Gothamist: Tragedy on Rivington Street

Jack

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 12:41:34 -0500

It would not shock me at all if this temple was allowed to 'naturally' collapse after years of conscious neglect. This has actually happened to Temples all around the city and it's something that isn't talked enough about. I'm not a religious Jew, but my impression of the religious Jewish community in NYC nowadays is that they are not greedy as much as the 'beauty' of the places they worship in is not as important to them as they proclaim. There are TONS of storefront temples and home-based congregations all over the place. The Jewish religious community in NYC right now is painfully uncaring about the history of the diaspora in NYC. I don't know where it comes from. Israel being around. Or maybe this "Mosiach is Coming" mentality is making the religious community reassess their 'earthly trappings' but it's really sickening. I'm not that old (37) but I really do remember going to high school and going to TONS of different Knish and Jewish food places ALL OVER this city in the 1980s. Nowadays, there's Yonnah Shimmel, Katz's Deli and that's it. Perhaps connecting the fate of a century's old temple and Jewish food places is a stretch, but the secular Jewish community in NYC seems to really be dying. And I'm personally a bit sick of it. And in its own odd way, the collapse of this temple affects the secular community as well because it's yet another sign of a rich Jewish Lower East Side heritage fading away.

blah

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 12:30:26 -0500

yeah, let it deteriorate=collapse in order to demolish...as long as it collapses when no one is actually inside the temple or around it. right... I could see its people second that. nice try.

famdoc

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 11:54:43 -0500

Yesterday, we read of human tragedy (a 14 year old suicide victim), today it is architectural tragedy. Again, let us learn and not repeat our mistakes. I am sure I don't have all the fact about why this shul was demolished, but I am certain it had to do with dwindling membership and dwindling coffers. What a shonde to allow any beautiful building fall to the wrecking ball, particularly when it was so much a part of neighborhood history. The Europeans would never have let this happen (but then again, they are taxed at a higher rate than we are to allow socialist governments to spend money on health care and historic preservation).

iceberg

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 11:38:06 -0500

Technically, the "Bema" is the elevated stage portion set before the "Aron" where the Torahs are actually stored.