Agudas Achim Synagogue
Encyclopedia
Agudas Achim Synagogue, formally known as Congregation Agudas Achim, is located on Rock Avenue in Livingston Manor
, New York, United States. It is a stucco-sided wooden building erected in the 1920s to serve the growing Jewish community in that area of the Catskills
.
It was founded as an unofficially Orthodox
congregation that catered to a diverse group of local Jews, not all of whom were themselves Orthodox. The synagogue built two years after its founding combines features of Eastern European synagogues, reflecting the national origin of its founders, with aspects of the older Protestant Christian churches found in the area, and some features found on contemporary Sullivan County
synagogues.
After a period of decline in the decades after World War II, following the demise of the local resort industry, Agudas Achim officially became a Reform
congregation to attract new members. Today it holds services year-round and has more members than at any time in its history. The building remains architecturally intact from the period of its construction. In 1998 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
NY 17
, at the crest of a slight rise between the Little Beaver Kill and Willowemoc Creek
, the two streams that converge at the unincorporated hamlet. The neighborhood is a mix of residential and commercial uses. There is a small copse of trees behind the synagogue; the hill to its east, behind the houses on Wright Street which leaves Rock to the south of the synagogue, is wooded.
building on a raised, parged and scored concrete basement separated from the first floor by a wooden water table
. It is sided
in rough stucco
with small bits of inlaid glass. The gable
d roof is shingled
in asphalt.
On the east (front) facade
is a two-story central projecting entrance pavilion
with a steep concrete steps leading up to a porch with gabled roof and "AGUDAS ACHIM" in large letters in its entablature
. It is topped by an enclosed ell with hipped roof
pierced by short square turret
s with pyramidal roofs on either side. In its facade is a large circular window with a Star of David
flanked by two smaller sash window
s. On either side are smaller circular windows with Stars of David. Above it is a semi-circular louver
ed vent in the gable field.
The front pavilion is echoed on the west (rear) with a smaller one holding the Torah ark and decorated with three Star-of-David windows directly above it. A brick chimney pierces the roof above on the south side of the crest. Both side profiles feature five double-hung sash windows with lancet arched transoms
with colored glass Stars of David in the tracery
surrounded by opaque glass.
The basement is lit by sash windows in a different pattern. There is a small projecting entrance to it on the southwest corner. On the southeast corner is a datestone
.
which then opens into a single large sanctuary
. It is minimally decorated, with off-white plaster walls rising to a barrel-vaulted
ceiling. The sanctuary is laid out following Eastern European traditions, with the bimah
in the center and pews on three sides. The ark is behind the bimah on the rear wall.
An open women's' gallery, reached by two small stairs from the vestibule, extends over the rear. It is serpentine in shape and supported by two round wooden columns. The gallery's outside wall is faced in rectangular panels with small square blocks in each corner; the inside wall is beaded. There is a raised platform at the rear, over the vestibule.
All floors are hardwood. The bimah and ark have paneled exteriors and beaded interiors. Stairs have square posts and turned baluster
s. Pews are simple, supported by gently curved solid end panels. Light is provided by a centrally located iron chandelier
, supplemented by four hanging lanterns, wall sconce
s and decorative fixtures on the bimah and ark platform.
The finished basement is used as a vestry
. It has a pressed metal ceiling and central partition. One end has a small elevated stage.
Christian churches, with some other features common to the other synagogues built in Sullivan County
at that time. On the exterior, the former is strongest in the dual turrets on the facade, scaled-down versions of a common motif on the synagogues of Eastern Europe. The projecting gallery below them and colored glass in the exterior also reflect those building traditions.
Agudas Achim's steep gabled roof and arched windows are both unusual features on synagogues, reflecting the meetinghouse tradition of the older Baptist
and Presbyterian churches in the Catskills. The raised sanctuary with wide front steps leading to the entrance is seen on many other synagogues in the county.
Inside, the dual influences on the outside are also strongly in evidence. The synagogue's layout, with the bimah in the center, still reflects Orthodox Jewish practice in Eastern Europe, where reading the Torah
and prayer were activities involving the entire congregation rather than led by an officiant, as is more customary in Reform services such as those the synagogue holds now. The austere interior and barrel-vaulted ceiling are again evocative of a rural Protestant church, a strong contrast to the lavishly decorated interiors found at Ohave Shalom
in Woodridge
and the Hebrew Congregation
of Mountaindale. Only the Stars of David and colored glass indicate that it is a synagogue. It is not known, however, if this spareness was a direct influence of the local Protestant traditions or simply due to a lack of funds for such decorative touches
.
