USA: Olean, NY Synagogue Added to National Register

USA: Olean, New York  Synagogue (1929) Added to National Register of Historic Places

Two weeks ago I gave a lecture about New York synagogues, with special attention given to the large numbers of historic structures that have been named local protected sites and/or added to the National Register of Historic Places. At the time I didn't know of the latest synagogue addition to the National Register; the 1929 Temple B'nai Israel at 127 South Barry Street in Olean, a small city in the southwestern part of the state.  The National Register nomination was prepared by Katie Eggers Comeau of Bero Architecture PLLC in Rochester.

Olean, NY. Temple B'nai Israel. Photo: Katie Eggers Comeau for NR Nomination

Olean, NY. Temple B'nai Israel. Photo: Katie Eggers Comeau for NR Nomination

Olean, NY. Temple B'nai Israel. Photo: Katie Eggers Comeau for NR Nomination

In the past twenty years the number of landmarked synagogues in New York State has grown into the hundreds.  Originally, many structures were designated because they stood within the borders of historic districts - of which there are so many in New York City.  Over the years, however, as interest in historic religious structures has grown, more and more synagogues have been listed individually.  In some instances this work has been spurred by organized regional surveys (as in Sullivan County). Outside of New York City many congregations, such a my own Temple Concord in Syracuse, have taken the lead in recognizing the history of their congregations and buildings and have prepared or sponsored the preparation of National Register nominations. There is also the recognition that NR designation can help in fund-raising for the ongoing maintenance and repair of historic structures through the Sacred Sites Program of the New York Landmarks Conservancy and other agencies.

Temple B’Nai Israel, designed for the Olean Hebrew Congregation by local architect J. Milton Hurd (1895-1982) was dedicated on September 29, 1929, shortly before the much larger by stylistically related Temple Emanuel in Manhattan.   Plans for the synagogue had been discussed for more than a decade, and Hurd was hired in 1927.  Hurd was a graduate of Cornell in 1916, and seems to have worked exclusively in the region of Olean.  Biographical information is provided in the NR nomination, but little is know of his other work.  For the synagogue design he was certainly indebted to recent synagogues erected in New York City, many of which had been published in architecture magazines.

Olean's B'nai Israel's  facade is dominated by a massive arch with common version of a Jewish 'rose' window.  The NR nomination rightly compares it to New York City's  B’Nai Jeshurun in Manhattan (Henry Herts & Walter Schneider, 1917-18) and Temple Beth-El in Brooklyn (Shampan & Shampan, 1920), to which we can add the demolished Mount Nebo Synagogue (formerly on 79th Street in Manhattan).  Walter Schneider also designed Mount Nebo  and thus probably deserves much of the credit for the popularity of this particular type of Byzantine-inspired synagogue facade type.  The building also should be compared to the much larger complementary Temple Emanuel in Manhattan (Clarence Stein, Robert D. Kohn, and Charles Butler, archs., 1927-1930). Variations of the Byzantine style were favored for synagogue design throughout the United States in the period between word War I and the Great Depression.

Click here to read the full National Register file on Temple B'Nai Israel

Brooklyn, New York. Temple Beth El (now Young Israel Beth El), Shampan & Shampan, archs, 1920 . Photo: Samuel D. Gruber

New York. NY. Mount Nebo Synagogue, Walter Schneider, arch, 1927-28 (demolished, 1985). Photo: Courtesy of New York Landmarks Conservancy

New York, NY. Temple Emanuel, dedicated January 1927-1930. Photo: Paul Rocheleau. 

Jews began to settle in Olean the 1880s when the city began to flourish as an early center of oil production (A history of the Jewish settlement, its most prominent members with sources is provided in the National Register nomination).  Personal memories of growing up Jewish in Olean by Carol Levine  can be read in Tablet Magazine.

USA: Hanukah Celebration at New York's Kehila Kedosha Janina, December 18th

New York, NY. Kehila Kedosha Janina, interior. Photo: Vincent Giordano

New York, NY. Kehila Kedosha Janina. Bar Mitzvah. Photo: Vincent Giordano

USA: Hanukah Celebration at New York's Kehila Kedosha Janina, December 18th

One of my favorite Jewish spaces in New york is the tiny Kehila Kedosha Janina (KKJ) on Broome Street on the Lower East Side. This is the home to the region's Greek (Romaniote) Jewish community - an enormously hospitable extended family. The synagogue and its small museum continues services and is open to the public on Sundays. Next week is a great time to visit - to celebrate Hannukah with traditional Greek-Jewish Hannukah treats (boumwelos) and to honor John and Christine Woodward of Woodward Gallery at 133 Eldridge Street.

The congregation wants to fill the sanctuary (not too hard given its small size) with joy!

Where: Kehila Kedosha Janina, 280 Broome Street (between Allen and Eldridge)When December 18

New York, NY. Kehila Kedosha Janina. Torah scroll. Photo: Vincent Giordano

Here's some history from museum curator and community historian Marcia Haddad Ikonomopoulos:

In the early 20th century, as Jews from the Balkans began to arrive on the Lower East Side, Shearith Israel (the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue uptown on West 70th and Central Park West) established institutions to help the new immigrants. Foremost among these were the settlement house and synagogue originally created at 86 Orchard Street. Soon the small dwelling was insufficient to house the growing population of Balkan Jewry and it was necessary to find larger quarters.

