179-531: Beth Hamedrash Hagodol ( Hebrew : בֵּית הַמִּדְרָש הַגָּדוֹל , lit. 'Great Study House') is an Orthodox Jewish congregation that for over 120 years was located in a historic building at 60–64 Norfolk Street between Grand and Broome Streets in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan , New York City . It was the first Eastern European congregation founded in New York City and
358-521: A three-alarm fire broke out in the unused synagogue after what an eyewitness called a "big explosion". The fire was brought under control at around midnight by approximately 150 firefighters—who, during the fire, allowed Rabbi Yehuda Oshry, the son of Ephraim Oshry, to rescue the Torah scrolls —but not before it "largely destroyed" the structure. A day later, the fire was said to seem "suspicious" due to surveillance video that showed three young people running from
537-674: A Hebrew form. Medieval Hebrew added 6421 words to (Modern) Hebrew. The approximate number of new lexical items in Israeli is 17,000 (cf. 14,762 in Even-Shoshan 1970 [...]). With the inclusion of foreign and technical terms [...], the total number of Israeli words, including words of biblical, rabbinic and medieval descent, is more than 60,000. In Israel, Modern Hebrew is currently taught in institutions called Ulpanim (singular: Ulpan). There are government-owned, as well as private, Ulpanim offering online courses and face-to-face programs. Modern Hebrew
716-642: A bright blue, studded with stars". In addition to attracting new and wealthy members, the congregation intended the substantial building to garner prestige and respectability for the relatively new immigrant Jews from Eastern Europe, and to show that Jews on the Lower East Side could be just as "civilized" as the reform-minded Jews of uptown Manhattan. For this reason, a number of other Lower East Side congregations also purchased or built new buildings around this time. They also hired increasingly expensive cantors until, in 1886, Kahal Adath Jeshurun hired P. Minkowsy for
895-413: A bus turnaround loop designated as Millennium Park . Park Row was once known as Chatham Street; it was renamed Park Row in 1886, a reference to the fact that it faces City Hall Park , the former New York Common. In the late 18th century Eastern Post Road became the more important road connecting New York City to Albany and New England to its north. This section of the road which became Park Row
1074-583: A century ago, was fluent enough in this idiom to be able to follow the Mishna Berurah without any trouble." Hebrew has been revived several times as a literary language, most significantly by the Haskalah (Enlightenment) movement of early and mid-19th-century Germany. In the early 19th century, a form of spoken Hebrew had emerged in the markets of Jerusalem between Jews of different linguistic backgrounds to communicate for commercial purposes. This Hebrew dialect
1253-481: A chokehold on an entire neighborhood and suggesting that One Police Plaza be moved from a residential area. Members of the Civic Center Residents Coalition fought the security perimeter around One Police Plaza for years. Park Row reopened for foot traffic and MTA buses in 2005, although only 200 buses per day were allowed on the street, and they had to pass through security checkpoints. In 2007,
1432-649: A corollary Hebrew ceased to function as a spoken language around the same time. Moshe Zvi Segal , Joseph Klausner and Ben Yehuda are notable exceptions to this view. During the latter half of the 20th century, accumulating archaeological evidence and especially linguistic analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls has disproven that view. The Dead Sea Scrolls, uncovered in 1946–1948 near Qumran revealed ancient Jewish texts overwhelmingly in Hebrew, not Aramaic. The Qumran scrolls indicate that Hebrew texts were readily understandable to
1611-562: A distinct style of philosophical Hebrew. This is used in the translations made by the Ibn Tibbon family. (Original Jewish philosophical works were usually written in Arabic. ) Another important influence was Maimonides , who developed a simple style based on Mishnaic Hebrew for use in his law code, the Mishneh Torah . Subsequent rabbinic literature is written in a blend between this style and
1790-579: A gradually accepted movement. It was not, however, until the 1904–1914 Second Aliyah that Hebrew had caught real momentum in Ottoman Palestine with the more highly organized enterprises set forth by the new group of immigrants. When the British Mandate of Palestine recognized Hebrew as one of the country's three official languages (English, Arabic, and Hebrew, in 1922), its new formal status contributed to its diffusion. A constructed modern language with
1969-502: A hall at Pearl between Chatham and Centre Streets. In 1856, with the assistance of the philanthropist Sampson Simson and wealthy Sephardi Jews who sympathized with the traditionalism of the congregation's members, the congregation purchased a Welsh chapel on Allen Street . The synagogue, which had "a good Hebrew library", was a place both of prayer and study , included a rabbinic family court, and, according to historian and long-time member Judah David Eisenstein, "rapidly became
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#17330855191892148-470: A huge crowd, with over 1,500 men crowded into the sanctuary, and thousands more outside. The police had to call extra reinforcements to control the throng, and to escort Joseph into the synagogue. Though he had been chosen, in part, for his "fabulous skills as an orator", his speaking style and sermons, which had been so beloved in Europe, did not impress New York audiences. According to Abraham Cahan , "[S]ome of
2327-463: A literary language down through the Byzantine period from the 4th century CE. The exact roles of Aramaic and Hebrew remain hotly debated. A trilingual scenario has been proposed for the land of Israel. Hebrew functioned as the local mother tongue with powerful ties to Israel's history, origins and golden age and as the language of Israel's religion; Aramaic functioned as the international language with
2506-722: A modern version of the ancient language was led by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda . Modern Hebrew ( Ivrit ) became the main language of the Yishuv in Palestine , and subsequently the official language of the State of Israel . Estimates of worldwide usage include five million speakers in 1998, and over nine million people in 2013. After Israel, the United States has the largest Hebrew-speaking population, with approximately 220,000 fluent speakers (see Israeli Americans and Jewish Americans ). Modern Hebrew
2685-521: A new building, which was dedicated in January 1850. Largely unchanged, the structure was designed in the Gothic Revival style by an unknown architect , with masonry -bearing walls with timber framing at the roof and floors, and brownstone foundation walls and exterior door and window trim. The front facade (west, on Norfolk Street) is " stuccoed and scored to simulate smooth-faced ashlar ", though
2864-496: A newspaper established by women's rights activists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton , was also headquartered on Park Row, at 27 Chatham Street. The decline of Park Row as a newspaper hub began in 1895, when the Herald moved to Herald Square . Ten years later, in 1905, the Times moved to its new headquarters at One Times Square . The Tribune moved uptown in 1923, while
3043-429: A number of issues with him, including his outside business ventures and an alleged inclination towards Hasidism . The more learned members of the congregation contested his scholarship. Ash resigned as rabbi in 1877, and in 1879, directors of Beth Hamedrash Hagodol proposed that a Chief Rabbi be hired for New York. A number of New York City synagogues formed the "United Hebrew Orthodox Congregations", and agreed to select
3222-478: A number of other synagogues, including the Park East Synagogue . In 1893 they fixed "serious structural problems", the consequence of neglected maintenance. The work included "stabiliz[ing] the front steps, add[ing] brick buttresses to the sides of the church for lateral support, again in a Gothic style, and replac[ing] the original basement columns with six-inch cast iron columns." A later renovation replaced
3401-651: A permit for removal of unsafe parts of the building, but required that other parts be evaluated for possible preservation. The LPC's engineers would monitor the demolition. Parts of the damaged synagogue were being demolished by early 2018. After the fire, the Chinese-American Planning Council and the Gotham Organization originally planned to incorporate the remnants of the synagogue building into their 30-story residential development. However, in June 2019,
3580-546: A relapse in 1900 which left him bedridden. In the late 19th century, other synagogues in New York City often served a particular constituency, typically Jews from a single town in Russia, Poland, or Romania. Beth Hamedrash Hagodol prided itself in welcoming and assisting all Jews, regardless of origins. The synagogue's Passover Relief Committee—dedicated to providing funds and food to poor Jews so that they could properly celebrate
3759-436: A request that their application be heard by an advisory panel. Prior to the fire, Rabbi Mendel Greenbaum had been in discussion with groups such as the Chinese-American Planning Council and the Gotham Organization about selling the building's air rights in connection with the potential development of a neighboring parcel, to help pay for the possible renovation and preservation of the synagogue. The LPC responded on July 11 with
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#17330855191893938-535: A set of dialects evolving out of Late Biblical Hebrew and into Mishnaic Hebrew, thus including elements from both but remaining distinct from either. By the start of the Byzantine Period in the 4th century CE, Classical Hebrew ceased as a regularly spoken language, roughly a century after the publication of the Mishnah, apparently declining since the aftermath of the catastrophic Bar Kokhba revolt around 135 CE. In