The building also follows local custom in being oriented perpendicular to the road. This puts in conflict with Orthodox tradition in which the ark is always placed at the rear of the building and towards Jerusalem, since at Agudas Achim it is on the opposite side of the building. To conform to this requirement, its entrance would have to be in what is now the rear.
resort industry, it went into a slow decline after World War II
when other vacation opportunities opened up to the region's primarily Jewish clientele. A change to a formal affiliation with Reform Judaism
has reversed the decline of both the building and its congregation.
, and some German Jews who had emigrated to the United States ultimately found their way to the Catskills and opened dairy farms
. The railroad also opened up the region for city residents who wanted to get away from the summer heat, leading some farmers and residents to get into that business. Many refused Jews as guests
.
In 1900, with the arrival of a new wave of Jews from Eastern Europe, new resorts began catering to Jewish guests specifically. The first Jewish family settled in Livingston Manor in 1906; the first Jewish resort opened two years later. In those early years antisemitism was overt, with local residents regularly referring to them as "kike
s". It forced the first recorded action of a Jewish community in the hamlet in 1912 when several banded together to buy land for a cemetery since no local graveyards would accept Jews.
By the 1920s, Jews made up 10% of the local population and had come to play a large role in local public life, lessening the hostility. There was also a large enough Jewish community that a school was started by local members of The Workmen's Circle (known at the time by its Yiddish
name, the Arbeiterring). It had four classes and was used to host social events and some religious services. Most of the areas at the time were fairly secular, expressing Jewish identity primarily through cultural events.
Beginning in that decade, newer Jewish arrivals in Livingston Manor were as committed to it as a faith as well as a culture, and these immigrants began holding High Holy Days
services at a rented pavilion on the shores of Willowemoc Creek where Livingston Manor High School now stands. In 1922, the more religious Jews gained the upper hand in the community following the departure of some of the Arbeittering members, and incorporated Agudas Achim. They bought the land and one of the few practicing Orthodox
Jews in the town, Izzy Brooks, built the synagogue. It was opened two years later, in 1924.
It was supported by the more secular Jews as well, and eventually the school the Arbeiterring had founded closed down. The synagogue observed traditional rites and came to be considered Orthodox although it was never formally affiliated with any broader Orthodox Jewish group. Farmers and hotel owners in the congregation, many of whom lived a long distance from the town, would often drive in for Shabbat
services, park a discreet distance from the synagogue and walk from there to services to maintain the appearance of following Jewish law.
The Jews of Livingston Manor, and their synagogue, prospered during the Depression
due to a summer influx of middle-class garment workers from the city. Newly unionized, they could afford summer vacations at Jewish mountain resorts. This increasing affluence turned against the Catskills in the 1950s, when these same Jews and their descendants were able to afford suburban homes and vacation elsewhere, including those resorts that had once been closed to them. Jews began to leave the village, and by 1972 Agudas Achim was open only during the High Holy Days and beginning to deteriorate.
or Reform
synagogue. In 1981 it began hiring Reform rabbi
s, including women, to conduct services, and several years later newer members joined with some of the older ones to form a revitalization committee. In 1984, after several older members who might have been alienated by the change had retired to Florida
, the congregation formally became Reform. The congregation president at the time, Leon Siegel, invested Ladies' Aid Society funds from the 1960s to create an endowment
that helped pay for repair and maintenance of the building.
In 1990 the synagogue hired a regular rabbi again and began holding services once a month. Two years later it celebrated its first bar mitzvah since 1971. By 1999 the congregation had grown to 105 families, possibly its largest membership ever. It now holds weekly services year-round, even though some of Livingston Manor's Jews spend the winter in Florida
, and operates a Hebrew school
. In 2008 five of its students celebrated their bar or bat mitzvahs, a large number for a small congregation. It is a member synagogue of the Union for Reform Judaism
.
Livingston Manor, New York
Livingston Manor is a hamlet in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 1,355 at the 2000 census.Livingston Manor is in the south part of the Town of Rockland, adjacent to New York State Route 17.-History:...
, New York, United States. It is a stucco-sided wooden building erected in the 1920s to serve the growing Jewish community in that area of the Catskills
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
.