In 1914, the synagogue, now named Berith Shalom, was moved to 133 Eldridge, where the facilities were now larger and could include a Talmud Torah. As the neighborhood changed and the Balkan Jews moved to the outer boroughs and the suburbs, Berith Shalom was closed and the building at 133 Eldridge went through many incarnations. In May of 2007, John and Kristine Woodward moved their gallery to 133 Eldridge Street and, in the process of restoration, uncovered a piece of decorated plaster wall from the old synagogue. John lovingly restored and mounted the section and presented it to Kehila Kedosha Janina as a gift. It now hangs in our synagogue/museum.

USA:125th anniversary of Eldridge Street Synagogue Cornerstone

USA:125th anniversary of Eldridge Street Synagogue Cornerstone
by Samuel D. Gruber

I often tell my clients to let no anniversary go unnoticed - each is an opportunity to stage an event and to raise attention and money. Few know this lesson better than the folks at the Museum at Eldridge Street. They know how to celebrate and after all they have achieved, they have every right to do so. Jews have so many commemorative events for catastrophes suffered and crises just barely averted. So it's nice to celebrate occasions where oppressors are not involved.

Next Sunday (November 13th) celebrate the 125th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of New York City's Eldridge Street Synagogue, for an event modeled on cornerstone celebrations of a century ago. I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it from Syracuse, but I'm going to try.

Help create a living time capsule, with remarks and performances by: Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, Frank London’s All Star Klezmer Brass Band, Vocalist Jeremiah Lockwood, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, Speaker Sheldon Silver and other Government Officials and Museum Leaders.

New York, NY. Eldridge Street Synagogue. Synagogue Constitution of 1913. Photo from Annie Polland, Landmark of the Spirit (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 2008), p9

RSVP & Information about the 125th Anniversary Time Capsule:
Call: 212.219.0888
Email: asteinmilford@eldridgestreet.org
Visit: eldridgestreet.org

The Event is free.

For more or my posts about the history, architecture and restoration of the Eldridge Street Synagogue type "Eldridge" in the blog searchbox.

****
Update (Nov 17, 2011). You can read about the event and see a video in the Forward (online).

USA: Shearith Israel Cemeteries in Manhattan

New York City, NY. remains of the first Jewish cemetery of Congregation Shearith Israel. Photos: Samuel D. Gruber

USA: Shearith Israel Cemeteries in Manhattan

Every few years there is an article on the cemeteries or former synagogues of New York's Congregation Shearith Isreal, the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. Its a great demonstration of how long Jews have been in NYC (since the 1640s!), but also how populations have moved "uptown" geographically and socially. This is a good thing, since in New York - or at least Manhattan - there are there is always a new audience that needs to know these things.

The latest article in the tradition is by Adam Chandler from Tablet Magazine. Its a pretty good piece, with a few correctives added by readers at the end. The last paragraph, however, seems to indicate that the 1860 synagogue on 19th Street, sold in January 1895, still survives in some much modified form. The building that may survive would have been O'Neill's Dry Goods Store behind the cemetery, not the synagogue itself. I'm pretty sure the synagogue was a long block away on West 19th St. near 5th Avenue, not between 20th and 21st Street near Sixth, where the cemetery is.

Here is the 19th Street synagogue, one the few Roman Baroque style synagogues in America, and one of the earliest (the first?) with a dome.

New York, NY. Former Congregation Shearith Israel at 19th St.. Photo: Kings Handbook of New York (2nd edition, 1893). The building was sold in 1894.

Also, a little more information on the damage caused by nearby construction work in 2006 would be worth knowing. At the time there was legal wrangling over who was responsible, and who had to pay for repairs. Since then, I don't recall reading about repairs done at all - though I hope they were!


Buried
by Adam Chandler (Tablet Magazine, August 26, 2011)

There’s a small Jewish cemetery tucked away on an unlikely block in Manhattan, behind some condominiums on West 21st Street. It’s just a few minutes from Tablet Magazine’s new office on Tin Pan Alley, and I recently stumbled upon it. As it turns out, it has two siblings further downtown, and, taken together, the trio offer a window into the history of both the city and its Jewish community.

The three historic Manhattan cemeteries belong to Congregation Shearith Israel, a Spanish and Portuguese synagogue in Manhattan and the oldest Jewish congregation in North America, established in 1654. They are perhaps the most durable legacy of New York City’s long-ago Jewish past. The Shearith Israel congregation was founded by 23 Jewish refugees, descendents of Spanish Jews, exiled during the Inquisition, who fled from Recife, Brazil, after it was taken from the Dutch by the Portuguese. They were fleeing anti-Semitism but were greeted coldly by Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch director-general of the colony of New Netherland. From 1654 until 1825, Shearith Israel was the only Jewish congregation in New York City. In its long history, membership of the congregation has included Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo, three founders of the New York Stock Exchange, and the poet Emma Lazarus, whose famous words from “The New Colossus” are affixed to the Statue of Liberty. Shearith Israel—the name translated is “Remnant of Israel”—owns a Torah that dates to the American Revolution.

