A Shul with a Rich History
Congregation Ahavas Israel is a 120 year-
old synagogue located in the Greenpoint
Historic District in North Brooklyn, New
York. The synagoguge holds Sabbath
and holiday services, all of which are
followed by communal meals. It also
organizes classes by visiting rabbis and
scholars, and hosts Hanukah and parties
as well as other communal events.
Ahavas Israel is the only remaining
Jewish congregation in a neighborhood
that once supported five synagogues.
Today’s Ahavas Israel is the result of a
merger of three of five synagogues that
had begun serving Greenpoint in the late
19th century: Temple Beth El of
Greenpoint, Ahavas Israel and Hebrew
Educational Alliance of Greenpoint.
According to available records, the East
Building of Ahavas Israel was originally a
Congregationalist Church dating back as
far as 1871. From at least 1886 onwards
it operated as a German-Jewish Reform
synagogue called Temple Beth El.
Ahavas Israel itself came into existence
in 1893 when it was incorporated by
German-Jewish émigrés in Kings County
as an Orthodox congregation. Both
institutions merged in 1898 and laid the
cornerstone for the West Building in
1903. In the early 1900s, the Hebrew
Education Alliance of Greenpoint
formed and constructed a synagogue on
Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint’s main
commercial thoroughfare. After a fire
destroyed this structure in 1960, the
Hebrew Education Alliance merged with
Ahavas Israel on the basis of an
executive order of then-Governor
Nelson Rockefeller.
Congregation Ahavas Israel is a 120 year-
old synagogue located in the Greenpoint
Historic District in North Brooklyn, New
York. The synagoguge holds Sabbath
and holiday services, all of which are
followed by communal meals. It also
organizes classes by visiting rabbis and
scholars, and hosts Hanukah and parties
as well as other communal events.
Ahavas Israel is the only remaining
Jewish congregation in a neighborhood
that once supported five synagogues.
Today’s Ahavas Israel is the result of a
merger of three of five synagogues that
had begun serving Greenpoint in the late
19th century: Temple Beth El of
Greenpoint, Ahavas Israel and Hebrew
Educational Alliance of Greenpoint.
According to available records, the East
Building of Ahavas Israel was originally a
Congregationalist Church dating back as
far as 1871. From at least 1886 onwards
it operated as a German-Jewish Reform
synagogue called Temple Beth El.
Ahavas Israel itself came into existence
in 1893 when it was incorporated by
German-Jewish émigrés in Kings County
as an Orthodox congregation. Both
institutions merged in 1898 and laid the
cornerstone for the West Building in
1903. In the early 1900s, the Hebrew
Education Alliance of Greenpoint
formed and constructed a synagogue on
Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint’s main
commercial thoroughfare. After a fire
destroyed this structure in 1960, the
Hebrew Education Alliance merged with
Ahavas Israel on the basis of an
executive order of then-Governor
Nelson Rockefeller.
The Greenpoint Shul in the News
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The Greenpoint Shul
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Greenpoint Gazette: Greenpoint's Greenest
(and only) Rabbi
Greenpoint Gazette: The Rabbi's Challah
Recipe
Williamsburg Courier: Greenpoint Shul's
Expansion
ThatGreenpointBlog.com:
Beauty in Plain Sight
Jewcy.com: The Rabbi of Greenpoint
Watch a video about Pessach preparations
at Rabbi Appelbaum's house
(and only) Rabbi
Greenpoint Gazette: The Rabbi's Challah
Recipe
Williamsburg Courier: Greenpoint Shul's
Expansion
ThatGreenpointBlog.com:
Beauty in Plain Sight
Jewcy.com: The Rabbi of Greenpoint
Watch a video about Pessach preparations
at Rabbi Appelbaum's house
Pessach at the Appelbaum's from Brooklyn Ink on Vimeo.
Step into our community garden. All produce goes to a neighborhood soup kitchen. |