In 1845, thirty-seven German-speaking Jewish immigrants rented a loft at Grand and Clinton Streets and founded Emanu-El (God Is with Us), one of dozens of tiny shuls opened across the Lower East Side by young men who had fled Europe for America. And the first Reform congregation in the city.
They could never have imagined that their tiny congregation would wind up in a grand building uptown on Fifth Avenue, that its members would include some of the most prominent men and women in the country . . . or that an organ would be played during services and their prayer book would be printed in English.
As Temple Emanu-El celebrates the 180th anniversary of its founding, the Herbert & Eileen Bernard Museum of Judaica will trace that evolution in a new exhibition of paintings, works on paper, sculpture and ephemera drawn from its own holdings, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Historical and private collections.
The opening will include presentations by Senior Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson, Peter and Mary Kalikow Senior Rabbinic Chair at Temple Emanu-El, the Bernard Museum of Judaica Director and Curator Warren Klein and Temple Administrator Emeritus and amateur historian Mark Heutlinger.
The exhibition will run from September 15 through May 17, 2026.
Museum hours are Sunday – Thursday, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
To organize a group tour for 10 or more, please contact 212-744-1400 ext. 259