by Helen Zelon
The Bialystoker’s main sanctuary. One of only two landmarked synagogues on the Lower
East Side.
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ate on a Sunday afternoon, the
last sunlight rakes across the
sidewalk as a dozen or more men
head down a short flight of stone
steps. A burly EMS tech turns down the
volume on his squawking radio. Another
tugs at the satin sash of his black caftan.
Lean yeshiva youths and aging hipsters
greet gentlemen in sack suits and black
fedoras, until their voices join into a
good-natured, unintelligible mumble.
It’s mincha, the afternoon prayer, at the
Bialystoker Shul - one of only two Lower
East Side landmarked synagogues.
The fieldstone building, erected in
1826 (as the home of the Willet Street
Methodist Episcopal Church), showcases
world-class frescoes in its upstairs
sanctuary. The bland, gray stone,
quarried long ago on Pitt Street, masks
the kaleidoscopic glory of the
synagogue’s interior, the latter being
festooned in a riot of painted, carved
and gilded ornament.
The community treasures its historic
role, but lives very much in the moment,
with four minyanim (prayer quorums)
every morning and a fifth on Sunday –
the only shul in Manhattan to offer so
many, say Rabbi Zvi David Romm and
the shul’s past president Martin Shulman,
whose day job is as Supreme Court
Judge in New York County Civil Court
and as New York State Supreme Court
Justice (by designation). Holiday
programs, regular classes, lecture series,
and a brand-new preschool, the
Downtown School of Judaism, round
out the Bialystoker’s
presence in the Lower
East Side Jewish
community.
The zodiac fresco (detail): Sivan (roughly Gemini) represented by twin lovebirds.
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Celebrating its 125th
anniversary this
December (join them
December 5th for a
Special dinner celebration) the
Bialystoker traces its
roots to two groups of
immigrants – from
Bialystok, Russia, of
course – who took up
residence on the Lower
East Side in the 1860s
and 70s. Strengthened
by a flood of pogromfleeing
refugees, they
consolidated as the Bialystoker
Synagogue in 1905, when they bought
the church for a then-whopping
$150,000.
In its first incarnation, the interior was
as plain as, well, a Methodist church.
During the early years of the Depression,
the shul commissioned the Cherubinistyle
d?cor, in a radiant attempt to inspire
the impoverished community. Judge
Shulman remembers being
“overwhelmed by the artwork,” even
though it had oxidized into near oblivion
by decades of benign neglect. He was
part of the group that
advocated restoring the
frescoes, the murals and
the elaborate stainedglass
windows. Many in
the older generation
didn’t want to renovate,
though. “Drop the
ceiling, put up some
panels, forget it,” they
said, daunted by the
considerable expense
and inconvenience of
restoration.
“It was a huge
investment,” says
Shulman. “But we had
to send a message to the
community: We’re alive
and well, and we’re not
going anywhere.”
Italian-born artist Paolo
Spano undertook the
project, and “every square
inch was done al fresco,”
says Shulman – panel by
panel, paint mixed into wet
stucco, on every surface of
wall and ceiling. Anchored
by a carved and gilded
wooden ark that towers
three stories tall, the images
range from Holy Land
pastoral scenes to visions
of Creation and the zodiac:
deer, lions, leopard, eagles,
lovebirds, and even a
lobster (an errant stand-in
for Cancer’s crab).
Rabbi Zvi David Romm has lead the Bialystoker congregation since 2001
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In 2001, Rabbi Romm came to
Bialystoker, replacing the much beloved
departed Rabbi Yitzchok Singer. “People
here rallied around the idea that we want
the neighborhood to thrive. The
community has remade itself. There’s a
lot of warmth, a lot of acceptance.”
Leadership has its satisfactions, says
the Rabbi, who, with the relentless
support of the board, has focused
enormous efforts on outreach to the wider
community via cultural programs,
celebrations, and lecture series like the
Crash Course in Jewish History (Tuesday
evenings). “We hope to
evolve as an educational
center,” says the rabbi.
“Parents will bring their
kids, then say ‘oh, this
is interesting,’ and
decide to explore.”
With the mix of
radiant beauty and
tempting scholarship,
such explorations are
bound to be
unforgettable.
The Bialystoker Shul
is at 7-11 Willett
Street/Bialystoker Place,
2 1 2 - 4 7 5 - 0 1 6 5 ,
www.bialystoker.org
