About Us
The Greenpoint Shul, Congregation Ahavas Israel, is the oldest continuously running Orthodox congregation in Brooklyn, a testament to our rich history and enduring community. True to our name, we are built on a foundation of deep love and respect for one another. Our community is diverse - comprising people from all walks of life, spanning different expression of Jewish practice and observance, from newborns to octogenarians. Here, everyone is welcomed with open arms.
As the central hub for Jewish life in North Brooklyn, we unite in celebration of our shared values, while also honoring and respecting our differences. It is through these connections, the sparks of light within each of us, that we find strength and unity.
We connect throughout the year, at weekly Shabbat and holiday services, at classes and events, in our beautiful sanctuary, backyard garden, and across the neighborhood.
Our History
Ahavas Israel is the only remaining Jewish congregation in a neighborhood that once supported five synagogues. Ahavas Israel is the result of a merger of three synagogues that had served Greenpoint in the late 19th century: Temple Beth El, Hebrew Educational Alliance of Greenpoint, and Ahavas Israel.
Temple Beth El was founded as a German-Jewish Reform synagogue. From 1886, it operated out of what is now our east building (110 Noble St.). This building was, according to records, a Congregationalist Church dating back to 1871.
Ahavas Israel came into existence in 1893 when it was incorporated by German-Jewish émigrés in Kings County as an Orthodox shul. Temple Beth El merged with them in 1898 and Ahavas Israel laid the cornerstone in 1903 for our current home, the west building at 108 Noble St.
In the early 1900s, the Hebrew Education Alliance of Greenpoint built a synagogue on Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint’s main thoroughfare. After a fire destroyed the structure in 1960, the Hebrew Education Alliance merged with Ahavas Israel on the basis of an executive order of then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller.