New Haven Synagogue Turns 100
| By Leibel Kahan | 0 Comments
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Despite the ebb and flow of changing demographics in the seacoast city of New Haven, Connecticut, the iconic Orchard Street Shul with its weathered brick facade and Star-of-David-topped cupolas has welcomed generations of New Haven Jews. The shul would become a familiar hub for immigrants fleeing turn-of-the-century pogroms who disembarked at New Haven’s port, as well as New York and Boston professionals drawn to the less frenetic pace of life in this city–equidistant from both metropolises along the I-95.
In the mid-1800s, New Haven boasted a thriving Jewish community composed largely of Eastern European immigrants seeking new lives in the free world. Since then, as the city’s community waxed and waned, old synagogues closed and new ones opened. But the Orchard Street Shul stands proud now in its 100th year, with scores of congregants turning out to mark the milestone.
In 1913, a group of New Haven Jews rented a storefront on Asylum Street, naming their makeshift synagogue Congregation Beth Israel. The community grew, and 1923 the founders purchased land on Orchard Street for $16,000, on which they built a beautiful, colonial-revival style synagogue with a sprawling staircase in the front. Its spacious sanctuary seats 600 on two levels, and is adorned with an intricately-carved wooden ark towering more than 15 feet tall. After moving into their new home in 1924, the congregation became known as the Orchard Street Shul. Its location in the Legion Avenue neighborhood was convenient for congregants, most of whom lived around the area and shopped in its kosher stores.
Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok (Maurice) Hecht was appointed the synagogue’s rabbi in 1948 at the apex of the community’s growth, with around 700 people attending services on Shabbat.
In 1960, the Legion Avenue neighborhood that the synagogue calls home was torn in half–a victim, like many historical neighborhoods, of new road construction. State Highway 34 sliced through the thriving Jewish and Italian community in the area, causing many people to move elsewhere. After Rabbi Hecht’s passing in 1992, his son Rabbi Shea Hecht served as the synagogue’s rabbi for several years, but the congregation dwindled. By the turn of the 21st century, the main sanctuary languished in disrepair, with only a handful of people showing up for weekday services in the basement auxiliary sanctuary.
In 2010, the synagogue board members decided to sell the building. But Lee Liberman, a longtime member, couldn’t bear the thought of losing this historic synagogue. Liberman joined Rabbi Mendy Hecht — Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok Hecht’s grandson, who is now the shul’s rabbi — to persuade the board to authorize a broad renovation project, with the goal of reviving, rather than relocating, the aging synagogue.
Liberman’s daughter Kathi recalled how her father — who passed away during the Covid pandemic — joined the rabbi in raising the funds to restore the historic synagogue. “They really put their noses to the grindstone,” she said. “They were able to restore the interior exactly the way it once was. The details on the walls were repainted, the brick outside was repointed — it became our shul again.” The congregation also successfully lobbied for the Orchard Street Shul to be added to the National Historic Registry, protecting it for the future.
The work of restoring the main sanctuary to its former glory was completed in time for the High Holidays in 2012.
“Now, when I sit in shul, I look around, and everything is the same as it was in my childhood,” Kathi describes. “I can still feel the presence of all those people who filled the seats back then. I can hear the Rabbi gently shushing people who were talking too loudly during services. It is more than a synagogue, more than a landmark — it’s our family.”
Now, the Orchard Street Shul sees a consistent minyan for Shabbat and holiday services, with larger crowds gathering for the High Holidays. After recent additions of a social hall and restrooms in the basement floor, the community celebrated the 100th anniversary of the synagogue in late 2024. More than 125 people gathered together for the occasion, including senior members with deep connections to the shul’s history. Lillian Liberman, Lee’s widow and Kathi’s mother, who was celebrating her 100th birthday, was honored as well.
“This is really a story about the strength of a united community,” shares board member Joe Katz. “What kept our synagogue thriving when so many others, unfortunately, had to close, is the dedication, loyalty, and sense of brotherhood that define our community.”
Stuart Levitz, the president of the Orchard Street Shul, was involved in the recent renovations. “Everything we do — any repairs or restorations — we try to ensure the building keeps its historical integrity.” Levitz is quick to credit the shul’s rabbi and rebbetzin, Rabbi Mendy and his wife Dina Hecht. “They’re the driving force. We just help them navigate the hurdles.”
Though it’s a century-old building, the Orchard Street Shul is full of new life inside. “We’re doing our best to keep this synagogue going for many more years,” Levitz said. “We’ve seen people come out of the woodwork recently — at the 100th anniversary celebration, we met many new faces. It gives us momentum, and now the goal is to capitalize on that and keep building the community.”
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