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I
took this picture
in March 2002. It was an gorgeous building that contained
a grand portico, ionic columns, and cornice around the
top. At one time, this congregation was among the most
popular synangogues in the Rockaways, Its location near
the Atlantic Ocean added ambiance to its spirituality.
Sadly, at the time that this photo ws taken, the neglected
building was surrounded by overgrown weeds. The small,
remaining congregation held services in the basement,
only in the warmer months, because pipes had been stolen
from the building and there was no heat. Photo Credit:
Laura Deckelman |
Congregation
Derech Emunoh, a brown-shingled two-story wood frame
building, located on Beach 67th Street in the Rockaways,
was built by architect William A. Lambert in 1905. The
Orthodox-Jewish synagogue, about a block away from the
Atlantic Ocean, was the center of religious and communal
life for thousands of Jews who lived in the Rockaways
or vacationed here in the summer. The congregation flourished
until the 1960s when many members moved out of the community.
During the next forty years, the remaining congregation
struggled to survive, overcoming poverty, vandalism,
floods, and fires. In late 2002, the building succumbed
to fire, which could have been electrical or the act
of an arsonist. I took these pictures of the building
in March 2002 when I was photographing different parts
of the Rockaways. During the years that I rode the subway
to work, I could see the building, formerly adorned
with a golden dome (which was destroyed in a fire).
My friend and her family (who lived on Beach 61st Street)
belonged to the shul. I went to the shul with my friend
on Yom Kippur, 1971. We sat in the women's gallery upstairs.
The place was packed despite the congregation's declining
numbers. I remember the huge arched windows that reached
up to the women's gallery, the chandeliers on the first
floor, and the lovely wood-carved arc that housed the
Torahs. I loved the "old fashioned, nostalgic"
feeling of the shul.
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A
side view of Derech Emunoh. Photo Credit: Laura
Deckelman, March 2002 |
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