Museum at Eldridge Street and LES Walking Tour

Rabbi Yael Werber: “I had never been to the historic Eldridge Street Synagogue before. The Museum at Eldridge Street is housed inside the synagogue, and the synagogue was absolutely beautiful.

“On Sunday, [July 30], we had a really great crowd of about 25 people from CBST. Our tour guide walked us through and told us about what it was like to be a person living on the Lower East Side from the late 1880s through the 1920s.

“She took us into the large sanctuary, which is just so gorgeous. My first thought was, ‘Wow, you could have a religious experience here.’

“Afterward, we went on a short walking tour of the Lower East Side, learning about activists from that era and the work they were doing.

“She told us about the women of the of Eldridge Street Synagogue who, at one time, organized to lower the price of meat. They went from synagogue to synagogue, interrupting the sermons, saying what a shame it was that the price of meat was being raised to an unfair degree.

“By interrupting the service, the men of the community had no choice but to listen to them. And it worked!

“I’m so glad I got to learn more about that time and place and learn about it with our CBST community. It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon.”

From the Eldridge Street Museum:

The Eldridge Street Synagogue is an important piece of the historic Jewish Lower East Side. It was built in 1887, during a period of mass immigration to the United States. From 1880 to 1924, more than 25 million immigrants, including more than 2.5 million Jews, came to the United States.

Nearly 85 percent of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe immigrated to New York City; and, approximately 75 percent of those immigrants settled on the Lower East Side. Very quickly, the Lower East Side become the most densely populated Jewish community on the planet. Learn more »