Shalom !
It’s raining today… We’re not going to complain, right? We still had an exceptional month of October (especially as it’s supposed to get better as soon as tomorrow…)! But as such, since we basically planned to walk around Chinatown and Little Italy, our plans were a bit compromised. Anyway, no matter, we had decided to start by visiting Eldridge’s synagogue, which is a museum too.
We were kindly welcomed by the museum staff upon our arrival and decided to treat ourselves to a guided tour. Our guide, a 75 years old volunteer, Barry Yood, showed us the beautiful synagogue built in 1887 while entertaining us with a running commentary full of humor and very enriching about the lives of jewish emigrants in the US, and especially in New York, and about the synagogue itself, which has been renovated recently (I mean, renovation started in 1987 and finished in 2007), a renovation that costed about 20 millions dollars, put together thanks to numerous donators. The synagogue was restored to its former glory – everything original that could be saved was restored, everything else is the exact copy of what was there at the time – except for one absolutely extraordinary novelty, this sublime stained glass window created by local artist Kiki Smith, and that is at once modern and integrates itself perfectly to the architecture and the colors of the synagogue.
(Pssst, if you read yesterday’s article by Roxane again, you can find another piece by Kiki Smith: Lilith, the sculpture that watches you go down the stairs, on all fours on the wall… Amazing isn’t it? It makes twice in two days that we « cross path » with the artist!)
Barry explained to us that his great grandfather, Avraham Ahron Yudelovitch, was the most celebrated rabbi of the synagogue, that it was designed by two catholic architects that – ironically – were also german, that its architecture was inspired by Spanish synagogues and churches hence the Moorish style, he asked us questions, questioned us on our knowledge of jewish history and culture, he made us compete with each other: the one who answered best or the fastest was « the boss », and he even told us that there was a theory which supposed that the jews fled nazi Germany and tried to get to Spain because Franco was supposedly a marrano (a jew pretending to be a catholic) which can’t be proved at all except that, de facto – and despite his affiliation with Mussolini and Hitler – Franco never persecuted jews in his country.
So we visited, took pictures (especially Roxane, once again I only had my phone so the pictures in this article are mostly hers), played with the interactive screens that explain how jews emigrants would have lived in Lower East Side, or how to be a good practicing jew, or that let you color your own rose window…
Then we went out, under the pouring rain, and we took refuge inside the Tenement Museum shop – where we already went to with Pauline during our first day – and we drooled in front of the pretty pendants…
(Special dedication to mommy-Roxane!)
Then we attempted to go to the Katz’s Delicatessen (where we had already tried to go with Pauline, but there was a huge line) and we could get in without trouble this time. Katz’s Deli is renowned in all of New York for their pastrami (yes, apparently they do it themselves, without additives), and is famous in the whole world thanks to a classic movie scene: Meg Ryan’s orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally. Well it was really good but it was way too much! If you go on the website, know that their pictures don’t lie, there’s at least 10 slices of pastrami in their sandwichs and we should have ordered one thing for the both of us because we could only eat half of our respective plates! (I ordered a pastrami sandwich, served with a side of pickles and cucumber, and Roxane had half a pastrami sandwich and a Matzo ball soup)
After that we were full bellied and we tried to see Little Italy but it was raining so much we couldn’t raise our eyes from our shoes so well, we went back home. And moreover, MARINO WAS COMING!!! (she’s one of my flatmates in Paris, her real name is Marie-Noëlle)
She arrived okay, now she’s sleeping on her stomach at the foot of our bed (like a 5’9″ cat) and she’s staying with us till the end (we’re hoping to take advantage and make her write one or two articles for the the blog to have a break…).
See you soon little baboons!
Gabrielle
NYC Nostalgie 