It was founded as an unofficially Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
congregation that catered to a diverse group of local Jews, not all of whom were themselves Orthodox. The synagogue built two years after its founding combines features of Eastern European synagogues, reflecting the national origin of its founders, with aspects of the older Protestant Christian churches found in the area, and some features found on contemporary Sullivan County
Sullivan County, New York
Sullivan County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 77,547. The county seat is Monticello. The name is in honor of Major General John Sullivan, who was a hero in the American Revolutionary War...
synagogues.
After a period of decline in the decades after World War II, following the demise of the local resort industry, Agudas Achim officially became a Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
congregation to attract new members. Today it holds services year-round and has more members than at any time in its history. The building remains architecturally intact from the period of its construction. In 1998 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Building
The synagogue is located a few blocks from downtown Livingston Manor on the west side of Rock Avenue, the former route of state highwayState highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
NY 17
New York State Route 17
New York State Route 17 is a state highway that extends for through the Southern Tier and Downstate regions of New York in the United States...
, at the crest of a slight rise between the Little Beaver Kill and Willowemoc Creek
Willowemoc Creek
Willowemoc Creek is a tributary of Beaver Kill that is a popular trout fishing stream near the Catskill Park in Sullivan County, New York.- Course:...
, the two streams that converge at the unincorporated hamlet. The neighborhood is a mix of residential and commercial uses. There is a small copse of trees behind the synagogue; the hill to its east, behind the houses on Wright Street which leaves Rock to the south of the synagogue, is wooded.
Exterior
The building is a one-story frameFraming (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
building on a raised, parged and scored concrete basement separated from the first floor by a wooden water table
Water table (architecture)
A water table is a masonry architectural feature that consists of a projecting course that deflects water running down the face of a building away from lower courses or the foundation...
. It is sided
Siding
Siding is the outer covering or cladding of a house meant to shed water and protect from the effects of weather. On a building that uses siding, it may act as a key element in the aesthetic beauty of the structure and directly influence its property value....
in rough stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
with small bits of inlaid glass. The gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d roof is shingled
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
in asphalt.
On the east (front) facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
is a two-story central projecting entrance pavilion
Pavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
with a steep concrete steps leading up to a porch with gabled roof and "AGUDAS ACHIM" in large letters in its entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
. It is topped by an enclosed ell with hipped roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
pierced by short square turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
s with pyramidal roofs on either side. In its facade is a large circular window with a Star of David
Star of David
The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...
flanked by two smaller sash window
Sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...
s. On either side are smaller circular windows with Stars of David. Above it is a semi-circular louver
Louver
A louver or louvre , from the French l'ouvert; "the open one") is a window, blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine, and noise...
ed vent in the gable field.
The front pavilion is echoed on the west (rear) with a smaller one holding the Torah ark and decorated with three Star-of-David windows directly above it. A brick chimney pierces the roof above on the south side of the crest. Both side profiles feature five double-hung sash windows with lancet arched transoms
Transom (architectural)
In architecture, a transom is the term given to a transverse beam or bar in a frame, or to the crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it. Transom is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece...
with colored glass Stars of David in the tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
surrounded by opaque glass.
The basement is lit by sash windows in a different pattern. There is a small projecting entrance to it on the southwest corner. On the southeast corner is a datestone
Datestone
A datestone is typically an embedded stone with the date of engraving and other information carved into it. They are not considered a very reliable source for dating a house, as instances of old houses being destroyed and rebuilt have been reported.Specific locations have often been chosen for...
.
Interior
From the porch, paneled glazed double doors lead into a small vestibuleVestibule (architecture)
A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...
which then opens into a single large sanctuary
Sanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
. It is minimally decorated, with off-white plaster walls rising to a barrel-vaulted
Barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...
ceiling. The sanctuary is laid out following Eastern European traditions, with the bimah
Bimah
A bimah A bimah A bimah (among Ashkenazim, derived from Hebrew בּמה , almemar (from Arabic al-minbar) or tebah (among Sephardim) is the elevated area or platform in a Jewish synagogue which is intended to serve the place where the person reading aloud from the Torah stands during the Torah reading...
in the center and pews on three sides. The ark is behind the bimah on the rear wall.
An open women's' gallery, reached by two small stairs from the vestibule, extends over the rear. It is serpentine in shape and supported by two round wooden columns. The gallery's outside wall is faced in rectangular panels with small square blocks in each corner; the inside wall is beaded. There is a raised platform at the rear, over the vestibule.
