Union Temple of Brooklyn
17 Eastern Parkway | Prospect Heights | built 1920
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1929
Union Temple dedicates an eleven-story community house on Eastern Parkway, but the temple is never built
Two Reform congregations, Temple Israel and K.K. Beth Elohim, merged in 1921 and chose a site at the start of Eastern Parkway near Grand Army Plaza. Arnold W. Brunner designed a neoclassical temple with an eleven-story community house, and the community house was dedicated in 1929. The Great Depression stopped the temple, so the congregation kept worshipping in the community house, using the Brooklyn Academy of Music for the High Holy Days.
Source: brownstoner.com
- 1929
Sidney Tedesche, an expert on Alexandria's Hellenistic-era Jewish community, becomes Union Temple's rabbi
Sidney Tedesche led the congregation from 1929 until 1954 and was rabbi emeritus from then until his death in 1962. He held a doctorate and was an expert on the Egyptian Jewish community of Alexandria during the Hellenistic era. He also translated Greek works into English, among them 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees and the Book of Esdras.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1942
The ground-floor theater becomes a sanctuary modeled on a synagogue the Nazis destroyed
In 1942 the congregation remodeled the ground-floor theater of its community house into a sanctuary. Its design followed the old synagogue in Essen, Germany, which the Nazis had burned.
“In 1942, the theater on the ground floor of the Community House was remodeled as a sanctuary, designed after the old synagogue in Essen, Germany burned by the Nazis.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1949
Members dedicate a lobby plaque to Mickey Marcus, whose funeral was held at the temple
A plaque in the lobby, dedicated by fellow members on December 9, 1949, honors Mickey Marcus. His funeral service was conducted at Union Temple. The plaque says he was killed in action in the hills of Zion while serving as supreme commander of Israel's forces in the struggle for its freedom.
“A memorial plaque in honor of Mickey Marcus is located in the lobby of the Union Temple of Brooklyn where his funeral service was conducted.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2018
Events are cancelled after antisemitic graffiti is found inside Union Temple
On November 1, 2018, the temple cancelled its events after a message reading "Kill All Jews" and other graffiti turned up inside the building. Mayor Bill de Blasio called it the vilest kind of hate. Police accused a Brooklyn man of being responsible.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2021
Union Temple merges with Congregation Beth Elohim after years of renting out its building
After merger talks that began in 2020, Union Temple joined Congregation Beth Elohim on March 26, 2021. In its last years the congregation had been finding other tenants for the building, including the German School Brooklyn on the fifth floor. By 2023 the building hosted two preschools, fitness centers, performances and weddings, serving about 2,500 people a week.
“In 2020 Union Temple engaged in merger talks with Congregation Beth Elohim, resulting in a merger on March 26, 2021.”
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Union Temple of BrooklynWikipedia
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