Read the entire article here.

USA: Claudia Gould named new Jewish Museum director

(Almost) breaking news...almost all my memories of New York's Jewish Museum are of Joan Rosenbaum's Jewish Museum (true, I worked more with Judaica curator Vivian Mann, whose priorities and vision were somewhat different than Joan's). I'll write more about Joan's legacy for Jewish art, for Jewish museums and for New York City at a later date. She'll be a tough act to follow!

Claudia Gould named new Jewish Museum director

August 24, 2011

NEW YORK (JTA) -- The Jewish Museum of New York has named Claudia Gould as its new director.

Gould, director of the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania, will succeed Joan Rosenbaum, who has served in the position for the last 30 years.

The 107-year-old museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan is dedicated to “the artistic and cultural heritage of the Jewish people," according to its mission statement.

Exhibition: Photographs of Chaim Gross Sculpture

Sculptor Chaim Gross at work on Harvest at 1939 New York World's Fair. Photo by Eliot Elisofon, courtesy of Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation

Exhibition: Photographs of Chaim Gross Sculpture

The current exhibit of photographs of the sculptural work of Chaim Gross (1904-1991), “Displayed: Stages for Sculpture,” is on view until December 16 at the Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation in New York. Gross practiced what he (and contemporaries) called “direct carving” and created totemic human figures out of wood and stone. According to the exhibit organizers he "was a perfect subject for photographers who wanted to capture his creative process." Sculpture, as one of the most active, physical and, of-course, 3-dimensional forms of art, and one that could be represented well in black and white with light and shadow, appealed to photographers and was frequently featured in the many photo and news magazines of the early 20th-century.

According to the Foundation's press release:

"The photographs chart the “stages” in the making of sculpture, and public “stages” displaying Gross’s work, such as the 1939 World’s Fair, educational carving demonstrations, and commercial print media. The exhibition, curated by the Foundation's archivist Zak Vreeland, features images from the Foundation’s collection by renowned photographers Arnold Newman (1918-2006), Eliot Elisofon (1911-73), and Rudy Burckhardt (1914-99). It also includes works by less known, yet equally compelling photographers Robert M. Damora (1912-2009), Soichi Sunami (1885-1971), Walter Rosenblum (1919-2006), and Arnold Eagle (1909-92).

Chaim Gross knew many of these photographers at the beginning of their careers and became particularly close with Arnold Newman and Eliot Elisofon. Gross hired them to record the process of sculpting, both in the privacy of the studio as well as various public venues. The photographers also featured Gross, his house, studio, and sculpture in news stories, fashion spreads, and advertisements in publications such as Life and Glamour. The exhibition explores this relationship between sculpture and photography. It also considers the convergence of two modes of production: Gross’s signature process of hand carving and the mechanical reproduction of the photograph. Of particular interest are photographs of window displays that featured Gross’s sculpture in arrangements with mannequins and merchandise from c. 1940-50 at Bonwit Teller, Saks Fifth Avenue and Lane Bryant. These include an eight-window display for Bonwit Teller designed by the preeminent window designer Gene Moore (1910-98)."

Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/the-arty-semite/139204/#ixzz1QrP1DBfb

View the 1957 film The Sculptor Speaks (17 minutes) on the Gross foundation website.

Read more about the life and work of Chaim Gross at artnet.com.

As it happens, the Syracuse University Special Collection Research Center has four boxes of Gross papers. I'm looking forward to finding time in the next year to examine these, or to interest a student in the project.

Publication: New Book on Eldridge Street Synagogue Restoration

New York, NY. Eldridge Street Synagogue. Restored facade. Photos: Samuel D. Gruber (March 2011)

New York, NY. Eldridge Street Synagogue. Restored 19th century sanctuary and new "rose" window above Ark. Photos: Samuel D. Gruber (March 2011)

Publication: New Book on Eldridge Street Synagogue Restoration
by Samuel D. Gruber

Beyond the Facade: A Synagogue, a Restoration, a Legacy: the Museum at Eldridge Street by Roberta Brandes Gratz, Larry Bortniker and Bonnie Dimun (Museum at Eldridge Street and Scala Publishing, 2011), highlights the almost thirty-year effort to restore New York's Eldridge Street Synagogue. The new book contains an evocative and informative essay by Roberta Brandes Gratz, one of the initiators of the project and the energetic organizer and definer of the work in its early formative phases. As Gratz writes of this and any similar project "There was no time to be discouraged. Restoring a landmark that has been abandoned by those most connected to it historically is only for the young, the persistent, and the deeply committed, and surely not for the faint of heart."

Ms. Gratz was never faint of heart, and she committed as large chunk of her life to saving the grand synagogue and to recovering and retelling the history of the building, its congregation and its role in the American immigrant saga. Gratz was helped by hundreds along the way, and followed in a leadership role by Amy Waterman who advanced the project in substantial ways - raising new awareness and especially large sums of money through various wards and grants.