All floors are hardwood. The bimah and ark have paneled exteriors and beaded interiors. Stairs have square posts and turned baluster
Baluster
A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...
s. Pews are simple, supported by gently curved solid end panels. Light is provided by a centrally located iron chandelier
Chandelier
A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...
, supplemented by four hanging lanterns, wall sconce
Sconce (light fixture)
A sconce is a type of light fixture affixed to a wall in such a way that it uses only the wall for support, and the light is usually directed upwards. It does not have a base on the ground...
s and decorative fixtures on the bimah and ark platform.
The finished basement is used as a vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
. It has a pressed metal ceiling and central partition. One end has a small elevated stage.
Aesthetics
The synagogue building reflects the dual influence of the Eastern European background of its founders and the existing local ProtestantProtestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
Christian churches, with some other features common to the other synagogues built in Sullivan County
Sullivan County, New York
Sullivan County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 77,547. The county seat is Monticello. The name is in honor of Major General John Sullivan, who was a hero in the American Revolutionary War...
at that time. On the exterior, the former is strongest in the dual turrets on the facade, scaled-down versions of a common motif on the synagogues of Eastern Europe. The projecting gallery below them and colored glass in the exterior also reflect those building traditions.
Agudas Achim's steep gabled roof and arched windows are both unusual features on synagogues, reflecting the meetinghouse tradition of the older Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
and Presbyterian churches in the Catskills. The raised sanctuary with wide front steps leading to the entrance is seen on many other synagogues in the county.
Inside, the dual influences on the outside are also strongly in evidence. The synagogue's layout, with the bimah in the center, still reflects Orthodox Jewish practice in Eastern Europe, where reading the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
and prayer were activities involving the entire congregation rather than led by an officiant, as is more customary in Reform services such as those the synagogue holds now. The austere interior and barrel-vaulted ceiling are again evocative of a rural Protestant church, a strong contrast to the lavishly decorated interiors found at Ohave Shalom
Ohave Shalom Synagogue
Ohave Shalom Synagogue is located on Maurice Rose Street in Woodridge, New York, United States. It is a brick building erected in 1930 by a splinter group from what was then the village's only synagogue, later absorbed into Ohave Shalom itself....
in Woodridge
Woodridge, New York
Woodridge is a village in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 902 at the 2000 census.The Village of Woodridge is in the Town of Fallsburg at the junction of Routes 53, 54, 58, and 158. The postal code is 12789.- History :...
and the Hebrew Congregation
Hebrew Congregation of Mountaindale Synagogue
The Hebrew Congregation of Mountaindale Synagogue is located along Sullivan County Route 55 near the south end of the hamlet of Mountaindale, New York, United States. It is a small stucco building dating to 1917, expanded slightly in the 1930s. The interior is notable for its heavy use of...
of Mountaindale. Only the Stars of David and colored glass indicate that it is a synagogue. It is not known, however, if this spareness was a direct influence of the local Protestant traditions or simply due to a lack of funds for such decorative touches
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
.
The building also follows local custom in being oriented perpendicular to the road. This puts in conflict with Orthodox tradition in which the ark is always placed at the rear of the building and towards Jerusalem, since at Agudas Achim it is on the opposite side of the building. To conform to this requirement, its entrance would have to be in what is now the rear.
History
Agudas Achim straddles the entire era of Jews in the Catskills. Founded by a religious and ethnically diverse community, it became Orthodox by default although not all its members were. Along with the Sullivan CountySullivan County, New York
Sullivan County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 77,547. The county seat is Monticello. The name is in honor of Major General John Sullivan, who was a hero in the American Revolutionary War...
resort industry, it went into a slow decline after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when other vacation opportunities opened up to the region's primarily Jewish clientele. A change to a formal affiliation with Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
has reversed the decline of both the building and its congregation.
1882–1972: Rise and decline
Jewish settlement in the Livingston Manor area began in 1882 when what was then known as the New York and Oswego Midland Railroad built a depot there. This made it possible for local farmers to ship their produce to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and some German Jews who had emigrated to the United States ultimately found their way to the Catskills and opened dairy farms
Dairy farming
Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, usually from dairy cows but also from goats and sheep, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale.Most dairy farms...
