| The Shul of New York holds its High Holyday services and some Shabbat services at The Angel Orensanz Foundation for the Arts (172 Norfolk Street, just south of Houston) New York's oldest still-standing synagogue (the third oldest in the United States). We also hold services and events in some other locations:
Judson Memorial Church, 239 Thompson Street, between Washington Sq. So. and W. 3rd Street, west side of street.
Friends Meeting House: 15 Rutherford Place (off 15th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
Hope Martin Studio: 39 West 14th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
Middle Church: 50 East 7th Street and 2nd Avenue
St. George's: 209 E. 16th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
Please check the top of the home page for specific Shabbat location information, and individual event listings for location information as well. Or write to us if you have location or any other type of questions.
The Orensanz Foundation and the Shul of New York
The history of the Angel Orensanz Foundation begins in 1849, when a community of German Jews built a large Gothic-style synagogue on Norfolk Street designed by the noted architect, Alexander Saeltzer. In 1921 the synagogue became the home for a community of Polish Jews from the city of Slonim. By 1974 the Slonim community had dispersed and the synagogue was abandoned. In 1986 the magnificent but forsaken building was purchased by the Spanish artist Angel Orensanz and his brother, Al, a sociologist. They restored and transformed the run-down structure into a performing arts space. The building was designated an historic landmark by the City in 1987. In 1999 the Orensanz brothers invited the Shul of New York to make the Orensanz Foundation its home.
As the congregation grew, Shul member Bonnie Kozek organized an effort to give the community an important emblem of its spiritual life -- a Torah. In order to first find a Torah, she turned to her friend, Rabbi Philip Hiat, Scholar-in-Residence at New York's Central Synagogue. Rabbi Hiat, an authority in Judaica and Torah script, located a vintage Torah, which he determined was scribed over 100 years ago in Slonim. With the generous support of the Tisch family and Shul members, and after a hiatus of more than 25 years, the synagogue on Norfolk Street was reunited with a Torah from the city of its former congregation.
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