Innovative restoration methods were developed, especially the excavation and use of a sub-basement level for new mechanical systems, restroom and other necessities. Bonnie Dimun was date brought in a director in 2007. As she says in her afterward to the book, her mandate was to "Get it Done." In just nine months she did just that, making some tough decisions in order to bring the decades-long project to completion. Since then she and her staff have worked to reinvent the building and the project, including the installation of new "rose" window about the Aron-ha-Kodesh, designed by artist Kiki Smith. The original window was destroyed in the 1930s and after debate, the decision was made not to re-create an approximation (since the original design was not known),but rather to create something entirely new, moving the restoration out of the past and into the present.

Since the 1980s the sustaining narrative at Eldridge was about the restoration itself. Now that the most obvious work is done, the presentation has had to shift. Continuing a process begun under Ms. Waterman, Eldridge is now as much about history, family, neighborhood, immigration and cultural life as about architecture and restoration. The new window in the thinking of the project's new leadership bridges the generations. Importantly, in regard to audience, it makes the synagogue both a sacred historic site and a vibrant contemproary art space, too.

This new book doesn't dwell on such issues. It is essentially an annotated photo album of the restoration process that makes it hard to forget all the hard work that lies behind the synagogue's present-day pristine appearance - no matter what direction the building and musuem head in future years. These pictures will make hard to forget how dilapidated the building, now so intact, once was.

Every restoration project should keep such an album, even they cannot afford in the end to publish. With online construction blogs and You-tube posts it is easy to record the process of restoration. The process itself is part of the purpose. At Eldridge Street and elsewhere the process - especially when it is a long one - allows the opportunity to explore and educate, to advocate and debate and to plan for building use for a long sustainable future.

New York, NY. Eldridge Street Synagogue. Stairway. An elevator is now installed in the location of the second stairwell. Photos: Samuel D. Gruber (March 2011)

In Gratz's words "Actually, the slow road to success worked in our favor. We had time to do serious historical research about both the building and the people who used it. If we had had all the money early, we might have ruined the building, replaced things that could have been salvaged, refinished others that could have been conserved and in many ways, erased the patina of time. In the mid-1980s the world of historic preservation, restoration, and conservation was not nearly at its current level of sophistication and nuance."

I first visited the restoration at Eldridge in 1989 soon after I began work as the Director of the Jewish Heritage Council of the World Monuments Fund (WMF). Though WMF chose to look abroad for its Jewish heritage projects - especially after 1989 to Eastern Europe, the image and influence of Eldridge were strongly felt. Conservators, activists and historians from Eastern Europe attending WMF's Future of Jewish Monuments conference in New York in November 1990 visited the restoration and came away educated and inspired.

Soon after, when WMF undertook the restoration of the great Tempel Synagogue in Krakow, Poland, we looked to the Eldridge experience for method. Since then, scores of restoration projects in the U.S. and abroad influenced by the example of Eldridge were completed - ironically long before the actual re-dedication of the Lower East Side synagogue in 2007. Still, they owe a lot to Eldridge as the Jewish monument restoration laboratory par excellance.

This new book is not a history of the synagogue - Annie Polland's Landmark of the Spirit already covers that ground. Neither is it a primer on restoration; a series of specialized conservation studies and reports; or a critical review of the the various stages of work at Eldridge. It is, however, a beautiful and celebratory testimony to the long and difficult work done on the building - an achievement that many people in the 1980s, when it all began, believed a crazy endeavor that would never end. Along the way there were rough patches, some bruised egos, dismissed architects, strained friendships and professional disagreements. But through it all there remained a constancy of vision, an optimism of spirit and a tenacity of commitment that
has hardly been equaled in the annals of historic preservation.

To the hundreds of professionals and volunteers who have worked on the Eldridge Street Project and the thousands of financial contributors to the resotration: Congratulations!

USA: Start of $1.6M Restoration of Oldest Queens Synagogue

New York. Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Start of Restoration (top), Aron ha-Kodesh (bottom). Photo: NY Landmarks Conservancy

USA: Start of $1.6M Restoration of Oldest Queens (New York) Synagogue

A groundbreaking ceremony was held at Congregation Tifereth Israel, 109-18 54th Avenue in Corona, at 11 am June 22. The landmark 1911 wooden building is a rare survivor of the earliest, vernacular synagogues built in Queens and is the oldest synagogue in the borough, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

Click here to see photos on the Landmarks Conservancy Facebook page.

Restoration will 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 to this important building, returning it to its appearance of a century ago.

The New York Landmarks Conservancy has worked with the synagogue for more than a decade providing $30,000 in direct grants and serving as the project manager. The Conservancy helped the congregation with their selection of preservation architects Li/Saltzman; liaison with City and State funding agencies; selection of construction contractors Lipsky Enterprises, Inc. and LoDuca Associates, Inc.; and will now help the congregation manage and monitor the restoration work.

Queens, New York. Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Start of Restoration, with help from the New York State environmental Protection Fund. Photo: NY Landmarks Conservancy

The synagogue, which has been revitalized in recent years by Bukharan Jwish immigrants, is being restored with $1.1 million in New York City capital funding allocated by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, augmented by a $200,000 restoration grant from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund.