4117-431: A small brick extension at the building's south-east corner, and in the 1930s or 1940s the walls and four of the five spandrels in the sanctuary interior were painted with colorful "Eastern European-inspired" pictures and murals of Jerusalem and " Holy Land landscapes and Biblical scenes". At the end of December 1946, then-president Abraham Greenwald stated that unless $ 35,000 (today $ 550,000) were immediately raised for
4296-652: A spoken language, it continued to be used as a lingua franca among scholars and Jews traveling in foreign countries. After the 2nd century CE when the Roman Empire exiled most of the Jewish population of Jerusalem following the Bar Kokhba revolt , they adapted to the societies in which they found themselves, yet letters, contracts, commerce, science, philosophy, medicine, poetry and laws continued to be written mostly in Hebrew, which adapted by borrowing and inventing terms. After
4475-468: A truly Semitic vocabulary and written appearance, although often European in phonology , was to take its place among the current languages of the nations. While many saw his work as fanciful or even blasphemous (because Hebrew was the holy language of the Torah and therefore some thought that it should not be used to discuss everyday matters), many soon understood the need for a common language amongst Jews of
4654-549: A vernacular in Judea until it was displaced by Aramaic, probably in the 3rd century CE. Certain Sadducee , Pharisee , Scribe , Hermit, Zealot and Priest classes maintained an insistence on Hebrew, and all Jews maintained their identity with Hebrew songs and simple quotations from Hebrew texts. While there is no doubt that at a certain point, Hebrew was displaced as the everyday spoken language of most Jews, and that its chief successor in
4833-585: A year, over three times Ash's salary. The congregation's building at 60-64 Norfolk Street, between Grand Street and Broome Street on the Lower East Side , had originally been the Norfolk Street Baptist Church. Founded in 1841 when the Stanton Street Baptist Church congregation split, the members had first worshiped in an existing church building at Norfolk and Broome. In 1848 they officially incorporated and began construction of
5012-511: Is 8198, of which some 2000 are hapax legomena (the number of Biblical Hebrew roots, on which many of these words are based, is 2099). The number of attested Rabbinic Hebrew words is less than 20,000, of which (i) 7879 are Rabbinic par excellence, i.e. they did not appear in the Old Testament (the number of new Rabbinic Hebrew roots is 805); (ii) around 6000 are a subset of Biblical Hebrew; and (iii) several thousand are Aramaic words which can have
5191-477: Is believed to be based on the Semitic root ʕ-b-r ( ע־ב־ר ), meaning "beyond", "other side", "across"; interpretations of the term "Hebrew" generally render its meaning as roughly "from the other side [of the river/desert]"—i.e., an exonym for the inhabitants of the land of Israel and Judah , perhaps from the perspective of Mesopotamia , Phoenicia or Transjordan (with the river referred to being perhaps
5370-578: Is derived from Old French Ebrau , via Latin from the Ancient Greek Ἑβραῖος ( hebraîos ) and Aramaic 'ibrāy , all ultimately derived from Biblical Hebrew Ivri ( עברי ), one of several names for the Israelite ( Jewish and Samaritan ) people ( Hebrews ). It is traditionally understood to be an adjective based on the name of Abraham 's ancestor, Eber , mentioned in Genesis 10:21 . The name
5549-602: Is derived from the name of the alphabet used , in contrast to Ivrit , meaning the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet . Hebrew ceased to be a regular spoken language sometime between 200 and 400 CE, as it declined in the aftermath of the unsuccessful Bar Kokhba revolt , which was carried out against the Roman Empire by the Jews of Judaea . Aramaic and, to a lesser extent, Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among societal elites and immigrants. Hebrew survived into
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5728-563: Is fighting to stop businesses from using only English signs to market their services. In 2012, a Knesset bill for the preservation of the Hebrew language was proposed, which includes the stipulation that all signage in Israel must first and foremost be in Hebrew, as with all speeches by Israeli officials abroad. The bill's author, MK Akram Hasson , stated that the bill was proposed as a response to Hebrew "losing its prestige" and children incorporating more English words into their vocabulary. Hebrew
5907-791: Is headquartered at 1 Police Plaza located on Park Row, across the street from the Manhattan Municipal Building and Metropolitan Correctional Center . Two apartment buildings of significance on Park Row are the Chatham Towers at no. 170, built in 1965 and designed by Kelly & Gruzen, which, according to the AIA Guide to New York City , makes a "strong architectural statement...[which] rouses great admiration and great criticism," and Chatham Green at 185 Park Row, built in 1961 and also designed by Kelly & Gruzen. The segment of Park Row between Frankfort Street and Chatham Square
6086-411: Is no text on this object. In July 2008, Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa that he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating from around 3,000 years ago. Hebrew University archaeologist Amihai Mazar said that the inscription was "proto-Canaanite" but cautioned that "[t]he differentiation between the scripts, and between
6265-457: Is now used by Pace University. The New Yorker Staats-Zeitung moved to its own building at 17 Chatham Street at almost the same time as the Times moved into its new building. The Park Row Building (also known as 15 Park Row) is located at the western end of Park Row, opposite City Hall Park . Designed by noted architect R. H. Robertson , and built in 1896-99, It was designated a city landmark in 1999. At 391 feet (119 m) tall it
6444-607: Is one of several languages for which the constitution of South Africa calls to be respected in their use for religious purposes. Also, Hebrew is an official national minority language in Poland , since 6 January 2005. Hamas has made Hebrew a compulsory language taught in schools in the Gaza Strip. Park Row (Manhattan) Park Row is a street located in the Financial District , Civic Center , and Chinatown neighborhoods of
6623-455: Is open only to MTA buses and government and emergency vehicles and has been closed to civilian traffic since the September 11, 2001, attacks . The NYPD asserts that this is necessary to protect its headquarters from a truck bomb attack. Nearby Chinatown residents were increasingly frustrated at the disruption caused by the closure of the thoroughfare, arguing that the police department has placed
6802-728: Is the official language of the State of Israel, while pre-revival forms of Hebrew are used for prayer or study in Jewish and Samaritan communities around the world today; the latter group utilizes the Samaritan dialect as their liturgical tongue. As a non- first language , it is studied mostly by non-Israeli Jews and students in Israel, by archaeologists and linguists specializing in the Middle East and its civilizations , and by theologians in Christian seminaries . The modern English word "Hebrew"
6981-826: Is the famous Moabite Stone , written in the Moabite dialect; the Siloam inscription , found near Jerusalem , is an early example of Hebrew. Less ancient samples of Archaic Hebrew include the ostraca found near Lachish , which describe events preceding the final capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian captivity of 586 BCE. In its widest sense, Biblical Hebrew refers to the spoken language of ancient Israel flourishing between c. 1000 BCE and c. 400 CE . It comprises several evolving and overlapping dialects. The phases of Classical Hebrew are often named after important literary works associated with them. Sometimes
7160-405: Is the primary official language of the State of Israel. As of 2013 , there are about 9 million Hebrew speakers worldwide, of whom 7 million speak it fluently. Currently, 90% of Israeli Jews are proficient in Hebrew, and 70% are highly proficient. Some 60% of Israeli Arabs are also proficient in Hebrew, and 30% report having a higher proficiency in Hebrew than in Arabic. In total, about 53% of
7339-536: Is used to pronounce the Hebrew Bible; however, properly it should be distinguished from the historical Biblical Hebrew of the 6th century BCE, whose original pronunciation must be reconstructed. Tiberian Hebrew incorporates the scholarship of the Masoretes (from masoret meaning "tradition"), who added vowel points and grammar points to the Hebrew letters to preserve much earlier features of Hebrew, for use in chanting
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7518-630: The Chayei Adam in Hebrew, as opposed to Yiddish , as a guide to Halacha for the " average 17-year-old" (Ibid. Introduction 1). Similarly, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan 's purpose in writing the Mishnah Berurah was to "produce a work that could be studied daily so that Jews might know the proper procedures to follow minute by minute". The work was nevertheless written in Talmudic Hebrew and Aramaic, since, "the ordinary Jew [of Eastern Europe] of
7697-574: The Malbim (Meïr Leibush ben Jehiel Michel Weiser) for the role. The appointment was announced in Philadelphia's Jewish Record , but the Malbim never filled the position. Beth Hamedrash Hagodol re-hired Ash to fill the vacant role of congregational rabbi at a salary of $ 25 per month (or $ 300—today $ 10,000—per year). The following year the congregation hired a new cantor, Simhe Samuelson, for $ 1,000 (today $ 33,000)
7876-525: The New York Herald and The Sun , were near Newspaper Row but not actually housed on Park Row itself. The newspapers on Chatham Street were among the first to construct early skyscrapers for their headquarters, reflecting their newfound wealth. The first of these major newspaper buildings, the New York Tribune Building , opened in 1875 as a nine-story, 260-foot (79 m) structure;