. The railroad also opened up the region for city residents who wanted to get away from the summer heat, leading some farmers and residents to get into that business. Many refused Jews as guests
Antisemitism in the United States
Jewish Americans have flourished since colonial times in what became the United States, which before the Second World War had a general history of racism directed to non-Christian, non-northwest European groups. Antisemitism in the United States has however lacked the extent and severity of its...
.
In 1900, with the arrival of a new wave of Jews from Eastern Europe, new resorts began catering to Jewish guests specifically. The first Jewish family settled in Livingston Manor in 1906; the first Jewish resort opened two years later. In those early years antisemitism was overt, with local residents regularly referring to them as "kike
Kike
Kike is a derogatory slur used to refer to a Jew.-Etymology:The source of the term is uncertain. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it may be an alteration of the endings –ki or –ky common in the personal names of Jews in eastern Europe who immigrated to the United States in the early...
s". It forced the first recorded action of a Jewish community in the hamlet in 1912 when several banded together to buy land for a cemetery since no local graveyards would accept Jews.
By the 1920s, Jews made up 10% of the local population and had come to play a large role in local public life, lessening the hostility. There was also a large enough Jewish community that a school was started by local members of The Workmen's Circle (known at the time by its Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
name, the Arbeiterring). It had four classes and was used to host social events and some religious services. Most of the areas at the time were fairly secular, expressing Jewish identity primarily through cultural events.
Beginning in that decade, newer Jewish arrivals in Livingston Manor were as committed to it as a faith as well as a culture, and these immigrants began holding High Holy Days
High Holy Days
The High Holidays or High Holy Days, in Judaism, more properly known as the Yamim Noraim , may mean:#strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur ;...
services at a rented pavilion on the shores of Willowemoc Creek where Livingston Manor High School now stands. In 1922, the more religious Jews gained the upper hand in the community following the departure of some of the Arbeittering members, and incorporated Agudas Achim. They bought the land and one of the few practicing Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
Jews in the town, Izzy Brooks, built the synagogue. It was opened two years later, in 1924.
It was supported by the more secular Jews as well, and eventually the school the Arbeiterring had founded closed down. The synagogue observed traditional rites and came to be considered Orthodox although it was never formally affiliated with any broader Orthodox Jewish group. Farmers and hotel owners in the congregation, many of whom lived a long distance from the town, would often drive in for Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
services, park a discreet distance from the synagogue and walk from there to services to maintain the appearance of following Jewish law.
The Jews of Livingston Manor, and their synagogue, prospered during the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
due to a summer influx of middle-class garment workers from the city. Newly unionized, they could afford summer vacations at Jewish mountain resorts. This increasing affluence turned against the Catskills in the 1950s, when these same Jews and their descendants were able to afford suburban homes and vacation elsewhere, including those resorts that had once been closed to them. Jews began to leave the village, and by 1972 Agudas Achim was open only during the High Holy Days and beginning to deteriorate.
1973–present: Reform and rebirth
The congregation had dwindled to 35 members, and its board began to explore formally becoming a ConservativeConservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
or Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
synagogue. In 1981 it began hiring Reform rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
s, including women, to conduct services, and several years later newer members joined with some of the older ones to form a revitalization committee. In 1984, after several older members who might have been alienated by the change had retired to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, the congregation formally became Reform. The congregation president at the time, Leon Siegel, invested Ladies' Aid Society funds from the 1960s to create an endowment
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
that helped pay for repair and maintenance of the building.
In 1990 the synagogue hired a regular rabbi again and began holding services once a month. Two years later it celebrated its first bar mitzvah since 1971. By 1999 the congregation had grown to 105 families, possibly its largest membership ever. It now holds weekly services year-round, even though some of Livingston Manor's Jews spend the winter in Florida
Snowbird (people)
The term snowbird is used to describe people from the U.S. Northeast, U.S. Midwest, or Canada who spend a large portion of winter in warmer locales such as California, Arizona, Florida, Texas, the Carolinas, or elsewhere along the Sun Belt region of the southern and southwest United States,...
, and operates a Hebrew school
Hebrew school
Hebrew school can be either the Jewish equivalent of Sunday school - an educational regimen separate from secular education, focusing on topics of Jewish history and learning the Hebrew language, or a primary, secondary or college level educational institution where some or all of the classes are...
. In 2008 five of its students celebrated their bar or bat mitzvahs, a large number for a small congregation. It is a member synagogue of the Union for Reform Judaism
Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism , formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations , is an organization which supports Reform Jewish congregations in North America. The current President is Rabbi Eric H...
.