Queens, New York. Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Start of Restoration. Interior. Photo: NY Landmarks Conservancy

“I am delighted to have supported the restoration of our county’s oldest synagogue. This visible sign of Jewish heritage and tradition is now a century old and both a city and national landmark,” said Marshall. “This milestone birthday in the history of this structure, built in 1911 for a congregation relocated to Queens from the Lower East Side, is, indeed worthy of celebration.”

“Its refurbished exterior and doors will now open to a new generation that will cherish it for many years to come,” she said.

“This synagogue is an important piece of Queens history. We are grateful to the borough president and the other donors who recognize its significance and are helping with its revitalization and restoration,” said Peg Breen, president of The New York Landmarks Conservancy.

An additional $360,000 has been provided by several NYC philanthropists, foundations, and nonprofit organizations:

• The Arlene and Arnold Goldstein Family Foundation, whose founder’s real estate management firm, Samson Management, is based in Rego Park;
• Leonard Lauder, whose mother, Estee Lauder, and maternal grandparents, Max and Rose Mentzer, were early members;
• Sam Domb, hotel developer and Jewish philanthropist;
• The New York Community Trust; and
• The New York Landmarks Conservancy

Pro bono legal services for the project have been provided by the firm of Bryan Cave LLP.

(source: New York Landmarks Conservancy)

Conference: German-Jewish Immigration and Presence in New York City

Woodmere, NY. Congregation sons of Israel. Fritz Nathan and Eugene Schoen, archs. Photos: Samuel D. Gruber (2011).
Nathan was a refugee architect important in redefining the American synagogue after World War II (I am presently writing a chapter about him and fellow German refugee artist and architects for a forthcoming edited volume on German-Jewish trans-nationalism).

Conference: German-Jewish Immigration and Presence in New York City

(ISJM) The Jewish Studies Center at Baruch College, together with the Leo Baeck Institute, is sponsoring a day-long conference on German-Jewish immigration and presence in New York City on May 5, 2011.

Three panels and roundtables will be held at the Leo Baeck Institute: "The German-Speaking Jewish Presence in New York" (10-11:45); "German-Jewish Troubles with Immigration in the 1930s: A Lesson for Today's Immigration Debates?" (1:30-3) and "Roundtable Discussion: Memorializing and Representing German-Speaking Jews in New York City Museums and Institutions" (3:15-4:45). There will be a reception with light refreshments at Baruch College, in the Performing Arts Center, from 6-7 PM. This will be followed by a screening of the film "We were so beloved: The German Jews of Washington Heights" and a discussion with director Manfred Kirchheimer.

More information is available at: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/wsas/JSC_BAECK_CONFERENCE.htm

Symposium: Jewish Life in Morocco: An Epic Journey

Symposium: Jewish Life in Morocco: An Epic Journey

The American Sephardi Federation (ASF) will host a 2-day symposium Jewish Life in Morocco: An Epic Journey on Sunday,May 15 and Monday, May 16, 2011 at its home at the Center for Jewish History in New York City.

The symposium will feature international scholars from Morocco, France, Canada, Israel and the U.S., who will present the history, contributions and contemporary story of Jewish Morocco. Specific topics will include, among others: Evolution of Jewish Life, Moroccan Jews and the Arts, Moroccan Rabbis and Jewish Thought, Relationships Between Jews and Muslims, Moroccan Jewish Diaspora and the Jews of Morocco Today.

The symposium, open to the public, is part of the year-long series: ‘2,000 Years of Jewish Life in Morocco: An Epic Journey,’ which is being held under the High Patronage of His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco.

Moroccan Synagogue. Photos; Isaiah Wyner/World Monuments Fund

For those interested in the architecture of Moroccan synagogue, ASF holds the photo archive of the Morocco synagogue survey carried out for the World Monuments Fund in the early 1990s by architect Joel Zack and photographer Isaiah Wyner.

Photographer Vincent Giordano, Who Documented Romaniote Life, Dies at Age 58

Vincent Giordano in 2005. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber

Vincent Giordano (1952-2010)

by Samuel D. Gruber

Photographer and filmmaker Vincent Giordano died on December 11, 2010. Vincent was an accomplished photographer with an artist’s eye, and a mastery of craft (especially visible in his beautifully handmade palladium prints) and the sensibility of a trained ethnographer. He was a man of warmth, humor, and modesty, but also of talent, ambition and tenacity. These were all qualities he maintained, even when in great pain, until his very last hour.

In recent years Vincent brought these talents together in an intensive investigation of the small community of Romaniote Jews in New York, centered on the synagogue of Kehila Kedosha Janina synagogue on New York’s Lower East Side. Since 2002, soon after he began work in his documentary project Before the Flame Goes Out, he has been a friend and unexpected colleague. What began by my writing a simple cover letter for a grant became a continuing collaboration, with the International Survey of Jewish Monuments serving as a sponsor for Vincent’s work.