8055-1023: The Bar Mitzvah of his future son-in-law, Herbert S. Goldstein . Goldstein, who was ordained by Jaffe at the JTSA, founded the Institutional Synagogue in Harlem . He is the only person to have been president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America , the Rabbinical Council of America (first presidium), and the Synagogue Council of America . It was in response to an April 1929 telegram from Goldstein, asking if Albert Einstein believed in God, that Einstein stated, "I believe in Spinoza 's God, who reveals himself in
8234-633: The Canaanite languages , it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until after 200 CE and as the liturgical language of Judaism (since the Second Temple period ) and Samaritanism . The language was revived as a spoken language in the 19th century, and is the only successful large-scale example of linguistic revival . It is the only Canaanite language, as well as one of only two Northwest Semitic languages, with
8413-610: The Eldridge Street Synagogue . Rabbi Jacob Joseph , the first and only Chief Rabbi of New York City, led the congregation from 1888 to 1902. Rabbi Ephraim Oshry , one of the few European Jewish legal decisors to survive the Holocaust , led the congregation from 1952 to 2003. The congregation's building, a Gothic Revival structure built in 1850 as the Norfolk Street Baptist Church and purchased in 1885,
8592-503: The Euphrates , Jordan or Litani ; or maybe the northern Arabian Desert between Babylonia and Canaan ). Compare the word Habiru or cognate Assyrian ebru , of identical meaning. One of the earliest references to the language's name as " Ivrit " is found in the prologue to the Book of Sirach , from the 2nd century BCE. The Hebrew Bible does not use the term "Hebrew" in reference to
8771-557: The Gospel of Matthew . (See the Hebrew Gospel hypothesis or Language of Jesus for more details on Hebrew and Aramaic in the gospels.) The term "Mishnaic Hebrew" generally refers to the Hebrew dialects found in the Talmud , excepting quotations from the Hebrew Bible. The dialects organize into Mishnaic Hebrew (also called Tannaitic Hebrew, Early Rabbinic Hebrew, or Mishnaic Hebrew I), which
8950-546: The Jewish dietary laws , and every member personally oversaw the baking of his matzos for use on Passover . The congregation initially moved to the top floor of a building at the corner of Grand and Forsyth Streets, and in 1865 moved again, to a former courthouse on Clinton Street. In 1872, the congregation built a synagogue at Ludlow and Hester Streets. There the congregation's younger members gained greater control and introduced some minor innovations; for example, changing
9129-655: The Maccabean Revolt (167–160 BCE) and the emergence of the Hasmonean kingdom , the Great Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE), and the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE). The nationalist significance of Hebrew manifested in various ways throughout this period. Michael Owen Wise notes that "Beginning with the time of the Hasmonean revolt [...] Hebrew came to the fore in an expression akin to modern nationalism. A form of classical Hebrew
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#17330855191899308-435: The New York City borough of Manhattan . The street runs east–west, sometimes called north–south because the western end bends to the south. At the north end of Park Row is the confluence of Bowery , East Broadway , St. James Place, Oliver Street, Mott Street , and Worth Street at Chatham Square . At the street's south end, Broadway , Vesey Street , Barclay Street, and Ann Street intersect. The intersection includes
9487-477: The Second Aliyah , it replaced a score of languages spoken by Jews at that time. Those languages were Jewish dialects of local languages, including Judaeo-Spanish (also called "Judezmo" and "Ladino"), Yiddish , Judeo-Arabic and Bukhori (Tajiki), or local languages spoken in the Jewish diaspora such as Russian , Persian and Arabic . The major result of the literary work of the Hebrew intellectuals along
9666-407: The World shuttered in 1931. The Journal of Commerce , the last remaining newspaper to publish from Park Row, moved from its headquarters in the World Building in 1953. Until 1971, Park Row continued in a relatively straight path, except for a curved portion around the Brooklyn Bridge's ramps. Between 1971 and 1973, a pedestrian plaza was built as part of 1 Police Plaza , after which Park Row
9845-399: The literary and liturgical language into everyday spoken language . However, his brand of Hebrew followed norms that had been replaced in Eastern Europe by different grammar and style, in the writings of people like Ahad Ha'am and others. His organizational efforts and involvement with the establishment of schools and the writing of textbooks pushed the vernacularization activity into
10024-408: The medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy , rabbinic literature , intra-Jewish commerce, and Jewish poetic literature . The first dated book printed in Hebrew was published by Abraham Garton in Reggio ( Calabria , Italy) in 1475. With the rise of Zionism in the 19th century, the Hebrew language experienced a full-scale revival as a spoken and literary language. The creation of
10203-443: The "then-staggering sum of five thousand dollars per annum" (today $ 170,000). Beth Hamedrash Hagodol responded by recruiting from Europe the famous and highly paid cantor Israel Michaelowsky (or Michalovsky). By 1888 Beth Hamedrash Hagodol's members included "several bankers, lawyers, importers and wholesale merchants, besides a fair sprinkling of the American element." Though the building had undergone previous alterations—for example,
10382-454: The 1980s in the USSR , Hebrew studies reappeared due to people struggling for permission to go to Israel ( refuseniks ). Several of the teachers were imprisoned, e.g. Yosef Begun , Ephraim Kholmyansky , Yevgeny Korostyshevsky and others responsible for a Hebrew learning network connecting many cities of the USSR. Standard Hebrew, as developed by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, was based on Mishnaic spelling and Sephardi Hebrew pronunciation. However,
10561-535: The 19th century was a lexical modernization of Hebrew. New words and expressions were adapted as neologisms from the large corpus of Hebrew writings since the Hebrew Bible, or borrowed from Arabic (mainly by Ben-Yehuda) and older Aramaic and Latin. Many new words were either borrowed from or coined after European languages, especially English, Russian, German, and French. Modern Hebrew became an official language in British-ruled Palestine in 1921 (along with English and Arabic), and then in 1948 became an official language of
10740-584: The 2,000-seat Park Theater on Chatham Street, intended to attract the upper classes of the city. The theater cost $ 130,000 to build, and tickets were 25 cents for seats in the gallery, and 50 cents in the orchestra. In the early 1800s, more taverns, theaters and small hotels on the street started to offer free entertain to attract customers to drink. These were called "free and easies", "varieties" or "vaudeville" and offered numerous different kinds of performances: comedy, dance, dramatic skits, magic, music, ventriloquism, and tellers of tall tales. New theaters such as
10919-579: The Aramaized Rabbinic Hebrew of the Talmud. Hebrew persevered through the ages as the main language for written purposes by all Jewish communities around the world for a large range of uses—not only liturgy, but also poetry, philosophy, science and medicine, commerce, daily correspondence and contracts. There have been many deviations from this generalization such as Bar Kokhba 's letters to his lieutenants, which were mostly in Aramaic, and Maimonides' writings, which were mostly in Arabic; but overall, Hebrew did not cease to be used for such purposes. For example,
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#173308551918911098-503: The British Mandate who at the turn of the 20th century were arriving in large numbers from diverse countries and speaking different languages. A Committee of the Hebrew Language was established. After the establishment of Israel, it became the Academy of the Hebrew Language . The results of Ben-Yehuda's lexicographical work were published in a dictionary ( The Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew , Ben-Yehuda Dictionary ). The seeds of Ben-Yehuda's work fell on fertile ground, and by
11277-417: The Chatham Theater sprang up as well to attract the overflow from the entertainment strip on the Bowery. Boxing was also a popular entertainment. The Arena on Park Row packed in fans with its nightly presentation of "the manly art". In the early 19th century, most of the Manhattan portion of the street was suppressed, the Commons became City Hall Park , and the stub of a street was renamed Park Row. By
11456-494: The Church Extension and Missionary Society had "removed deteriorated parapets from the towers" in 1880—it did not undergo significant renovations until the early 1890s. That year the rose window on the front of the building was removed, "possibly because it had Christian motifs", and replaced with a large arched window, still in keeping with the Gothic style. The work was undertaken by the architectural firm of (Ernest) Schneider & (Henry) Herter, German immigrants who had worked on
11635-400: The Conservancy had also been promised a total of $ 980,000 from New York State, the City Council, Mayor Bloomberg , and the Manhattan Borough President 's office, but had yet to receive most of the city funds. The group was also trying to raise $ 400,000 from private donors for the first phase of the renovation, which would secure the structure and roof. Led by Greenbaum, Beth Hamedrash Hagodol
11814-416: The Great conquered Babylon, he allowed the Jewish people to return from captivity. In time, a local version of Aramaic came to be spoken in Israel alongside Hebrew. By the beginning of the Common Era , Aramaic was the primary colloquial language of Samarian , Babylonian and Galileean Jews, and western and intellectual Jews spoke Greek , but a form of so-called Rabbinic Hebrew continued to be used as
