Union Temple
(Reform Jewish)
17 Eastern Parkway at Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, New York 11238
http://www.uniontemple.org
Organ Specifications:
• II/33 Saville Organ Company electronic (1969)
• II/ Berkshire Organ Company – second-hand?
► II/15 M.P. Möller, Op. 4394 (1925) |
As the first Jewish congregation established in Brooklyn and Long Island, Union Temple has a long and proud history of service to the Jewish community, and to the Brooklyn community at large. Officially founded in 1848, the congregation originated in what was known as the Village of Williamsburgh, one of a number of principalities that at the time comprised what we now know as the Borough of Brooklyn. The congregants designated as their first synagogue the home of Moses Kessel on North Second Avenue, now known as Marcy Avenue. They named the synagogue Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim and the congregation worshiped according to Orthodox ritual.
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| The Keap Street Temple |
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In 1860 the congregation purchased and remodeled a church building on South First Street, and subsequently opened a Day School. The Day School offered elementary education in English and German, and included both secular and religious subjects. The school closed when free public education was instituted in Brooklyn.
Soon K.K. Beth Elohim had outgrown its building, and a new synagogue was built on Keap Street in 1876. For many years it was the largest synagogue in Brooklyn, acquiring the nickname of The Keap Street Temple.
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Temple Israel |
While K.K. Beth Elohim was growing, a number of Jews in central Brooklyn established a congregation in keeping with the Reform Movement, brought to America by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise. This congregation was founded in 1869, and incorporated in the following year as Temple Israel. Services were held in the Y.M.C.A. building on the corner of Fulton Street and Galatin Place until 1872, when the congregation purchased a former church building on Greene Avenue. In 1891 the congregation consecrated its magnificent new building on the corner of Bedford and Lafayette Avenues, and several years later, added a second building for school and youth activities.
As Temple Israel grew in size and stature, K.K. Beth Elohim continued to flourish as well, eventually adopting the reforms introduced into American Jewry by Isaac Mayer Wise. Both congregations had prominent and active memberships. They were active in all areas of communal endeavor, and created various agencies of Jewish philanthropy in Brooklyn, such as the Hebrew Orphan Asylum; the Jewish Hospital; the Brooklyn Federation of Jewish Charities; the Hebrew Educational Society; the Hebrew Free Loan Society; and the Ladies' Hebrew Benevolent Society.
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Union Temple (not built)
and Community House |
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In 1921, Temple Israel and K.K. Beth Elohim decided to merge into single Reform congregation, and incorporated into what is now known as Union Temple of Brooklyn. By that time, the center of Brooklyn Jewry had shifted away from Williamsburgh, and moved westward toward Flatbush. The newly merged congregation decided to build a new home at 17 Eastern Parkway. The eleven-story community house was dedicated on the eve of Sukkot in 1929. Once the community house was dedicated, a grand-scale sanctuary had been planned for the corner of Eastern Parkway and Plaza Street. Unfortunately the stock market crash in 1929 scuttled those plans, and a parking lot for use by temple members was built instead. Worship took place within the Community House, and during the High Holy Days the congregation worshiped at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. In 1942, a theater on the lobby level of the Community House was converted into a sanctuary, modeled after the synagogue in Essen, Germany, which had been burned by the Nazis.
The temple is situated in a prime location in Brooklyn. Across the street are the Brooklyn Library, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. |
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Saville Organ Company
Chicago, Ill. (1969)
Analog tonal production
2 manuals, 33 stops
An electronic instrument manufactured by the Saville Organ Company of Chicago was installed in 1969. |
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Berkshire Organ Co., Inc.
West Springfield, Mass.
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals
At an unknown time, an organ built by the Berkshire Organ
Co. was acquired second-hand from a Protestant church
in Rehoboth, Mass. Specifications for this organ have
not
yet been
located. |
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M. P. Möller, Inc.
Hagerstown, Md. – Opus 4394 (1925)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 25 stops, 15 ranks
The first organ in the present Union Temple was built by the M.P. Möller Company of Hagerstown, Md. Möller provided a detached two-manual stop key console, and the entire organ was on 5" wind pressure. The Factory Specification (June 12, 1925) shows that the organ was to be completed by May 1st, 1926. |
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Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
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8 |
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Open Diapason |
61 |
4 |
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Dulciana [ext.] |
— |
8 |
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Dulciana |
73 |
4 |
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Flute [ext.] |
— |
8 |
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Melodia |
73 |
8 |
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Tuba |
73 |
8 |
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Doppel Flute |
73 |
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Tremulant
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8 |
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Gamba |
73 |
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Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
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16 |
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Bourdon [unit] |
97 |
4 |
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Salicet [Salicional] |
— |
8 |
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Open Diapason |
73 |
2 2/3 |
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Quint [Bourdon] |
— |
8 |
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Stopped Diapason [Bourdon] |
— |
2 |
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Flautina [Bourdon] |
— |
8 |
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Salicional |
73 |
8 |
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Oboe |
73 |
8 |
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Viole d'Orchestre |
73 |
8 |
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Vox Humana [sep. swell box] |
61 |
8 |
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Vox Celeste [TC] |
61 |
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Tremulant |
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8 |
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Aeoline |
73 |
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4 |
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Orchestral Flute [Bourdon] |
— |
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Pedal Organ – 32 notes
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16 |
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Bourdon [large scale] |
32 |
8 |
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Flute |
SW |
16 |
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Lieblich Gedeckt |
SW |
8 |
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Violoncello [Gamba] |
GT |
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Couplers
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Great to Pedal 8' |
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Great 16', 4' |
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Swell to Pedal 8', 4' |
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Swell 16', 4', Unison Separation |
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Swell to Great 16', 8', 4' |
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Adjustable Combinations
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Pistons No. 1-2-3-4 |
affecting Great and Pedal stops |
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Pistons No. 1-2-3-4 |
affecting Swell and Pedal stops |
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Pistons No. 1-2-3 |
affecting Full Organ |
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Pedal Movements
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Great to Pedal Reversible |
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Balanced Swell Pedal |
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Balanced Great Pedal |
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Grand Crescendo Pedal [with indicator] |
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Sources:
Traser, Donald. Electronic correspondence
(Aug. 7, 2015) concerning the Delaware organ.
Trupiano, Larry. Factory Specification
of M.P. Möller organ, Op. 4394 (1925).
Union Temple web site: http://www.uniontemple.org
Illustrations:
Brooklyn Daily Eagle postcards from Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection. Images of Keap Street Temple, Temple Israel, and Union Temple. |
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