Edmond J. Safra Synagogue | |
---|---|
Religion | |
Affiliation | Orthodox Judaism |
Rite | Nusach Sefard |
Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Synagogue |
Leadership | Rabbi Solomon Farhi |
Status | Active |
Location | |
Location | 11 East 63rd Street, Upper East Side, New York City, New York |
Country | United States |
Location in
Manhattan | |
Geographic coordinates | 40°46′00″N 73°58′13″W / 40.76655°N 73.97017°W |
Architecture | |
Type | Synagogue |
Style | Beaux-Arts |
Funded by | Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation |
Date established | 2003 (as a congregation) |
Completed | 2003 |
Materials | Jerusalem stone |
Website | |
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The Edmond J. Safra Synagogue, organized by Congregation Beit Yaakov, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located on East 63rd Street off Fifth Avenue in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, in New York City, New York, in the United States. The congregation practices in the Nusach Sefard rite.
The synagogue is one of several that are eponymous with Edmond J. Safra, a former banker and philanthropist, partially or fully funded by the Edmond J. Safra Foundation. [1] [2] [3]
The synagogue project was initiated by philanthropist Edmond Safra before his death in 1999, and dedicated in 2003. Safra's goal was to have a Sephardic synagogue on Manhattan's Upper East Side. [4]
During his lifetime, Safra was often in New York City and spent many a Shabbat in Manhattan. Noting the absence of a formal synagogue and communal center for the Sephardic Jews of the Upper East Side of Manhattan, he expressed a desire to build a central house of worship in the area. The synagogue was completed in December 2002. Dignitaries including the Chief Rabbi of Israel and Mayor Michael Bloomberg attended an official inauguration of the building. [5]
The synagogue, whose congregational name is "Congregation Beit Yaakov" after Safra's father's name, was designed by architect Thierry W. Despont, [6] and has been described as a "sumptuous work of Beaux-Arts revival." [7] The interior and facade of the building is made of Jerusalem stone quarried in Judea. [4] [6] The massive bronze doors with their Tree of Life motif are by American sculptor Mark Beard. [8]
Due to its location in the Upper East Side Historic District, the synagogue design required approval from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, which called it an "artful synthesis of the composition, details and material palette of the Beaux-Arts style, which plays an important role in defining the special architectural character of the Upper East Side Historic District." [7]
Rabbi Shlomo Farhi became the Rabbi of Congregation Beit Edmond in mid-August 2018 following the departure of founding Rabbi Elie Abadie in January 2017. [9]
On January 31, 2017, Rabbi Elie Abadie, the first rabbi of the Edmond J. Safra Synagogue, was fired from his position. According to a December 28, 2016 letter from the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation (the primary financial resource for the congregation), after failing to reach a financial agreement with Abadie after his contract expired in 2008 it “has determined that it cannot continue to support” the rabbi, and that negotiations with him had been unsuccessful. [10] The Foundation and the rabbi then began in 2015 to negotiate his departure. [11] Rabbi Abadie, in a response dated December 30, 2016, asserted that he was being forced out under false pretenses. [11]
The European-based Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation, formerly chaired by Lily Safra, widow of the prominent banker and philanthropist, is active in more than 40 countries. According to an anonymous Sephardic community source quoted in the New York Post, Lily Safra found out Abadie had been doing consulting work for her nephew’s religious center, the Moise Safra Community Center. Lily did not get along with Moise Safra, and felt the rabbi’s decision to help was a betrayal, according to the source. [12]
Following the Rabbi's departure in January 2017, the synagogue's name was changed to Congregation Beit Edmond. [11] As of November 2020 Rabbi Abadie was the senior Rabbi of the Jewish Council of the Emirates in Dubai. [13]