11993-437: The Hebrew Bible. The Masoretes inherited a biblical text whose letters were considered too sacred to be altered, so their markings were in the form of pointing in and around the letters. The Syriac alphabet , precursor to the Arabic alphabet , also developed vowel pointing systems around this time. The Aleppo Codex , a Hebrew Bible with the Masoretic pointing, was written in the 10th century, likely in Tiberias, and survives into
12172-454: The Israeli population speaks Hebrew as a native language, while most of the rest speak it fluently. In 2013 Hebrew was the native language of 49% of Israelis over the age of 20, with Russian , Arabic , French , English , Yiddish and Ladino being the native tongues of most of the rest. Some 26% of immigrants from the former Soviet Union and 12% of Arabs reported speaking Hebrew poorly or not at all. Steps have been taken to keep Hebrew
12351-412: The Jews who founded Beth Hamedrash viewed both religion and the synagogue as central to their lives. They attempted to re-create in Beth Hamedrash the kind of synagogue they had belonged to in Europe. In 1859, disagreement broke out between Ash and the synagogue's parnas (president) Joshua Rothstein over who had been responsible for procuring the Allen Street location, and escalated into a conflict "over
12530-453: The LPC's engineers announced that the remnants of the south tower would have to be destroyed due to its structural instability. A worker died in October 2019 after part of the burned building collapsed. An investigation found that an engineer and a demolition firm, both hired by Beth Hamedrash Hagodol, had recommended the demolition of the whole building but that the DOB had refused to overrule the orders of LPC commissioners. A housing lottery for
12709-421: The Methodist Episcopal Church. Founded in 1866, the Church Extension and Missionary Society's mission was "... to promote Churches, Missions, and Sunday-schools in the City of New York." It built or supported Methodist churches primarily in poor areas, or areas that were being developed, including one in the building that would later house the First Roumanian-American congregation . Soon after its purchase of
12888-471: The Middle East was the closely related Aramaic language, then Greek , scholarly opinions on the exact dating of that shift have changed very much. In the first half of the 20th century, most scholars followed Abraham Geiger and Gustaf Dalman in thinking that Aramaic became a spoken language in the land of Israel as early as the beginning of Israel's Hellenistic period in the 4th century BCE, and that as
13067-576: The NYPD stated that it would not be moving despite the numerous complaints from residents, explaining that they had tried to alleviate the impact of the security measures by forbidding officers from parking in nearby public spaces and by reopening a stairway that skirts the headquarters' south side and leads down to street level near the Brooklyn Bridge . The department also planned to redesign its guard booths and security barriers to make them more attractive, and
13246-557: The Norfolk Street building, the Church Extension and Missionary Society discovered that the neighborhood had become mostly Jewish and German. By 1884, it realized "the church was too big and costly to maintain", and put it up for sale. In 1885 Beth Hamedrash Hagodol purchased the building for $ 45,000 (today $ 1.5 million), and made alterations and repairs at a cost of $ 10,000 (today $ 340,000), but made no external modifications by
13425-511: The Sabbath , and his Yiddish sermons had no impact on the younger generation. In addition, he had to contend with a number of obstacles: he had no administrative experience or training, local Orthodox rabbis (particularly Joshua Seigel) and Jews outside his congregation did not accept his authority, and non-Orthodox Jews and groups criticized him. These problems were exacerbated by a stroke suffered in 1895, which partially incapacitated him, followed by
13604-504: The Seminary would be a much more effective means of fighting the growing strength of American Reform Judaism : these native English-speaking rabbis would appeal to the younger generation far more than imported, Yiddish-speaking ones. The Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations rejected Morais's position, and offered the role to a number of "leading East European Orthodox rabbis", all of whom turned it down. They eventually narrowed
13783-654: The Talmud, the Gemara , generally comments on the Mishnah and Baraitot in two forms of Aramaic. Nevertheless, Hebrew survived as a liturgical and literary language in the form of later Amoraic Hebrew, which occasionally appears in the text of the Gemara, particularly in the Jerusalem Talmud and the classical aggadah midrashes . Hebrew was always regarded as the language of Israel's religion, history and national pride, and after it faded as
13962-509: The Talmud, various regional literary dialects of Medieval Hebrew evolved. The most important is Tiberian Hebrew or Masoretic Hebrew, a local dialect of Tiberias in Galilee that became the standard for vocalizing the Hebrew Bible and thus still influences all other regional dialects of Hebrew. This Tiberian Hebrew from the 7th to 10th century CE is sometimes called "Biblical Hebrew" because it
14141-693: The United Hebrew Orthodox Congregations (now called The Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations) began a search for a successor, to serve as rabbi of Beth Hamedrash Hagodol and as Chief Rabbi of New York City. This search was opposed by Rabbi Henry Pereira Mendes , of Congregation Shearith Israel . Mendes felt that the money and energy would be better spent on supporting the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTSA), which he had co-founded with Sabato Morais in 1886. In his view, training American-born rabbis at
14320-480: The ability to speak the language and attempted to promote its use. According to the Jerusalem Talmud , Megillah 1:9: "Rebbi Jonathan from Bet Guvrrin said, four languages are appropriate that the world should use them, and they are these: The Foreign Language (Greek) for song, Latin for war, Syriac for elegies, Hebrew for speech. Some are saying, also Assyrian (Hebrew script) for writing." The later section of
14499-470: The above phases of spoken Classical Hebrew are simplified into "Biblical Hebrew" (including several dialects from the 10th century BCE to 2nd century BCE and extant in certain Dead Sea Scrolls) and "Mishnaic Hebrew" (including several dialects from the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE and extant in certain other Dead Sea Scrolls). However, today most Hebrew linguists classify Dead Sea Scroll Hebrew as
14678-420: The anticipated taxes on kosher meats and vendors, and on matzos . After his death, Beth Hamedrash Hagodol secured the right to bury him in its cemetery by promising his widow $ 1,500 (today $ 53,000) and a monthly $ 15 stipend; in turn, individuals offered the congregation large sums—$ 5,000 (today $ 176,000) in one case—for the right to be buried near him. His funeral was attended by up to 100,000 mourners, "clouded by
14857-468: The application the building's condition was described as "excellent". The case was reviewed on June 19, 1974, and the site was deemed ineligible. The building was repainted and repaired in 1977, but in subsequent years deteriorated and suffered damage. In the summer of 1997, a storm blew out the main two-story window at the front of the building, and the window's wooden frame was rotten, cracked and could not be saved. The window remained unrepaired, which left
15036-400: The area just before the fire broke out. The fire brought down the ceiling and walls of the synagogue, creating a 15-foot (4.6 m) pile of rubble. On May 17, three days after the fire, a 14-year-old boy was arrested and charged with setting the fire; the boy's two companions were questioned and released, although they are considered to be witnesses. The Fire Department's investigation into how
15215-483: The area were The New York Times , which in 1857 became the first New York City newspaper to be housed in a structure built specially for its use. Part of the southern section of the street, centered on the intersection with Spruce Street, was known as Printing House Square . The newspapers housed on Newspaper Row, combined, printed more than 250,000 copies per day at their peak, leading the area to be considered "America's preeminent press center". Other papers, such as
15394-552: The average Jew, and that the language had evolved since Biblical times as spoken languages do. Recent scholarship recognizes that reports of Jews speaking in Aramaic indicate a multilingual society, not necessarily the primary language spoken. Alongside Aramaic, Hebrew co-existed within Israel as a spoken language. Most scholars now date the demise of Hebrew as a spoken language to the end of the Roman period , or about 200 CE. It continued on as
15573-535: The beginning of the 20th century, Hebrew was well on its way to becoming the main language of the Jewish population of both Ottoman and British Palestine. At the time, members of the Old Yishuv and a very few Hasidic sects, most notably those under the auspices of Satmar , refused to speak Hebrew and spoke only Yiddish. In the Soviet Union, the use of Hebrew, along with other Jewish cultural and religious activities,
15752-513: The building to make way for a new residential development. In place of the synagogue, Greenbaum envisioned a 45,000 square feet (4,200 m) condo building with room for a small synagogue on the ground floor, and possibly a kollel . This application was withdrawn—at least temporarily—in March 2013, but the group Friends of the Lower East Side described Beth Hamedrash Hagodol's status as " demolition by neglect ". On May 14, 2017, shortly after 7 p.m.,
15931-530: The building to make way for a new residential development. This application was withdrawn in March 2013, but the group Friends of the Lower East Side described Beth Hamedrash Hagodol's status as "demolition by neglect". The abandoned synagogue was "largely destroyed" by a "suspicious" three-alarm fire on May 14, 2017. Beth Hamedrash Hagodol was founded by Eastern European Jews in 1852 as Beth Hamedrash (literally "House of Study", but used colloquially in Yiddish as
