What Happens When the Neighbourhood “Changes“?

What does the CEO of the Chobani Yogurt Empire, the brilliant inventor and physicist Albert Einstein, the founder of Google, the creator of blue jeans, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the first woman Secretary of State have in common?
They were all immigrants.

Fast forward to 2021. While in New Jersey a few weeks ago, I had a chance meeting with the husband of the CEO of the Eldridge Street Museum which is located in the Lower East Side of New York City. This led to me meeting the head honcho, Bonnie Dimun, of what is now the Museum at Eldridge Street. The following is garnered from the time I spent with her on a delightful Tuesday afternoon at her home in New Jersey and the source materials she generously lent me showcasing the story of the Eldridge Street Synagogue and its transformation into the museum and cultural hub it is today.

And why should we care? 

Because the Eldridge Street Museum back-story is a story of both renovation and change. It’s about honoring what a neighborhood started out being composed of. It’s about celebrating each transition – as one ethnic group moved away and another took its place. It’s about honoring one of the most significant parcels of real estate in our country – a lot the size of three tenement properties – that still serves as the landing pad for immigrants arriving in our country.  
 
The Eldridge Street Synagogue, with its imposing Romanesque-Moorish exterior, was built in 1887 for $91,907.61 and served the Eastern European Jews of the Lower East Side.

 
Buoyed by the massive waves of immigrants from Poland, Russia and Lithuania, Dimun says, the Eldridge Street Synagogue flourished for over 50 years as a bastion of Jewish Orthodox life.
 
The year 1924 brought two great changes: 
       The Immigrant Quota Laws were enacted
       An exodus of congregants to the outer boroughs began 
 
What happens when a congregation dwindles? 
What happens when the neighborhood radically changes?
What happens when the synagogue’s structure falls into almost non-restorable disrepair? 
 

Razing or Resuscitation?

The synagogue’s deterioration continued unabated until 1971. 
While searching for Jewish landmarks on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, an NYU professor, Gerald R. Wolfe, stumbled across the Eldridge Street Synagogue. He found decay, damage, dust and beauty beyond compare. 
 
In 1986, the Eldridge Street Project was formed, which led to the saving of the building. Twenty years, 20 million dollars and 18,000 supporters later, the Eldridge Street Synagogue became the Eldridge Street Museum –morphing into a harbinger of hope and activity for all – hosting school programs, concerts, lectures and festivals. A robust website was launched, featuring a section on family research, online courses, historical photos and informative blog postings. 
 
The site was placed on the National Historic Register in 1996. 

 
But it is so much more than just an artifact of a bygone era.
The Eldridge Street Museum is a hub of activity – honoring past immigrants and welcoming the incoming. 
 
Roberta Brandes Gratz, founder of the Eldridge Street Project, notes that immigrant groups move in, then move up and out to live in more prosperous neighborhoods – making way for the next group to repeat the pattern. 
 
The decades come and go and new names are created for the area reflecting the changing ethnic make-up: Lower East Side, Loisaida, Kleindeutschland, Chinatown – and new identities. All reflect the rapidly changing landscape of the city. Says Gratz, in Preservation, “the process of change stays the same. It’s only the players who change.”

The Eldridge Street Museum, now a vibrant place of immigrant life, reflects three enduring Jewish cultural traits: 
     the need to remember, 
     the impulse to celebrate 
     the wish to instruct.
 
This is all encompassed in the Museum’s virtual event: Egg Rolls, Egg Creams, and Empanadas Festival going on during the entire month of June, beginning Sunday.
 
https://www.eldridgestreet.org/event/egg-rolls-egg-creams-and-empanadas-festival-2021-celebrating-food/
 
Gratz, who now holds the official title of founder and president emeritus of the museum’s board said that “if we didn’t save this building, we’d have to reinvent it in Disneyland fashion.”
 
How wonderful that that didn’t happen.
 
Keep Preserving Your Bloom and Fighting the Fade, 
Iris Ruth Pastor

Here are my two upcoming zoom appearances:

What: The Donna Seebo Show 
When: Friday, June 4
Time: 11:30pm EST (EEK!)
Link: https://delphiinternational.com/events/  

 
Fire up your neurons to maximize your well-being. Join me for an inspirational chat focusing on jump-starting change through reflection, imagining and re-booting in order to live fully and joyfully.

When: Wednesday, June 16 
Time: 7pm EST
Link to register: https://www.jewishtampa.com/jewish-federation-events/womens-philanthropy-event
 
PS I’m not the only one whose voice should be heard. Voice yours on the subject of PAK – Parenting Adult Kids. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/F3W3XMX