Brooklyn Jewish Center

June 13, 1920 - 1985

In the words of founder and first president of the Brooklyn Jewish Center, Samuel Rottenberg, "All American Jewry, world Jewry, is watching us in our efforts. We have made a contribution to American Jewish life, and the foundation has been well built." The Brooklyn Jewish Center was opened and dedicated in 1920 for the purpose of being a singular institution which housed all educational, social, and recreational aspects of Jewish life, from childhood through adulthood. This center was founded at a time when the Crown Heights community and New York City as a whole had a strong and prominent Jewish community of doctors, lawyers, judges, politicians and more; and the Center's membership included the influential likes of scientist Albert Einstein, artist Mark Rothko, Provost emeritus of Teachers College Rollo G. Reynolds, and first Jewish mayor of New York City, Abraham D. Beame. Rabbi Dr. Israel H. Levinthal was the fist and most long-standing director of the Brooklyn Jewish Center, and under his leadership membership grew from an initial few hundred to a peak of 3,500. Publications such as the Brooklyn Jewish Center Bulletin appeared monthly starting in 1933, then quarterly from 1957, and semiannually sometime afterward. A second publication called The Brooklyn Center Review was a pioneering journal which included synagogue news, editorials, a rabbi's column, articles of general Jewish interest, and short stories. As a site of teaching and learning, the Center Hebrew Academy was a great pride of the community, as it taught Jewish children of their heritage and culture. The edifice was a million-dollar venture at its founding, and was purposely constructed on the sprawling and impressive Eastern Parkway - the first six-lane thoroughfare in America, and a juncture of other cultural beacons of Brooklyn, such as the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Central Library.

Main entrance and lobby of Brooklyn Jewish Center
Façade of the Brooklyn Jewish Center in the late 20th century
Façade of the Brooklyn Jewish Center soon after its founding in the early 20th century.
View Gallery

Details

Categories
Faith-based institution, Organization/Association, School
Audience
All Ages
Founder(s)
Samuel Rottenberg
Corporate Body
Educational Institute Oholei Torah
Tags
adulteducation, recreation, informaleducation, ethnicenclaves, jewish, religiouseduation, gender, yeshiva
Notes
In 1985, the trustees of the Brooklyn Jewish Center sold the building outright to Educational Institute Oholei Torah.

Connections

Location

  • 667 Eastern Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11213, USA
    ? - ?

Archival Collections

References

  1. Brooklyn Jewish Center To Hold First Graduation: Park Slope Congregation Will Inaugurate New Program. (1930, Jun 21). New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) http://ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/historical-newspapers/brooklyn-jewish-center-hold-first-graduation/docview/1113660738/se-2?accountid=10226
  2. 3-DAY CELEBRATION ENDS: BROOKLYN JEWISH CENTER MARKS TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. (1946, Apr 08). New York Times (1923-) Retrieved from http://ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/3-day-celebration-ends/docview/107422234/se-2?accountid=10226
  3. Brooklyn Jewish Center Circle. (2022). Brooklyn jewish center circle - connecting to our past - preserving our future. Brooklyn Jewish Center Circle. Retrieved May 3, 2022, from https://www.brooklynjewishcenter.org/