16110-703: The ceiling. In 2011, the Buildings Department issued a vacate order. Reportedly, the Lower East Side Conservancy was trying to raise an estimate $ 4.5 million for repairs, with the intent of turning the building into an educational center. It was granted $ 215,000 by the United States Department of Education and was promised an equal amount by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation . Several years earlier
16289-551: The church to one for Methodists , and in 1862, transferred ownership to the Alanson Methodist Episcopal Church . The Methodist congregation was successful for a time, with membership peaking at 572 members in 1873. It declined after that, and the church ran into financial difficulties. In 1878 the congregation transferred ownership to the New York City Church Extension and Missionary Society of
16468-618: The church's neighborhood was rapidly changing; native-born Baptists were displaced by Irish and German immigrants. As members moved uptown, the congregation decided to follow and sold their building in 1860 to Alanson T. Biggs, a successful local merchant. The departing Baptist congregation founded the Fifth Avenue Baptist church, then founded the Park Avenue Church, and finally built the Riverside Church . Biggs converted
16647-562: The city in whose proximity it was found) is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that, through the Greeks and Etruscans , later became the Latin alphabet of ancient Rome . The Gezer calendar is written without any vowels , and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places in which later Hebrew spelling requires them. Numerous older tablets have been found in
16826-596: The composition of 1 Maccabees in archaizing Hebrew, Hasmonean coinage under John Hyrcanus (134-104 BCE), and coins from both the Great Revolt and Bar Kokhba Revolt featuring exclusively Hebrew and Palaeo-Hebrew script inscriptions. This deliberate use of Hebrew and Paleo-Hebrew script in official contexts, despite limited literacy, served as a symbol of Jewish nationalism and political independence. The Christian New Testament contains some Semitic place names and quotes. The language of such Semitic glosses (and in general
17005-488: The congregation still trained men for rabbinic ordination . Additionally, Talmud and Mishna study groups, founded in the 1870s, were held both mornings and evenings. Ash had only served as Beth Hamedrash Hagodol's rabbi intermittently during this time; during the American Civil War he had briefly been a successful manufacturer of hoopskirts , before losing his money, and returning to the rabbinate. Congregants had
17184-419: The congregation's financial footing was still not sound; though the Norfolk Street building had been purchased in 1885 for $ 45,000 (and $ 10,000 in alterations and repairs), in 1921 it still owed $ 40,000 (today $ 680,000) on the mortgage. Additional costs were incurred by work done on the building; two years earlier, architect George Dress had rearranged the toilet facilities, in 1934 architect Philip Bardes designed
17363-410: The congregation's rabbi he published his 1938 philosophical work Revaluation. Miscellaneous essays, lectures and discourses on Jewish religious philosophy, ethics and history and his 1941 military history From Dan To Megiddo . In May 1939, he and two other rabbis (and a fourth rabbi as secretary) formed the first permanent beth din (court of Jewish law) in the U.S. In the early-to-mid-20th century
17542-563: The dialects of Classical Hebrew that functioned as a living language in the land of Israel. A transitional form of the language occurs in the other works of Tannaitic literature dating from the century beginning with the completion of the Mishnah. These include the halachic Midrashim ( Sifra , Sifre , Mekhilta etc.) and the expanded collection of Mishnah-related material known as the Tosefta . The Talmud contains excerpts from these works, as well as further Tannaitic material not attested elsewhere;
17721-513: The earliest speakers of Modern Hebrew had Yiddish as their native language and often introduced calques from Yiddish and phono-semantic matchings of international words. Despite using Sephardic Hebrew pronunciation as its primary basis, modern Israeli Hebrew has adapted to Ashkenazi Hebrew phonology in some respects, mainly the following: The vocabulary of Israeli Hebrew is much larger than that of earlier periods. According to Ghil'ad Zuckermann : The number of attested Biblical Hebrew words
17900-570: The early 6th century BCE, the Neo-Babylonian Empire conquered the ancient Kingdom of Judah , destroying much of Jerusalem and exiling its population far to the east in Babylon . During the Babylonian captivity , many Israelites learned Aramaic, the closely related Semitic language of their captors. Thus, for a significant period, the Jewish elite became influenced by Aramaic. After Cyrus
18079-661: The extinct Jewish race". He used the books to help him write responsa , answering questions asked of him regarding how Jews could live their lives in accordance with Jewish law under the extreme conditions imposed by the Nazis. He also ran "secret nightly worship services", and helped Jews bake matzah for Passover, under threat of death if discovered. After the war he founded a yeshiva for Jewish orphans in Italy, and then another religious school in Montreal , before moving to New York to take up
18258-560: The field to two candidates, Zvi Rabinovitch and Jacob Joseph . Although Rabinovitch received "massive support" from "leading east European rabbis", the congregation hired Jacob Joseph as the first—and what would turn out to be only—Chief Rabbi of New York City. Born in Kroz, Lithuania , Joseph had studied in the Volozhin yeshiva under Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin ; he was known there as Rav Yaakov Charif ("Rabbi Jacob Sharp") because of his sharp mind. He
18437-436: The finding of what he claims to be the oldest known Hebrew inscription, a curse tablet found at Mount Ebal , dated from around 3200 years ago. The presence of the Hebrew name of god , Yahweh, as three letters, Yod-Heh-Vav (YHV), according to the author and his team meant that the tablet is Hebrew and not Canaanite. However, practically all professional archeologists and epigraphers apart from Stripling's team claim that there
18616-417: The fire was started was being held up by the need to install supports in order to safely enter the building. By mid-June, the city's Legal Department was still investigating, and prosecutors had not charged the boy who had been arrested. In the aftermath of the fire, the synagogue took steps for the possible demolition of the building. The city's New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) had determined that
18795-562: The first Lower East Side rabbi to recognize the value of landmark designation, was successful in having it designated a New York City landmark , thus saving it. At that time the congregation claimed 1,400 members. In 1974, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission applied to have the building added to the National Register of Historic Places , and considered significant at the state level; on
18974-703: The first Middle East printing press, in Safed (modern Israel), produced a small number of books in Hebrew in 1577, which were then sold to the nearby Jewish world. This meant not only that well-educated Jews in all parts of the world could correspond in a mutually intelligible language, and that books and legal documents published or written in any part of the world could be read by Jews in all other parts, but that an educated Jew could travel and converse with Jews in distant places, just as priests and other educated Christians could converse in Latin. For example, Rabbi Avraham Danzig wrote
19153-529: The first decade of the 20th century. Two other buildings on Park Row were also part of Newspaper Row but not built specifically for newspapers' use. The Potter Building , at 38 Park Row, contained tenants such as The Press , a Republican Party –affiliated penny paper , as well as The New York Observer . The Park Row Building , at 15 Park Row, housed the early headquarters of the Associated Press , founded by Moses Yale Beach . The Revolution ,
19332-406: The generic term for these passages is Baraitot . The dialect of all these works is very similar to Mishnaic Hebrew. About a century after the publication of the Mishnah, Mishnaic Hebrew fell into disuse as a spoken language. By the third century CE, sages could no longer identify the Hebrew names of many plants mentioned in the Mishnah. Only a few sages, primarily in the southern regions, retained
19511-712: The guilt-driven attempt of New York's Orthodox Jews to honor him for the last time, as partial compensation for the way they treated him during his life." Joseph was succeeded by Rabbi Shalom Elchanan Jaffe, a founder of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis and a strong supporter of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary . Jaffe, who was born near Vilna , had, like Joseph, studied at the Volozhin yeshiva, and had received his rabbinic ordination from Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin and Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor . The author of several books of religious commentary, Jaffe
19690-492: The headquarters of the New-York Tribune was then the city's second-tallest building after Trinity Church . After the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, Park Row was the site of the large Park Row Terminal for the elevated trains and cable-hauled shuttle cars which crossed the bridge. Service was gradually reduced from 1913 to 1940, and the terminal was demolished in 1944. The next major structure to open
19869-416: The holiday of Passover—stated "In dispensing money and matzos to the poor, all are recognized as the children of one Father, and no lines are drawn between natives of different countries." By the turn of the 20th century, Beth Hamedrash Hagodol was distributing approximately $ 800 (today $ 29,000) a year to the poor for Passover supplies, compared to a total synagogue income of around $ 5,000 (today $ 183,000). This
