Congregation Tifereth Israel (Queens) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Congregation Tifereth Israel
Congregation Tifereth Israel synagogue, in 2013
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism
Rite	Nusach Ashkenaz
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Synagogue
Status	Active
Location
Location	109-18 and 109-20 54th Avenue, Corona, Queens, New York City, New York
Country	United States
Architecture
Architect(s)	Crescent L. Varrone
Architectural type	Synagogue architecture
Architectural style	Gothic Revival Moorish Revival
Date established	c. 1907 (as a congregation(
Completed	1911
Specifications
Length	100 feet (30 m)
Width	20 feet (6.1 m)
Materials	Wood frame, clapboard siding, stucco

Congregation Tifereth Israel means "Splendor of Israel." It is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue. You can find it in the Corona area of Queens, New York City, New York, in the United States.

The synagogue was started by Ashkenazi Jews. These were Jewish people who had moved to Queens from the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Famous businesswoman Estée Lauder and her parents were among the first members.

The congregation built its synagogue in 1911. It was made of wood and featured a mix of Gothic Revival and Moorish Revival styles. Crescent L. Varrone designed the building. It looked similar to the narrow synagogues built in crowded areas of Manhattan. Later, the outside walls were covered with stucco.

Over time, the people living in the neighborhood changed. Many Jewish families started moving away in the 1970s. By the 1990s, the remaining members were older. They found it hard to pay for repairs and gather enough men for a minyan, which is a group of ten men needed for some prayers.

In the 1990s, Bukharan Jews began moving to Corona. By the mid-1990s, they started holding their own services in the synagogue's basement. There were some disagreements between the older congregation and the new Bukharan Jews and their rabbi in 1997. After some legal discussions, the Bukharan congregation took over the synagogue.

The building started to fall apart. By 2008, it needed about $1.4 million just for outside repairs. By 2010, the New York Landmarks Conservancy began a $1.5 million project to restore the building. The Tifereth Israel building is the oldest structure built as a synagogue in Queens. It is also the oldest synagogue building in Queens that has been continuously used for worship.

How the Synagogue Began

The congregation started around 1906 or 1907. Its first name was "Congregation Independent Chevra Tyfers Israel Anshei Corona." It was created for Ashkenazi Jews who moved to Queens from Manhattan's Lower East Side. People often called it the "Home Street Synagogue" because that was the street's original name.

Back then, many synagogues used the word "Anshei" (which means "people of" in Hebrew) in their names. This showed where their members originally came from in Europe. However, Tifereth Israel used "Anshei Corona." This meant that their new neighborhood of Corona, Queens was what brought the members together.

The official papers for the congregation said its goal was to "have a synagogue for the purposes of praying, to bury their dead, and to advance its members spiritually and intellectually." When the synagogue was founded, about 20,000 of New York City's 1.5 million Jewish people lived in Queens. Corona had two Jewish neighborhoods at that time. Estée Lauder (whose birth name was Josephine Esther Mentzer) and her parents were early members. Her parents owned a hardware store just two blocks from the synagogue.

In 1911, the congregation built its synagogue on a lot that was 20 feet wide and 100 feet long. It was on the corner of 54th Avenue. The design was inspired by synagogues in Manhattan's Lower East Side. These synagogues had to fit into narrow spaces between other buildings.

The two-story building was designed by Crescent L. Varrone. It had a wood frame. The design mixed Gothic and Moorish styles with Jewish decorations. It featured pointed-arch windows and a round window with a Star of David made of colored glass. It also had a gabled roof with a decorative top part.

The front steps, railing, and clapboard siding were originally made of wood. Later, the porch was rebuilt with brick and an iron railing. The siding was covered with stucco. However, the stucco caused problems because it trapped moisture, which damaged the wood underneath. The basement was used for classes, including Hebrew lessons for boys preparing for their Bar Mitzvah. A mikveh (a special ritual bath) was added later on the same property.

Changing Neighborhoods and New Members

Corona's Orthodox Jewish community once had four synagogues. But the people living in the neighborhood changed over many years. First, Italian immigrants moved in during the 1930s and 40s. Then came Hispanic and Black families. Most Jewish families moved to Long Island in the 1970s.

While Tifereth Israel had many members in the 1960s, its numbers slowly went down. By the 1990s, the synagogue building was in poor condition and not used much. It was one of only two original Jewish places left in Corona. By 1997, the congregation had little money. They struggled to pay for needed repairs and to find the ten men required for a minyan.

