zedek
Shaare Zedek’s early history was catalogued in former member Jacob Monsky’s (z”l) book Within the Gates_, written on the occasion of the community’s 125th anniversary._
Established in 1837 by Polish immigrants, Shaare Zedek is the third oldest synagogue in New York City. The congregation initially met at 42 Water Street in downtown Manhattan, then rented space at 472 Pearl Street in the historic Lower East Side. In 1849, Shaare Zedek leased two plots of land from Congregation Ansche Chesed at 38 Henry Street, just a few blocks away. At that site, the community built a mikveh and a school that taught both secular and religious studies. In 1840, the congregation purchased land for burials at 88th Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues, but later sold that plot and transferred all the graves to a larger cemetery in Bayside, Queens.
During the 1880s, as large waves of Jews arrived from Eastern Europe in the wake of pogroms, Shaare Zedek enlarged its building at Henry Street by purchasing the lot next door. Around the same time, there was a new trend for Jews to settle uptown, so in 1899 – and in response to internal conflict – a second building was acquired in Harlem for a splinter group at 25 W. 118th Street. As the years passed, the Henry Street site became very crowded, so in 1911 the community ratified the sale of that building to the former Congregation Mishkan Israel Anshe Suwalk. They did not find a suitable building to purchase as a replacement and instead decided to consolidate communities at the now-established Harlem location in 1914.
While it is reported that the merger between the two congregations was well received, compromises were made, as the Harlem shul seated men and women side-by-side. Yet again, the building could only accommodate 600 worshippers and the changing demographics of Harlem was not looked upon kindly by the community. In 1921, Shaare Zedek purchased its current site at West 93rd Street for $100,000, and the Harlem building was sold to Congregation Chevra Talmud Torah Anshei Yagustover.
The original synagogue building on the West 93rd Street site was designed by architects Sommerfeld and Steckler. The building was dedicated on April 15, 1923, and in 1944 the congregation paid off the mortgage.
In October 2017, Shaare Zedek moved out of the West 93rd Street location to await construction of our new building.
Kehilat Hadar
In April 2001 Mara Benjamin, Elie Kaunfer and Ethan Tucker met to draw up plans for a new Shabbat morning minyan: full traditional liturgy, entirely lay-led, spirited davening and use of creative melodies, a brief Dvar Torah, and donuts at kiddush. Later that month, 60 people packed into a one-bedroom apartment on 110th Street for Shabbat morning minyan, thus bringing Kehilat Hadar to life.
Kehilat Hadar outgrew 14 spaces that first year, all the while adding additional services. By October of 2001, the minyan took the name Kehilat Hadar. In the first year alone, 120 people led davening or read Torah. In 2002, Kehilat Hadar held its first annual Shavuot retreat at Ramah Berkshires; 75 people were expected, 240 signed up. That fall, Kehilat Hadar held its first High Holiday services.
Kehilat Hadar continued to grow, and as members of the community left New York, others moved in, and assumed leadership roles. In 2004, the community structure expanded to include a Leadership Team of 20 people who help coordinate Kehilat Hadar’s ongoing program activities, participate in various Kehilat Hadar policy decisions, evaluate current programs, and design future initiatives.
In 2005, Dr. Shuly Schwartz donated a sefer Torah to Kehilat Hadar written in memory of Rabbi Gershon Schwartz; community members chose the verses to decorate the Torah cover. In 2007, Kehilat Hadar purchased a second sefer Torah from the Avenue Z Jewish Center, and celebrated its arrival with a Shabbaton in 2008.
In 2009, Kehilat Hadar began meeting weekly on Shabbat mornings and broadened its leadership structure to include a Shamash Team of individuals who help to run services in partnership with the Gabbaim. As annual Shavuot Retreats continued to grow, they relocated to Camp Kinder Ring.
When Schechter Manhattan opened its new school location at 100th St. and Columbus Avenue in January 2011, Kehilat Hadar began meeting there for Shabbat services as well as many holidays and other programs.
Joint Operations
In September 2018, the Board of Trustees of Shaare Zedek approached the Board of Trustees of Kehilat Hadar to explore whether both communities would be interested in uniting our two communities for Shabbat davening, learning, and programming. The vision was to form a strengthened and sustainable lay-led, multigenerational, traditional, egalitarian minyan in Shaare Zedek’s new building that would benefit both communities and enhance the Jewish experience on the Upper West Side. At the time, the new Shaare Zedek building was under construction and completion was anticipated in Fall 2020.
Working together, representatives of Shaare Zedek and Kehilat Hadar jointly developed a vision statement with the goals and principles of an integrated community. They then agreed on a multi-phased plan for the integration of both communities. The two communities began Joint Operations on Shabbat Bereshit, October 2019, holding Shabbat morning services together as a single minyan.
Not long after the start of Joint Operations, in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, and New York City rapidly became the first epicenter in the US. Pandemic-related restrictions delayed construction of the new building. It took another four years to complete construction, but in July 2024 the building on West 93rd Street was reopened and the communities entered the new building together as an enriched and expanded community. Hadar Institute, founded by some of Kehilat Hadar’s founders, had been approached about future tenancy in the new building at the very early stages of the synagogue’s redevelopment. As planned, Hadar Institute moved their operations to our site as our primary long-term tenant.
Looking Ahead
We are thrilled to move forward in this next stage of cultivating a traditional, egalitarian, lay-led Jewish community on the Upper West Side. Together we intend to build a vibrant and welcoming community which honors our past and envisions a bold and successful future.
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