20048-487: The holy tongue ' or ' the tongue [of] holiness ' ) since ancient times. The language was not referred to by the name Hebrew in the Bible , but as Yehudit ( transl. ' Judean ' ) or Səpaṯ Kəna'an ( transl. "the language of Canaan " ). Mishnah Gittin 9:8 refers to the language as Ivrit , meaning Hebrew; however, Mishnah Megillah refers to the language as Ashurit , meaning Assyrian , which
20227-574: The language of the Hebrew people; its later historiography, in the Book of Kings , refers to it as יְהוּדִית Yehudit " Judahite (language)". Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages . Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages. Hebrew was the spoken language in the Iron Age kingdoms of Israel and Judah during the period from about 1200 to 586 BCE. Epigraphic evidence from this period confirms
20406-458: The language spoken by Jews in scenes from the New Testament) is often referred to as "Hebrew" in the text, although this term is often re-interpreted as referring to Aramaic instead and is rendered accordingly in recent translations. Nonetheless, these glosses can be interpreted as Hebrew as well. It has been argued that Hebrew, rather than Aramaic or Koine Greek, lay behind the composition of
20585-464: The language. The revival of the Hebrew language as a mother tongue was initiated in the late 19th century by the efforts of Ben-Yehuda. He joined the Jewish national movement and in 1881 immigrated to Palestine , then a part of the Ottoman Empire . Motivated by the surrounding ideals of renovation and rejection of the diaspora " shtetl " lifestyle, Ben-Yehuda set out to develop tools for making
20764-494: The languages themselves in that period, remains unclear", and suggested that calling the text Hebrew might be going too far. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic period , the traditional time of the reign of David and Solomon . Classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew , the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar (named after
20943-410: The lawful harmony of the world, not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and actions of human beings." Beth Hamedrash Hagodol had 175 member families by 1908, and the synagogue's annual revenues were $ 10,000 (today $ 330,000). In 1909, the synagogue was the site of a mass meeting to protest the 20th Central Conference of American Rabbis , described as "the malicious misrepresentation of Judaism by
21122-431: The lighting included "converted gas fixtures ". Features retained from the original construction included Gothic Revival style woodwork and cast-iron railing that follows the lot line, and the original wooden pews . That same year Oshry died. His successor—designated by Oshry himself—was his son-in-law, Rabbi Mendl Greenbaum. By 2006, $ 1 million of an estimated required $ 3.5 million had been raised for repairs to
21301-409: The membership consisted mostly of Polish Jews , it also included " Lithuanians , two Germans , and an Englishman ." For the first six years of the congregation's existence, Ash was not paid for his work as rabbi and instead earned a living as a peddler . The congregation moved frequently in its early years: in 1852 it was located at 83 Bayard Street, then at Elm and Canal , and from 1853 to 1856 in
21480-535: The mid-19th century, the street had a bazaar-like atmosphere from the many used clothing shops and pawnbrokerages open by recently immigrated Jews from Germany and central Europe. This gave rise to anti-Semitic caricatures, although many New Yorkers could not distinguish German Jews from other Germans . Chatham Street was also the site of several anti-African American incidents, as in the 1863 New York City draft riots , during which rioters were repulsed in their attempt to attack black waiters at Crook's Restaurant on
21659-439: The most important center for Orthodox Jewish guidance in the country." Synagogue dues were collected by the shamash (the equivalent of a sexton or beadle ), who augmented his salary by working as a glazier and running a small food concession stand in the vestibule . There mourners who came to recite kaddish could purchase a piece of sponge cake and small glass of brandy for ten cents (today $ 3.40). Beth Hamedrash
21838-720: The newly declared State of Israel . Hebrew is the most widely spoken language in Israel today. In the Modern Period, from the 19th century onward, the literary Hebrew tradition revived as the spoken language of modern Israel, called variously Israeli Hebrew , Modern Israeli Hebrew , Modern Hebrew , New Hebrew , Israeli Standard Hebrew , Standard Hebrew and so on. Israeli Hebrew exhibits some features of Sephardic Hebrew from its local Jerusalemite tradition but adapts it with numerous neologisms, borrowed terms (often technical) from European languages and adopted terms (often colloquial) from Arabic. The literary and narrative use of Hebrew
22017-455: The oldest Russian Jewish Orthodox congregation in the United States. Founded in 1852 by Rabbi Abraham Joseph Ash as Beth Hamedrash , the congregation split in 1859, with the rabbi and most of the members renaming their congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagodol . The congregation's president and a small number of the members eventually formed the nucleus of Kahal Adath Jeshurun , also known as
22196-528: The other being Aramaic , still spoken today. The earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date back to the 10th century BCE. Nearly all of the Hebrew Bible is written in Biblical Hebrew , with much of its present form in the dialect that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BCE, during the time of the Babylonian captivity . For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Lashon Hakodesh ( לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶש , lit. '
22375-409: The other elevations are faced in brick. Window tracery was all in wood. Much of the original work remains on the side elevations. Characteristically Gothic exterior features include "vertical proportions, pointed arched window openings with drip moldings , three bay facade with towers". Gothic interior features include "ribbed vaulting " and a "tall and lofty rectangular nave and apse ." Originally
22554-462: The position of rabbi at Beth Hamedrash Hagodol. There, his Sunday afternoon lectures were so popular that the entire 1,200-seat sanctuary was filled, and the overflow had to sit on the stairs. While rabbi of Beth Hamedrash Hagodol, he founded another yeshiva in Monsey, New York , for gifted high school aged boys. The congregation's building was again threatened with demolition in 1967, but Oshry, possibly
22733-630: The present day. It is perhaps the most important Hebrew manuscript in existence. During the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain , important work was done by grammarians in explaining the grammar and vocabulary of Biblical Hebrew; much of this was based on the work of the grammarians of Classical Arabic . Important Hebrew grammarians were Judah ben David Hayyuj , Jonah ibn Janah , Abraham ibn Ezra and later (in Provence ), David Kimhi . A great deal of poetry
22912-400: The price of meat and chicken. The affected vendors and consumers, however, refused to pay this levy. They likened it to the korobka , a tax on meat in Russia they despised, and "organized a mass meeting in January 1889 against 'the imported rabbi'". Joseph never succeeded in organizing the kosher meat business. Joseph was also unable to stop those who came to hear him speak from desecrating
23091-620: The primary language of use, and to prevent large-scale incorporation of English words into the Hebrew vocabulary. The Academy of the Hebrew Language of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem currently invents about 2,000 new Hebrew words each year for modern words by finding an original Hebrew word that captures the meaning, as an alternative to incorporating more English words into Hebrew vocabulary. The Haifa municipality has banned officials from using English words in official documents, and
23270-409: The question of official authority and 'honor'". Members took sides in the dispute, which led to synagogue disturbances, a contested election, and eventually to Ash's taking Rothstein to a United States court to try to oust him as president of the congregation. After the court rejected Ash's arguments, a large majority of members left with Ash to form Beth Hamedrash Hagodol ("Great House of Study"), adding
23449-463: The re-opening. Alterations to the interior were generally made to adapt it to synagogue use. These included the additions of an Ark to hold the Torah scrolls (replacing the original pulpit ), an " eternal light " in front of the ark, and a bimah (a central elevated platform where the Torah scrolls are read). At some time a women's gallery was added round three sides of the nave. Interior redecorations included sanctuary ceilings that were "painted
23628-451: The region was Old Aramaic . Hebrew was extinct as a colloquial language by late antiquity , but it continued to be used as a literary language, especially in Spain, as the language of commerce between Jews of different native languages, and as the liturgical language of Judaism, evolving various dialects of literary Medieval Hebrew , until its revival as a spoken language in the late 19th century. In May 2023, Scott Stripling published
23807-431: The region with similar scripts written in other Semitic languages, for example, Proto-Sinaitic . It is believed that the original shapes of the script go back to Egyptian hieroglyphs , though the phonetic values are instead inspired by the acrophonic principle. The common ancestor of Hebrew and Phoenician is called Canaanite , and was the first to use a Semitic alphabet distinct from that of Egyptian. One ancient document
