Jewish Knowledge (12)

Topic: Jewish Tid-Bits Brooklyn #6

But Brooklyn was still the biggest Jewish community in the world midway through the 1950s when 950,0000 Jews called it home. In fact, Williamsburg, birthplace of the first synagogue in the borough, has become the stronghold of ultra-Orthodox Jews. With a radius of 40 square blocks surrounding the YM-YWHA of Williamsburg, there are 32 synagogues of varying sizes and degrees of Orthodoxy; eight yeshivoth, each with its own particular educational objectives, five Hebrew schools, three ritual baths, two religious youth centers and a home for the aged.
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Hassidim in long kaftans, streets closed off for open-air Simhat Torah celebrations, innumerable sukkoth, and block after block of Hanukkah decorations identify 100 percent Jewish streets in Williamsburg, Borough Park, Bensonhurst and some areas of Flatbush. In Bensonhurst, there is also a large community of Syrian and other Sephardic Jews who had originally settled around Allen and Rivington Streets in Manhattan soon after the Turkish Revolution of 1908. Strictly Orthodox, the Syrian Jews and their kinfolk from Greece, Turkey and North Africa maintain their own synagogues and other communal institutions.

• .Manhattan Bridge, completed in 1909 as the third span linking Brooklyn and Manhattan, was designed by Leon S. Moisseiff.
• Beth-El Hospital, Rockaway Park and Linden Blvd.
• Beth Moses Division of Maimonides Hospital, 404 Hart St.
• B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation at Brooklyn College, 1520 Flatbush Avenue.
• Body of God in Israel's Name is the name of a congregation of "Black Hebrews" which conducts services at 1532 Fulton Street. The male members of the congregation wear uniforms of the army of "Ehad"; the women are garbed in white as the "Praying Band" who care for the sick and the needy.
• Borough Park YM and YWHA, 4912 14th Ave.
• Brooklyn Hebrew Home and Hospital: West 29th St. on the Boardwalk, Coney Island, is the former Half Moon Hotel which was acquired as the hospital's new building in 1952. The Coney Island Division is called the Parshelsky Pavilion. Adjoining the home is Neinken Park, named for Mr. and Mrs. Morris Neinken of Brooklyn.
• The Old building of the Brooklyn Hebrew Home and Hospital for the Aged, at 813 Howard Ave., is now used as a hospital.

Sources Utilized to Document Information

To contact: miriam@thehistorybox.com or miriammedina@earthlink.net

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