Bukharan Jews started moving to Corona in the 1990s. Five Bukharan Jewish families moved to LeFrak City in 1991. This number grew to over 500 by 1995. Many more lived in nearby apartment buildings. Bukharan Jews began worshiping at Tifereth Israel in the mid-1990s. They held their own services in the synagogue basement.

Even though Tifereth Israel was an Ashkenazi synagogue and Bukharan Jews followed different customs, the groups got along at first. However, problems started in the spring of 1997. This happened after Amnun Khaimov arrived as the Bukharans' rabbi. Benjamin Fried, who was the synagogue president at 82 years old, said, "They came and wanted to take the place over."

The members of Tifereth Israel wanted the Bukharans to help pay for the synagogue's upkeep. But Rabbi Khaimov said the Bukharans were poor and could not afford to help. Irwin Goldstein, who had been Tifereth Israel's cantor (prayer leader) for eight years, felt that the new rabbi and his followers might change the Ashkenazi traditions at the synagogue. The older members thought the Bukharans wanted to pray in the main sanctuary, moving Tifereth Israel's members to the basement. There were also questions about Rabbi Khaimov's qualifications. Everyone agreed he was good at ritual slaughter, but some doubted if he was truly a rabbi. Yitzchak Yehoshua, the Chief Rabbi of the Bukharan Rabbinical Council of America, even said, "I think he is a good butcher maybe, but he is no rabbi."

Mr. Fried then started limiting access to the synagogue for the Bukharans. He only let them in on Shabbat (the Sabbath) and Jewish holidays. He locked them out at other times. In response, Violet Milne, a synagogue member and Holocaust survivor, filed lawsuits. She went to both the Greater Queens Rabbinical Court and the State Supreme Court on behalf of the Bukharans.

The Rabbinical Court decided that the synagogue must stay open to all worshipers. It also ruled that any money available should be used for repairs. On September 24, the State Supreme Court agreed with this decision. After these rulings, Rabbi Khaimov and his congregation took over the synagogue.

Saving a Historic Building

The Sacred Sites program of the New York Landmarks Conservancy started helping the synagogue in 1999. They gave Tifereth Israel $4,700 to study the building's condition. In 2002, they gave another $10,000 for outside repairs. Ann Friedman, the director of Sacred Sites, said that even though the building looked different from when it was built in 1911, it was "a time capsule that is beautifully intact." She noted it was in an unexpected place, surrounded by new buildings.

The Conservancy also connected the synagogue with a hotel developer. This developer had helped restore other synagogues and sent Tifereth Israel $5,000 for their roof. The Queens Historical Society recognized it as a "Queensmark" in 1999. The synagogue building and the rabbi's home were added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 2002. It was the first synagogue in Queens to receive this honor.

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission named it a city landmark in February 2008. It was one of only two synagogues left in Corona. Its inside was "substantially intact," meaning it still looked much like it did originally. Many of its "distinctive architectural features" remained. These included its original windows, decorative wood, and Moorish-style metal details.

However, by this time, the building had gotten worse. It had termites, leaks, and peeling paint. In January 2008, the basement ceiling even fell down. Ann Friedman estimated that just the outside repairs would cost $1.4 million. The congregation had been promised over $1 million by both New York City and New York State. This included $700,000 from the Borough President's Office and a $200,000 matching grant from the State. But legal issues made it hard to get this money because it was a private religious non-profit group. At that time, the rabbi's wife estimated that the congregation had about 50 families as members.

In 2010, the Conservancy reported that it had given the synagogue $30,000 in direct grants. It also helped get an additional $100,000 in other funding. Money also came from the State Environmental Protection Fund, The New York Community Trust, and the families of Ronald and Leonard Lauder. The Conservancy called the building a "rare survival" of New York's wooden, local synagogue architecture.

A $275,000 gift from a generous person named Arnold Goldstein allowed the $1.5 million restoration work to begin. The Conservancy said the restoration would "remove the present stucco coating and restore the original wood clapboard siding, wood windows and doors, Moorish-style metal domes and finials, and historic paint colors." This would make the building look like it did a century ago. The Tifereth Israel building is the oldest structure built as a synagogue in Queens. It is also the oldest synagogue building in Queens that has been continuously used for worship. In 2020, the New York Landmarks Conservancy gave the synagogue a $10,000 Sacred Site Grant to help protect the building from weather damage.

See also

• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Queens
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Queens County, New York
• New York State Register of Historic Places