The Actor’s Temple (339 West 47th Street in New York) is in an 90 year old, long narrow building on West 47th St in the Theatre District. This congregation was founded in 1917 by local business owners in what was then a very tough area of Hell’s Kitchen. The Rabbi and Cantor of that time, reached out to others working in the area-the theatre community of actors, comedians, writers working on Broadway,  in vaudeville, cabaret, nightclubs etc.  The membership also included singers, dancers etc.

These individuals made an enormous contribution to show business and the  shul was truly an “Actor’s Temple” at that time. The stained glass windows in the little shulare dedicated in memory of many famous performers, such as Sophie Tucker, and signed photos of the former members who were stars line the walls in the synagogue building. Just imagine spending the High Holidays with the Three Stooges, Edward G. Robinson, Red Buttons, and Sandy Koufax.

Now, the front of the shul has the traditional ark holding the Torahs,  and the eternal light, and stained glass dedication windows, but the shul also has a stage light scaffolding for performances held by the congregation as part of their programming. There is also a  long wall of mirrors for the dancers who rent the space for rehearsals during the week. These mirrors are covered by curtains during services.

The shul was full this past Friday with over 100 people for an eclectic evening.  First an excellent  Shabbat buffet dinner open to all which also drew some local residents who were happy to have a meal offered. This was held in the worn social hall below the sanctuary level and was sponsored by friends celebrating their anniversary.  

These friends can celebrate anywhere they choose but selected this community and this authentic old space which does not have one true right angle, has that awful old time faux “wood paneling,” an ¨improvement¨of the 1950´s and the autographed photos of the stars. In a few more years these odd historic spaces of New York City will have been eliminated and all replaced by modern condos. We have to relish them while they are still here.

After dinner, we went to the sanctuary for the Shabbat service led by a Rabbi-Cantor with a longer resume in opera and voice than in Rabbinics and a personal warmth con molto dramatic flare.

After the service, the aisle was suddenly transformed into a long, very narrow stage and two modern dancers performed Luxxury Suite by Heidi Latsky,  with Meredith Fages. Surprising and nice.

An extended family donated a baby grand piano to the shul and were thanked and celebrated. Very warm and really nice.

A cantata, The Seven Golden Buttons, written by the Rabbi Ira and Judith Eisenstein, and based on a Hasidic story attributed to the Baal Shem Tov, conducted by Jeanne Krausman, was performed with excellent spirit and fun by about a dozen singers and the newly dedicated piano was used for this performance, as well. This is one of six cantata´s that the Eisensteins wrote. Judith Eisenstein was a musical prodigy and the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan the founder of the Reconstructionist movement. In 1923, she was the first woman to be Bat Mitzvah in America.

The Seven Golden Buttons is a story about true love and real value. Very nice and especially fitting for the anniversary celebrants.

This was not yet enough of an evening…after the cantata,  we all had kiddush (and more food) at the back of the sanctuary and some more time for schmoozing. Perfect.

The formal name of the congregation is Ezrath Israel, which means Helper of Israel.