Over a period of about six years Vincent created a remarkable series of photos of the building, and many of the people who still call it their religious and cultural home and related community events. What began as a documentation of the synagogue building and its liturgical and historical artifacts evolved into a deeper and more meaningful investigation including photos, film and audio. Vincent found that it was not enough to look at a building without knowing the things inside or to know the objects without understanding their history and use. He believed that knowledge can only come through knowing the people who made these things, and who continue to use and cherish them today. Similarly, he felt he could not see full picture of this Romaniote community without its other half: the community of Ioannina, or what survives of it in post-Holocaust Greece. So the project which at first was quite modest kept growing. And in this process I was always impressed with Vincent’s adaptability, organization skills, diplomacy, patience, tenacity and overriding belief in the integrity and meaning of the task.

Vincent forged excellent ties with the Romaniote community. His photos, which often involved long set up times and exposures, drew many of the synagogue community into his work so that many aspects of Before the Flame Goes Out were collaborative efforts with the community itself. His patience was often rewarded by the stories told by those watching, many of who subsequently became portrait subjects, and he often donated prints of his work to these new friends and the community. Photography developed into oral history that became an important part of the work. Vincent also reached out to historians and other specialists (such as myself) to expand and refine his knowledge of his subject, so that photography and oral history now link with more traditional lines of historical inquiry.

For his work on Before the Flames Goes Out Vincent received grants from the Memorial Foundation of Jewish Culture and he was a Fullbright Scholar in Greece in 2007. His talent was recognized by many generous donors who supported Before the Flame Goes Out. These included The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation, The Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund, The Cahnman Foundation, The Rothschild Foundation, and The David and Goldie Blanksteen Fund.

Vincent received his B.A. from SUNY, Oswego where he majored in history and anthropology, tw0 disciplines he remained dedicated to in his subsequent career. He went on to study photography at C.W. Post College (Glendale, NY), the International Center of Photography, and with Arthur Leipzig. In the 1980s he worked for R/ Greenberg Associates as Head of the Animation Camera and Stills Department, during which time he won seven Clio awards for television advertising campaigns. And the GT Group in New York as head of the still photography department.

For the past 25 years Vincent worked as photographer, filmmaker and technical consultant for scores of book, film and other photo-related projects. In more recent years he took on projects for himself, and developed impressive portfolios of memorable and artistic work, most of which seemed to dwell with modes of memory. A skilled portraitist, he brought that careful steady observant eye to his photos of architecture and landscape. As a New York photographer two of the most meaningful to Vincent were Hidden New York (Rutgers University Press, 2006), for which he was a contributing photographer and remembrance, a book of portraits from September 11, 2001.

Vincent was so often behind the camera there are few photos of him. I include this one snapshot, when I caught him by surprise at Kehila Kedosha Janina back in 2005. The picture captures for me his mix of toughness and playfulness. He combined a no-nonsense attitude of getting the shot, with humor and constant enthusiasm for his subject.

Vincent will be missed by his many friends and colleagues, and especially by his loving wife Hilda and his step-children Elizabeth and Thomas, and grandchildren, Matthew, Analisa and Rachel. A memorial gathering takes place today in New york at the Museum of Biblical Art where Vincent’s work was exhibited in 2008. A celebration of his life and art will also be scheduled in 2011. I will shortly post a gallery of some of Vincent's photos. You can also see images on the website http://www.romaniotelegacy.org/

Here are four photos which show a mix of his work with 8 x 10 negatives, and two shots from Greece done "on the fly" with a 35mm camera. These are low-res digital copies. The originals are especially gorgeous.

USA: Fine Judaica Auction October 27th

Fine Judaica: Hebrew Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters and Graphic Art To Be Offered At Auction On Wednesday, October 27th

(CHAGALL, MARC). Chaliastra. [Yiddish Language Art Periodical]. No. 1. Avant-garde illustrations, including Chagall’s designs to David Hofstein’s poems (pp. 10 and 48). pp. 71, (1). Lightly browned. Original color-illustrated wrappers bound into modern boards, front cover tape-repaired, back cover detached. Sm. folio.

Kestenbaum & Company’s Fall auction of Fine Judaica will take place on Wednesday, October 27th at 1pm at the firm’s Manhattan gallery located at 242 West 30th Street. Viewing beforehand will be held from Sunday, October 24th through Tuesday, October 26th.

The extensive sale of Hebrew Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters and Graphic Art will include American-Judaica and Rare Books from the Library of Gratz College, Elkins Park (Part II); German, Haskallah and Related Books from the Library of the Late Philosopher, Prof. Steven Schwarzschild and Exceptional Rabbinic Autograph Letters from a Private Collector.

Click here to view the entire October 27th, 2010 Catalogue

Kestenbaum & Company provides the following information about the sale:

Hebrew Incunabula are particularly coveted by discerning book collectors and this auction offers a number of them for sale. Most compelling are several leaves from the first publication of the Talmudic Tractate Kidushin, Guadalajara, circa 1480, at an estimate of $35,000-50,000. This early Spanish fragment is of the utmost rarity (lot 279). Two other incunabula of note include a 1484 copy of Yedai’ah Bedersi’s Bechinath Olam, estimate $10,000-15,000 (lot 53) and a scarce second edition (incomplete) of the Soncino Roman Machzor, 1486, at an estimate of $10,000-12,000 (lot 210A).

