The Actors' Temple , officially named Congregation Ezrath Israel , is a non-denominational Jewish synagogue located at 339 West 47th Street , in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan , New York City , New York , United States.
The congregation was founded in 1917 as the West Side Hebrew Relief Association , an Orthodox congregation for the shopkeepers in the area. The temple has been located at its current site since 1923, [2] and it was the synagogue of choice for the entertainment industry. Many vaudeville, musical theater, television, and nightclub performers attended services there, including Sophie Tucker , Shelley Winters , Milton Berle , Al Jolson , Jack Benny , Joe E. Lewis , Edward G. Robinson , as well as two of the Three Stooges . [3] [4] Bernard Birstein, an aspiring actor himself, was the first rabbi; [5] he died in 1959. [6]
The temple declined after World War II as actors moved to California and the neighborhood changed. The congregation diminished from 300 members to approximately 30 in 2009. [3] In 2005, in order to bring in additional income, the temple started renting out dance rehearsal space to New Dance Group as well as temporarily transforming into a theatre for plays. [7] However, even with this additional income, the $120,000 annual operating costs used up the $2 million endowment by 2009. [3] Despite these challenges, the temple continues to operate. In 2011, the temple had a fundraising program and about 150 dues-paying members, with an average Friday night worship attendance of 20–30 people. [6]
The Temple congregation was once Orthodox, transitioned to Conservative , and is now non-denominational. [5]
The Temple's Rabbi, Jill Hausman, made an appearance in the Weekend Update portion of the season 49 finale of Saturday Night Live , sitting next to Colin Jost during his delivery of jokes written by co-host Michael Che . [8]
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