23986-526: The remains of the building was unstable, but would not approve an emergency demolition, so a board member filed an application with the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) for a general demolition permit, which did not specify how much of the structure was planned to be razed; that would depend on a determination of "structural findings". The synagogue also provided materials to Manhattan Community Board 3 , with
24165-542: The repair of the building, it would have to be demolished. Ephraim Oshry , noted Torah scholar and religious leader in the Kovno Ghetto , and one of the few European Jewish legal decisors to survive The Holocaust , became the synagogue's rabbi in 1952, a post he retained for over 50 years. During the Holocaust the Nazis had made him the custodian of a warehouse that stored Jewish books intended for an exhibit of "artifacts of
24344-502: The residential development at 60 Norfolk Street, which replaced the synagogue building, was launched in 2022. Notes Hebrew language Hebrew ( Hebrew alphabet : עִבְרִית , ʿĪvrīt , pronounced [ ʔivˈʁit ] or [ ʕivˈrit ] ; Samaritan script : ࠏࠨࠁࠬࠓࠪࠉࠕ ʿÎbrit ) is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family . A regional dialect of
24523-657: The rest of the Middle East; and eventually Greek functioned as another international language with the eastern areas of the Roman Empire. William Schniedewind argues that after waning in the Persian period, the religious importance of Hebrew grew in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and cites epigraphical evidence that Hebrew survived as a vernacular language – though both its grammar and its writing system had been substantially influenced by Aramaic. According to another summary, Greek
24702-447: The roof, ceiling, mural paintings and decorative plasterwork. The National Trust for Historic Preservation designated the building an endangered historic site in 2003, the only synagogue on the list. It still retained a number of significant architectural features, including "the ornate ark and pulpit, central bimah (reader's platform) with etched glass lamps, cantilevered balconies, Gothic vaulted ceiling, and colorful wall paintings";
24881-561: The sanctuary open to the elements for a month before the congregation, down to approximately 100 members, asked for assistance. The congregants had, by then, long held services in a smaller room, using the sanctuary only on the High Holidays . The New York Landmarks Conservancy's Endangered Buildings fund gave $ 2,500 for a temporary metal window, and assisted in getting approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission for
25060-503: The so-called reformed rabbis in conference in this city", and in 1913 the synagogue was the site of a "historic mass meeting" to raise funds for the first Young Israel synagogue, at which Jacob Schiff was the guest speaker. Membership had fallen to 110 families by 1919. Dr. Benjamin Fleischer, a noted orator , was elected rabbi of Beth Hamedrash Hagodol in September 1924. While serving as
25239-485: The southern villages of Judea." In other words, "in terms of dialect geography, at the time of the tannaim Palestine could be divided into the Aramaic-speaking regions of Galilee and Samaria and a smaller area, Judaea, in which Rabbinic Hebrew was used among the descendants of returning exiles." In addition, it has been surmised that Koine Greek was the primary vehicle of communication in coastal cities and among
25418-468: The spoken language of the Russian Jews, should be treated as their only national language, while Hebrew was to be treated as a foreign language. Hebrew books and periodicals ceased to be published and were seized from the libraries, although liturgical texts were still published until the 1930s. Despite numerous protests, a policy of suppression of the teaching of Hebrew operated from the 1930s on. Later in
25597-602: The spring of 1898, 50 lay officials from a number of Orthodox New York synagogues—including Congregation Ohab Zedek , the Eldridge Street Synagogue , Congregation Shearith Israel and Beth Hamedrash Hagodol—convened to create the organization. By the 1980s the Orthodox Union had over 1,000 member congregations. Joseph served as the synagogue's rabbi from his arrival in the United States in 1888 until his death in 1902 at age 62. During this time, his family slipped into poverty, as he did not receive his salary, which had been based on
25776-567: The street. Poverty was also commonplace; in 1890, Jacob Riis revealed in How the Other Half Lives that over 9,000 homeless men lodged nightly on Chatham Street and the Bowery, between City Hall and Cooper Union . During the late 19th century, Park Row was nicknamed Newspaper Row , as most of New York City's newspapers located on the street to be close to City Hall . Among the earlier newspapers in
25955-471: The structure. In 2007, Greenbaum made the decision to shut the synagogue down, as its membership had dwindled to around 15. The building was mostly closed to the public as its damaged interior was considered a hazard for visitors. The synagogue, "the home of the oldest Orthodox congregation continuously housed in a single location in New York" sat "padlocked and empty" with holes in the roof and plaster falling from
26134-633: The term for a synagogue ). The founding rabbi , Abraham Joseph Ash, was born in Siemiatycze (then in Congress Poland ) in 1813 or 1821. He immigrated to New York City in 1851 or 1852. The first Eastern European Orthodox rabbi to serve in the United States, Ash "rejected the reformist tendencies of the German Jewish congregations" there. He soon organized a minyan (prayer quorum) of like-minded Polish Jews, and by 1852 began conducting services. Though
26313-517: The time that Tammany was attempting to wrest control of the party away from governor De Witt Clinton . In the 1780s, Chatham Street was the site of the Tea Water Pump, a privately owned company which took water from Fresh Water Pond, the city's only supply of fresh water, and which remained purer longer than some of the other sources which drew from the pond. Chatham Street was also a center for entertainment. In 1798, Marc Isambard Brunel designed
26492-400: The title of parnas to president, and in 1877 hiring a professional cantor—Judah Oberman—for $ 500 (today $ 14,300) per year, to bring greater formality and decorum to the services as well as to attract new members. While somewhat "Americanized", in general the congregation remained quite traditional. Men and women sat separately, the full service in the traditional prayer book was followed, and
26671-580: The upper class of Jerusalem , while Aramaic was prevalent in the lower class of Jerusalem, but not in the surrounding countryside. After the suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt in the 2nd century CE, Judaeans were forced to disperse. Many relocated to Galilee, so most remaining native speakers of Hebrew at that last stage would have been found in the north. Many scholars have pointed out that Hebrew continued to be used alongside Aramaic during Second Temple times, not only for religious purposes but also for nationalistic reasons, especially during revolts such as
26850-483: The very people who drank in his words thirstily in Vilna left the synagogue in the middle of his sermon here." In October 1888, Joseph made his first significant statement as Chief Rabbi. He issued new regulations for New York's Jewish poultry business, in an attempt to bring it into accordance with Jewish law. The funds for supporting the agency supervising adherence to these regulations were to be raised through an increase in
27029-413: The widely accepted view that the earlier layers of biblical literature reflect the language used in these kingdoms. Furthermore, the content of Hebrew inscriptions suggests that the written texts closely mirror the spoken language of that time. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a spoken vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile when the predominant international language in
27208-414: The window over the main door was a circular rose window , and the two front towers had crenellations in tracery, instead of the present plain tops. The square windows below are original, but the former quatrefoil wooden tracery is gone in many cases. The bandcourse of quatrefoil originally extended across the center section of the facade. Even as the building was under construction, the ethnic makeup of
27387-427: The wooden stairs from the main floor to the basement with iron ones. Two Stars of David were added to the center of the facade. One is seen in the old photograph (above left), over a palmette ornament at the top of the window arch. The other, mounted above the top of the gable, remains visible in the modern photograph (top). The unusual cupola-like structure on legs seen above the gable in the old photograph, now gone,
27566-550: The word "Hagodol" ("Great") to the original name. The followers of Rothstein stayed at the Allen Street location and retained the name "Beth Hamedrash" until the mid-1880s. With membership and financial resources both severely reduced, they were forced to merge with Congregation Holche Josher Wizaner; the combined congregation adopted the name " Kahal Adath Jeshurun ", and built the Eldridge Street Synagogue . According to Eisenstein, Beth Hamedrash Hagodol provided an atmosphere that
27745-488: The work required to repair the damage, but the congregation did not have the $ 10,000 required to pay for it. Beth Hamedrash Hagodol received an additional $ 2,000 from the New York Landmarks Conservancy's Sacred Sites program in 1998 for a conditions survey. In 1999 a second application for National Historical designation was made, this time successful; the building was deemed significant at the local level, and
27924-465: Was "socially religious", in which Jews "combine[d] piety with pleasure; they call[ed] their shule a shtibl or prayer-club room; they desire[d] to be on familiar terms with the Almighty and abhor[red] decorum; they want[ed] everyone present to join and chant the prayers; above all they scorn[ed] a regularly ordained cantor ." In contrast to the informality of the services, members scrupulously observed