Additional important early Hebrew Printed Books include two works by Samson ben Isaac of Chinon -- Sepher Kerithoth, estimate $6,000-8,000 (lot 261) and Peirush HaGet, estimate $3,000-5,000 (lot 262) both were printed in Constantinople in 1515. Good examples of Early Bibles in the sale include the first Polyglot Bible, Genoa, 1516, estimate $4,000-6,000 (lot 55) and Estienne’s splendidly printed pocket Hebrew Bible, bound in 14 volumes, Paris, 1543-46, at an estimate of $4,000-6,000 (lot 56). A later Bible of significance is a Hebrew Pentateuch from Vienna, 1815, government-authorized to be used in the Courts of Law in Prague to administer the Oath to Jewish witnesses, estimate $2,500-3,500 (lot 64).

Highlights among the Passover Hagadoth in the sale include a copy of the second Amsterdam Hagadah with a large folding map of the Holy Land, 1712, estimate $4,000-6,000 (lot 141), a most unusual Hagadah printed in English by the London Times newspaper on August 17th, 1840 in relation to the Blood Libel raised against the Jews during the “Damascus Affair”, estimate $5,000-7,000 (lot 143) and the Toulouse Hagadah, produced from memory by Jews imprisoned in French internment camps during the Second World War, estimate $5,000-7,000 (lot 154).

Other notable volumes include two Chassidic Books related to the Chabad movement, both written by Shneur Zalman of Liadi- - Likutei Amarim (second edition), Zolkiew, 1799, estimate $8,000-10,000 (lot 80) and Likutei Torah (first edition), Zhitomir, 1848 and 1851, estimate $3,000-5,000 (lot 83); a Machzor according to the custom of Catalonia, Salonika, 1526, estimate $2,000-3,000 (lot 211) and a Machzor, Amschel Mayer Rothschild’s personal copy, Roedelheim, 1800, at an estimate of $2,000-3,000 (lot 258).

Early medical and scientific books are represented by first editions of Tobias Cohn’s Ma’aseh Tuvia from Venice 1707, estimate $2,500-3,500 (lot 88) and Joseph Solomon Delmedigo’s Sepher Ma’ayan Ganim, Amsterdam, 1629, at an estimate of $2,000-3,000 (lot 98).

Among books relating to Germany and the early Haskallah movement, of particular interest is Johann Jakob Schudt’s Jüdischer Merckwürdigkeiten which chronicles the life of the Jews of Frankfurt, 1714, estimate $1,500-2,500 (lot 126) and the first German edition of the Mishnah, 1760-63, at an estimate of $700-1,000 (lot 236).

The American Judaica section of the sale features unique selections such as a handwritten Hebrew Marriage Certificate dated July 1861 from Peoria, Illinois, estimate $12,000-18,000 (lot 21). Also prominent within the Americana section are a number of “firsts”: Isaac Leeser’sHebrew-English Pentateuch, the Yuly copy bound in five volumes, Philadelphia, 1845-6, the first such translation published in America, estimate $7,000-9,000 (lot 12); Judah Monis’ Grammar of the Hebrew Tongue, the first Hebrew Grammar published in the New World, Boston, 1735, estimate $10,000-15,000 (lot 7), a volume of The Jew, edited by Solomon Henry Jackson, distinguished for being the first Jewish Periodical in America, New York, 1823-4, estimate $5,000-7,000 (lot 11); and The American Magazine for June 1758, containing a Rabbinic sermon in English, the very first such text published in America, estimate $5,000-7,000 (lot 8).

Books relating to Israel and Zionism include two significant editions of Theodor Herzl’s important manifesto, Der Judenstaat; The first Hebrew edition, Warsaw, 1896, estimate $2,000-3,000 (lot 285) and the first edition to be printed in America, New York, 1904, at an estimate of $2,000-3,000 (lot 286). Further offerings include an early and fascinating Palestine Telephone Directory from 1938, estimate $1,000-1,500 (lot 188) and the first edition of Charles Forster’s study of Hebrew inscriptions found in the Sinai Desert and published with albumen photographs, London, 1862, at an estimate of $800-1,200 (lot 186).

Other books of interest include the first edition of Baruch de Spinoza’s highly influential philosophical work Opera Posthuma, Amsterdam, 1677, estimate $6,000-9,000 (lot 278), Bernard Picart’s illustrated Histoire Générale des Cérémonies, Moeurs, et Coutumes Religieuses de tous les Peuples du Monde, complete in seven volumes, Paris, 1741, estimate $3,000-5,000 (lot 306) and a Hebrew translation of William Shakespeare’s Othello, which was the first appearance of any of Shakespeare’s plays in the Hebrew language, Vienna, 1874, at an estimate of $600-900 (lot 267).

Prominent among the modern Art and Literary Books is a rare complete set of the short-lived journal Albatros, which had enormous impact upon the modernist Yiddish literary scene in Poland, estimate $1,500-2,500 (lot 139) and Marc Chagall’s illustrations for the Yiddish language art journal Chaliastra, Paris, 1924 at an estimate of $800-1,200 (lot 295). Many illustrated books are featured in the auction including: Meir Gur-Arye, E. M. Lilien, Moritz Oppenheimer, Ze’ev Raban, Reuven Rubin, Issachar ber Ryback, Raphael Soyer, Joeseph Tchaikov, Anna Ticho and Wilhelm Wachtel.

