Podhajcer Shul


The Podhajcer Shul was a synagogue on 108 East First Street at Houston Street in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Although the building has been repurposed to residential use, its facade retains a prominent Star of David, as well as an stone arch inscribed "Beth HaKnesset Ansche Podhajce," which means "Synagogue of the People of Podhajce," and two capitals in the shape of Torah scrolls.

History

Congregation Masas Benjamin Podhajce was founded in 1895 by Austrian Jews from Podhajce, Galicia. In 1926, they purchased the building on First Street and consecrated it as their new synagogue. During the 1920s, another congregation, Rodeph Shalom Independent Pohajce, shared the building with Masas Benjamin Podhajce. Neither of these congregations exist anymore. In the 1980s, a group of Lithuaninan Jews named Kochob Jacob Anshe Kamenitz used the synagogue. This congregation was organized in 1892 and had previously met at 248 Division Street, 385 Grand Street and 54-6 Pitt Street. The building was empty from 1985 to 1990, when it was taken over by Congregation Beth Yitzchoch. In 1995, the building was rented as a space for visual and performing arts. The building is now private residences.