Contents

Millinery Center Synagogue

Millinery Center Synagogue
Millinery Center Synagogue
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Synagogue
Leadership	Rabbi Avrohom Dov Kahn
Year consecrated	September 12, 1948
Status	Active
Location
Location	1025 6th Avenue (38th St), Manhattan, New York City, New York 10018
Country	United States
Location within Manhattan
Geographic coordinates	40°45′09″N 73°59′10″W / 40.752615°N 73.986044°W / 40.752615; -73.986044
Architecture
Architect(s)	Hyman Isaac "H.I." Feldman
Type	Synagogue
Style	Modernist Art Deco
Founder	Moe Brillstein Sam Neger[1]
Date established	1933 (as a congregation)
Completed	1948
Construction cost	$150,000
Specifications
Capacity	125 worshippers
Length	60 feet (18 m)
Width	19 feet (5.8 m)
Materials	Limestone
Website
millinerycs.org

Millinery Center Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located in the Garment DistrictofManhattan, in New York City, New York, United States.^[2]

History[edit]

The synagogue was supported by the many millinery organizations that were based in the neighborhood.^[3] A group of these ready-to-wear industry business men had been meeting in various spaces, mostly in a loft on West 36th Street. Their rabbi during this very loosely organized time was Rabbi Moshe Ralbag. In January 1933, the congregation was more formally organized and the name of the synagogue, the Millinery Center Synagogue, was agreed upon, although the meeting place was temporary, at 1011 Sixth Avenue, on the second floor.^[4] Moe Brillstein (the father of film producer Bernie Brillstein)^[5] became president and started a building fund. At that point the congregation came together and decided to build a synagogue.^[6]

Due to the density of millinery businesses in the neighborhood, at its peak, services for daily minyan were typically so heavily attended that the prayer sessions were held in rotating shifts.^[7]

Structure[edit]

The synagogue was designed by H.I. Feldman,^[6] a prolific,^[8] Yale-educated architect who designed thousands of Art Deco and Modernist-style buildings in New York City,^[9][10] notably 1025 Fifth Avenue (between 83rd and 84th Streets) on the Upper East Side and the LaGuardia Houses on the Lower East Side, as well as many buildings that line the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. Feldman and his company, The Feldman Company, also built the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies building (130 East 59th Street) and the United Jewish Appeal building (220 West 58th Street).^[11]

There were wartime restrictions on building, so building was postponed for a time until 1947. The building's construction was completed in September 1948, and the synagogue was dedicated on September 12, 1948.^[12]

The limestone building itself is narrow, approximately 19 feet (5.8 m) wide by 60 feet (18 m) deep,^[13] and cost $150,000 to build.^[12] It was notable for having air conditioning.^[12]

Current[edit]

On May 3, 2017, the Board of Trustees of Millinery Center Synagogue nominated Rabbi Avrohom Dov Kahn to serve as rabbi. On May 10, 2017 Rabbi Kahn was elected in a landslide. It was the first election of a rabbi of the synagogue in over two decades.^[14]

A week later on May 17, Rabbi Kahn was formally installed as rabbi in a program featuring three young professionals who spoke about the important impact the synagogue and Rabbi Kahn had made on them.^[15] Harav Doniel Lander, Rosh Hayeshiva of Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim, spoke movingly of his decades-long close friendship with Rabbi Kahn and those attributes that made Rabbi Kahn eminently qualified to lead the synagogue in its rejuvenation and renewal efforts. Rabbi Kahn concluded the program by outlining what he hoped to do for the synagogue and how he hoped to guide MCS to reach out and benefit Jews throughout all of midtown Manhattan."^[16]

Clergy[edit]

The following individuals have served as rabbi for the congregation:

Order	Rabbi	Term started	Term ended	Time in office	Notes
1	Moshe Ralbag
2	Morris Gordon
3	Dr. Alexander J. Burnstein	1942	1970	27–28 years	[17]
4	Abraham Berger	1980	1985	4–5 years	[18]
5	David Friedberg	1985	1990	4–5 years
6	Leonard Guttman	1990	1992	1–2 years	[19]
7	Hayim S. Wahrman	1992	2016	23–24 years	[20][21][22]
8	Avrohom Dov Kahn	2017	incumbent	6–7 years	[14]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Millinery Center Synagogue. Millinery Center Synagogue. Twentieth Annual Banquet, Hotel Astor, Saturday, February 19, 1955. New York, NY: Millinery Center Synagogue, 1955. Microfilm. OCLC 28445176 NYPL b14752188
• Millinery Center Synagogue. Millinery Center Synagogue. Twenty-Fifth Annual Banquet, Hotel Roosevelt, Saturday, February 13, 1960. New York, NY: Millinery Center Synagogue, 1960. Microfilm. OCLC 16839624 NYPL b10013443
• Millinery Center Synagogue. Millinery Center Synagogue. Twenty-Ninth Annual Banquet, Hotel Americana, Saturday, February 22, 1964. New York, NY: Millinery Center Synagogue, 1964. Book. OCLC 80187963 NYPL b10942020
• Millinery Center Synagogue. Millinery Center Synagogue. Thirty-Fourth Annual Banquet, Hotel Plaza, Sunday, February 16, 1969. New York, NY: Millinery Center Synagogue, 1969. Book. OCLC 78754863 NYPL b10941979
• Millinery Center Synagogue. Millinery Center Synagogue. Fortieth Annual Journal, Regency Hotel, Saturday, February 15, 1975. New York, NY: Millinery Center Synagogue, 1975. Book. OCLC 40554259 NYPL b13954288

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Millinery Center Synagogue.

• Official website
• Millinery Center SynagogueonFacebook