Leading the offerings in the Manuscripts Section of the sale is a large Prayerbook according to the meditations of Rabbi Isaac Luria, 1732-38, at an estimate of $20,000-25,000 (lot 352). The auction catalogue cover lot, a striking Family Tree from Vilna, begun in 1901, is extraordinary for its elaborate and most original artistry. The pre-sale estimate is $15,000-20,000 (lot 349). Additional highlights are Moreh Tzedek an extensive manuscript penned in the 18th century by the Sha’agath Aryeh’s first cousin, estimate $10,000-12,000 (lot 362), a collection of Hebrew medieval manuscript fragments, estimate $5,000-7,000 (lot 357) and a Pinkas from the legendary Churvah Synagogue, Jerusalem, 1889-96, at an estimate of $5,000-7,000 (lot 351).

The Autograph Letters section of the sale is particularly impressive and is sure to garner buyers’ attention. Consigned from a single Private Collection, on offer are written communications by some of the most important and influential Rabbinic authorities of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Included are letters penned by Israel Abu-Hatze’ira (the Babi Sali), Abraham Mordechai Alter (the Grand Rabbi of Gur), Moshe Yitzchak Gewirtzman (Reb Itzikel), Shlomo Goldman (Reb Shloimkeh Zeviller), Samson Raphael Hirsch, Abraham Isaiah Karelitz (the Chazon Ish), Moses Sofer (the Chatham Sofer) and Yoel Teitelbaum (the Satmar Rebbe) among others. Of special note are letters by Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin (the Chofetz Chaim), estimate $15,000-20,000 (lot 332), Menachem Mendel of Shklov, estimate $25,000-35,000 (lot 337) and Reb Chaim Soloveitchik, estimate $12,000-18,000 (lot 342), a most surprising letter written to Chief Rabbi Kook.

A petite section of Graphic Art rounds out the sale. It includes a particularly striking gouache from the Book of Esther by Saul Raskin, estimate $3,000-4,000 (lot 363).

For further information relating to bidding or any other queries, please contact Jackie Insel at 212-366-1197.

USA: Eldridge Street Synagogue Installs New Stained Glass Window

New York, NY. Eldridge Street Synagogue, views of Ark wall with 1944 windows, and design, installation and projection of new window by Kiki Smith and Deborah Gans. Photos: Courtesy of Museum at Eldridge Street.

USA: Eldridge Street Synagogue Installs New Stained Glass Window

Tomorrow - October 10, 2010 - the Museum at Eldridge Street in New York City will introduce a monumental new stained-glass window by artist Kiki Smith and architect Deborah Gans. This permanent artwork is, in the words of museum's website, "the culminating piece of our 24-year, award-winning restoration of the 1887 Eldridge Street Synagogue, a New York City and National Historic Landmark. The introduction of this installation in our historic sacred site marries the new and the old, and places the museum at the crossroads of art, architecture, history and preservation." See and hear on video Smith and Gans discuss their concept by clicking here. The new design will replace a tablet-shaped glass block window, introduced in 1944 after the original stained glass was damaged. At the time, the congregation did not have funds to return it to its original grandeur. The treatment of the replacement in the course of restoration of the entire 19th century synagogue interior highlighted a classic preservation dilemma: How do you treat an important design element that has been lost or altered, and does every phase of a building's history have equal value in the conservation/preservation process. The Museum staff met with leading architects, preservationists, historians and curators to help decide how to treat the window. I was, in a small way part of this process, when I gave a lecture at Eldridge on the "The Choices We Make." For the Museum, the choices were retain the 1944 glass block, attempt to "replicate" a lost window the original design of which remains unknown, make something new "in the style of" the 1880s, or to create something new and admit it as such. In the end, the latter course was chosen, with the caveat that whatever was new would harmonize with the old. Overall in the total restoration of the building the past was well served. There was nothing wrong with acknowledging the present, and looking to the future. According to Robert Tierney, Chairman, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, "With the [upcoming] installation of Kiki Smith and Deborah Gans extraordinary window in this sacred landmark, Eldridge Street's evolution now spans three generations built in the 19th century, preserved in the 20th, and renewed in the 21st." I have frequently written about the Eldridge Street Synagogue project, begun in the 1980s, and just completed last year.

Here are some of the events associated with the window installation:

This Sunday, October 10 marks the first day the new stained-glass window will be open to the public.

Open House from 11am to 4pm

Concert at 4:30pm

Wednesday, October 13 from 6:30 to 8:30pm

Museum at Eldridge Street Benefit

Tickets are $500 & $1,000. RSVP is required.

Honoring Kiki Smith & Deborah Gans and with dedication remarks by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and writer Adam Gopnik and music by Paul Shapiro’s Hester Street Orchestra.

Wednesday, November 17 at 6:30pm

Conversation with Kiki Smith & Deborah Gans

$20 adults; $15 students/seniors

Join Kiki Smith and Deborah Gans for a behind-the-scenes look into their vision and process for the Museum at Eldridge Street’s magnificent new stained-glass window.