Affiliation Jewish Completed 1829 Phone +1 215-922-6590 Year consecrated 1829 | Status Active Opened 1829 | |
 | ||
Leadership Avi Winokur (Rabbi)Bob Freedman (Cantor)Debra Stewart (Board President) Website societyhillsynagogue.org Address 418 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA Similar Historic Congregation B'nai Abr, Congregation Kesher Israel, Congregation Mikveh Israel, Congregation Rodeph Shalom, Old Pine Street Church Profiles | ||
Society hill synagogue philadelphia pa
Society Hill Synagogue is a synagogue located in the Society Hill section of Center City Philadelphia. The synagogue is home to an active congregation with Shabbat and holy day services, a Hebrew school, adult education, and community programming.
Contents
- Society hill synagogue philadelphia pa
- History
- Spruce Street Baptist Church
- Great Romanian Shul
- Society Hill Synagogue
- References
History
Society Hill Synagogue is located at 418 Spruce Street. The building was designed in 1829, and originally home to Spruce Street Baptist Church. Congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Nusach Ashkenaz, the Roumanian Shul, purchased the building in 1967. The congregation was succeeded by Society Hill Synagogue which continues to operate in and expand the historic property. The building entered the National Register of Historic Places in June 1971.
Spruce Street Baptist Church
Former members of First Baptist Church commissioned architect Thomas U. Walter to design the building at 418 Spruce Street in 1829. Walter also served as clerk of the church and superintendent of the Sunday school. In 1851, the church was enlarged and a new façade with an attic story was designed by Walter with cupolas over the side bays of the façade. The congregation made additions to the rear of the building in 1871 and 1877.
Spruce Street Baptist Church moved to 50th and Spruce Streets in 1908, and in 1963 to Newtown Square where it continues as an active congregation.
Great Romanian Shul
The building was sold at auction in 1911 and purchased by the Romanian American Congregation which represented the merger of Oir Chudas and Agudas Achaim Congregations. Oir Chudas was organized in 1886 as a beneficial society with daily services held in the second floor at 512 S. Third Street. Agudath Achim was organized in 1905. The synagogue was called the Great Roumanian Shul (דיא גרויסע רומענישע שוהל). It served the Philadelphia Jewish Quarter’s Eastern European Jews in general, and Roumanian Jews specifically. Society Hill declined in the years following World War II. Immigrant Jewish communities assimilated, moved to suburbs, membership declined, and by the 1960s, the building had fallen into disrepair.
Society Hill Synagogue
The synagogue renamed itself Society Hill Synagogue in 1964 under the direction of Rabbi Joseph Brownstein and reorganized itself. The new congregation purchased the building in 1967. Restoration began in 1968, including Walter’s façade, under the supervision of architect Henry J. Magaziner, while additional work in 1971 was directed by Cauffman, Wilkenson & Pepper, with John Milner.
The building is listed as a Philadelphia City Landmark, and is on the state and National Registers of Historic Places. In 1985, architect James A. Oleg Kruhly designed a new addition. In 2005, the synagogue completed more than $80,000 worth of interior work, which included adding a permanent Beit Midrash. The synagogue built an expansion next door to add classrooms and offices in 2007 and in 2009 secured a grant for repairs to the envelope of the 19th century sanctuary and annex.
The congregation does not affiliate with a movement organization; it self defines itself as egalitarian. Ivan Caine served as rabbi from 1967 to 2011. Avi Winokur has served as rabbi since 2001, and Bob Freedman as cantor since 2009.