| Synagogue | Organized | Dedicated |
|---|---|---|
| Sons of Israel | 1927 | |
| Congregation Ansche Zedek | 1945 | |
| Yeshivath Zichron Moshe | 1955 |
| Non-Synagogue | Type |
|---|---|
| Bible Church of Christ | church |
1350
Morris
at
East 170
Bronx, NY 10456
The building is currently a church.
small - medium - large - full
Personal Impressions
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6Zichron Moshe was the name of a World War II soldier. His parents had the synagogue named after him. They paid for the synagogue.
Rabbi Samuels had no children. He adopted a baby from Palestine.
On Simchas Torah children went to the synagogue hopping
. This was a German custom.
There was a Sephardic synagogue on the top floor. The space was rented from the Orthodox synagogue on the lower floor. I was Bar Mitzvahed at the Sephardic synagogue.
The synagogue was on the basement level and quite large, accommodating at least 400 people, while the women's balcony held at least another hundred.
I attended cheder for some years. I managed to learn nothing in class but it had a lasting influence on my life for one reason. All cheder students were required to attend Shabbos services. On a typical Shabbos, about 200 children were in attendance. We were taught all the important melodies and we felt we were carrying a large part of the service.
During Torah reading we went to the chapel and Mr. Wyler, one of the teachers, told us stories.
We continued attending long after we left cheder. Finally, we organized ourselves into the
Adath Ha-Bar Mitzvot
. Two boys attended Yeshivah and one or the other read from the
torah each week. All of us were able to lead the service. In later years, when I lived in
one or another small mid-western town where there was no rabbi this experience proved invaluable.
Around 1933 the congregation decided to build a larger synagogue over the old building. Money proved an endless problem. It took about 2 years to complete.
The principal jobs of the shammes were to read the torah and to bang on the Amod
to quiet
the noisy congregants. His reading of the torah was unintelligible and my contemporaries made
fun of him.
There was a minyon three times a day. On weekday mornings there were two, one at 6:00 for those who had to go to work early and a later one for people who had more time.
My father was a member of Congregation Moishe Zadek. It was a strictly Orthodox Synagogue. I did not attend Hebrew School. Years ago, girls were not bas-mitzvahed.
The congregation on Morris Avenue was my father's favorite. It was more old- fashioned
and
appeared to run closer to the strict laws of the Orthodox Jewish religion.