28103-421: Was a spoken language , and Amoraic Hebrew (also called Late Rabbinic Hebrew or Mishnaic Hebrew II), which was a literary language . The earlier section of the Talmud is the Mishnah that was published around 200 CE, although many of the stories take place much earlier, and were written in the earlier Mishnaic dialect. The dialect is also found in certain Dead Sea Scrolls. Mishnaic Hebrew is considered to be one of
28282-475: Was a new headquarters for The New York Times at 41 Park Row, which was completed in 1889 and stood 13 stories tall. The third early skyscraper on Newspaper Row was the 20-story New York World Building , the New York World 's headquarters, which at a height of 309 feet (94 m) was the first building in the city to be taller than Trinity Church. The Times and Tribune Buildings were both expanded in
28461-576: Was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 30. The congregation raised $ 40,000 in 2000 for emergency repairs, and was awarded a $ 230,000 grant by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation for restoration work, including roof repair, but had not been able to raise the matching funds required to receive the grant. On December 6, 2001, a fire and subsequent fire-fighting efforts severely damaged
28640-437: Was also added by the synagogue, as was the square structure on which it sat. The panel with a large Hebrew inscription over the main doors was added in this period, before the older photograph. The decorations to the upper parts of the central section of the facade survived until at least 1974, as did the tracery to the square windows on the towers; this Gothic ornamentation was removed after it deteriorated. Ash died in 1887, and
28819-460: Was an influential rabbi on the Lower East Side, in part because of his authority over kosher supervision of New York's butcher stores and slaughterhouses , a position that often brought him into conflict with Rabbi Gavriel Zev Margolis , who led competing kashrut efforts. He was also a strong anti-Zionist and "rejoiced when Herzl died". Harry Fischel was the congregation's Vice President until 1902; there he first met and eventually attended
28998-736: Was called Chatham Street, a name that enters into the city's history on numerous occasions. The tobacco industry in New York City got its start in 1760, when Pierre Lorillard opened a snuff factory on Chatham Street, and in 1795, the Long Room of Abraham Martling's Tavern on Chatham Street was one of the first headquarters used by the Tammany Society and the Democratic-Republican Party , founded by Thomas Jefferson , on election days. Those who gathered there became known as "Martling Men", "Tammanyites" or "Bucktails", especially during
29177-410: Was down to around 20 regularly attending members, and was sharing facilities with a congregation on Henry Street . By the end of 2012 at least a million dollars in grants for repairs to the building had gone unused and were rescinded. In December 2012 the leadership of the synagogue under Greenbaum filed a “hardship application” with the Landmarks Preservation Commission seeking permission to demolish
29356-415: Was involved in efforts to convert two lanes of Park Row into a cycling and pedestrian greenway , which opened in June 2018. In the 2020s, the section of Park Row north of Chatham Square remained closed to most traffic, and residents of Chinatown were advocating for it to be reopened. Because of the security barriers, ambulances tended to avoid traveling along the Police Plaza section of Park Row. Park Row
29535-438: Was now a more significant written language than Aramaic within Judaea." This nationalist aspect was further emphasized during periods of conflict, as Hannah Cotton observing in her analysis of legal documents during the Jewish revolts against Rome that "Hebrew became the symbol of Jewish nationalism, of the independent Jewish State." The nationalist use of Hebrew is evidenced in several historical documents and artefacts, including
29714-412: Was on top of its average $ 15 (today $ 500) weekly contributions to the poor, and those of individual congregational members of around $ 2,000 (today $ 73,000) per annum. By 1901, annual revenues were around $ 6,000 (today $ 220,000), and the congregation had 150 members. During Joseph's tenure, Beth Hamedrash Hagodol helped found the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (the " Orthodox Union "). In
29893-441: Was one of the largest synagogues on the Lower East Side. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. In the late 20th century the congregation dwindled and was unable to maintain the building, which had been damaged by storms. Despite their obtaining funding and grants, the structure was critically endangered. The synagogue was closed in 2007. The congregation, reduced to around 20 regularly attending members,
30072-446: Was one of the main disciples of Yisroel Salanter , and in 1883 had been appointed the maggid (preacher) of Vilna . Beth Hamedrash Hagodol, the Eldridge Street Synagogue, and 13 other Lower East Side synagogues had raised $ 2,500 (today $ 85,000) towards the creation of a European style kehilla to oversee New York's Orthodox community, and had imported Joseph in an attempt to achieve that (ultimately unfulfilled) goal. Joseph's salary
30251-406: Was originally located at 113 Nassau Street in 1851. It moved to 138 Nassau Street in 1854, and in 1858 it moved a little more than one block away to 41 Park Row, possibly making it the first newspaper in New York City housed in a building built specifically for its use. The New York Times Building, which was designed by George B. Post , was designated a New York City landmark in 1999. The building
30430-403: Was rerouted underneath the plaza and its intersection with New Chambers Street and Duane Street was eliminated. Today, a statue of Benjamin Franklin by Ernst Plassman stands in Printing House Square, in front of the One Pace Plaza and 41 Park Row buildings of Pace University , holding a copy of his Pennsylvania Gazette , a reminder of what Park Row once was. The New York Times
30609-470: Was revived beginning with the Haskalah movement. The first secular periodical in Hebrew, Ha-Me'assef (The Gatherer), was published by maskilim in Königsberg (today's Kaliningrad ) from 1783 onwards. In the mid-19th century, publications of several Eastern European Hebrew-language newspapers (e.g. Hamagid , founded in Ełk in 1856) multiplied. Prominent poets were Hayim Nahman Bialik and Shaul Tchernichovsky ; there were also novels written in
30788-409: Was sharing facilities with a congregation on Henry Street . The Lower East Side Conservancy was trying to raise an estimated $ 4.5 million for repairs of the building, with the intent of converting it to an educational center. In December the leadership of the synagogue under Rabbi Mendel Greenbaum filed a “hardship application” with the Landmarks Preservation Commission seeking permission to demolish
30967-479: Was suppressed. Soviet authorities considered the use of Hebrew "reactionary" since it was associated with Zionism, and the teaching of Hebrew at primary and secondary schools was officially banned by the People's Commissariat for Education as early as 1919, as part of an overall agenda aiming to secularize education (the language itself did not cease to be studied at universities for historical and linguistic purposes ). The official ordinance stated that Yiddish, being
31146-426: Was the tallest building in the world from 1899 until 1908, when it was surpassed by the Singer Building . The Potter Building at 38 Park Row (145 Nassau Street) was built in 1882-86 and designated a New York City landmark in 1996. It was built after the owner's previous building on the site burned down. The Potter Building was converted into apartments between 1979 and 1981. The New York City Police Department
31325-437: Was the language of government, Hebrew the language of prayer, study and religious texts, and Aramaic was the language of legal contracts and trade. There was also a geographic pattern: according to Bernard Spolsky , by the beginning of the Common Era, " Judeo-Aramaic was mainly used in Galilee in the north, Greek was concentrated in the former colonies and around governmental centers, and Hebrew monolingualism continued mainly in
31504-458: Was the prototypical American synagogue for early immigrant Eastern European Jews , who began entering the United States in large numbers only in the 1870s. They found the synagogues of the German Jewish immigrants who preceded them to be unfamiliar, both religiously and culturally. Russian Jews in particular had been more excluded from Russian society than were German Jews from German society, for both linguistic and social reasons. Unlike German Jews,
31683-408: Was to a certain extent a pidgin . Near the end of that century the Jewish activist Eliezer Ben-Yehuda , owing to the ideology of the national revival ( שיבת ציון , Shivat Tziyon , later Zionism ), began reviving Hebrew as a modern spoken language. Eventually, as a result of the local movement he created, but more significantly as a result of the new groups of immigrants known under the name of
31862-494: Was to be the then-substantial $ 2,500 per year, "with an additional $ 1000 for rent, furnishings, and utilities". Though Joseph's appointment was, in part, intended to bring prestige to the downtown Orthodox congregations, his primary task as Chief Rabbi was to bring order and regulation to New York's chaotic kosher slaughtering industry. Joseph arrived in New York on July 7, 1888, and later that month preached his inaugural Sabbath sermon at Beth Hamedrash Hagodol. The speech attracted
32041-570: Was written, by poets such as Dunash ben Labrat , Solomon ibn Gabirol , Judah ha-Levi , Moses ibn Ezra and Abraham ibn Ezra , in a "purified" Hebrew based on the work of these grammarians, and in Arabic quantitative or strophic meters. This literary Hebrew was later used by Italian Jewish poets. The need to express scientific and philosophical concepts from Classical Greek and Medieval Arabic motivated Medieval Hebrew to borrow terminology and grammar from these other languages, or to coin equivalent terms from existing Hebrew roots, giving rise to
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