Oheb Shalom Congregation

{{Short description|Conservative Jewish synagogue in New Jersey, United States}}

{{Infobox religious building

| name = Oheb Shalom Congregation

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| religious_affiliation = Conservative Judaism

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| leadership = Rabbi Abigail Treu

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| status = Synagogue

| functional_status = Active

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| location = 170 Scotland Road, South Orange, Essex County, New Jersey

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| country = United States

| map_type = USA New Jersey Essex County

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| map_caption = Location in Essex County, New Jersey

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| administration = United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

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| established = 1860 {{small|(as a congregation)}}

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| year_completed = {{ubl|1884 {{small|(Prince Street)}}|1911 {{small|(High Street)}}|1958 {{small|(Scotland Road)}}}}

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| website = {{url|ohebshalom.org}}

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| name = Prince Street Synagogue

| image = Prince Street Synagogue.jpg

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| caption = Former Prince Street Synagogue, in 2018

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| coordinates = {{coord|40.73612|-74.185393|region:US-NJ_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline}}

| location = 32 Prince Street, Springfield/Belmont, Newark, Essex County, New Jersey

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| designated_other1_date = January 16, 1990

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| designated_other1_number = 1299

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Oheb Shalom Congregation (transliterated from Hebrew as 'Lovers of Peace') is an egalitarian,{{clarify|date=February 2024}} Conservative Jewish congregation and synagogue located in South Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, in the United States.{{cite book |title=South Orange |author=Welk, Naoma |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location= |year=2002 |page=118 |isbn= }} The synagogue is affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

Its historic former synagogue building, built in 1884, located on Price Street, is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States and was listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places in 1990.

History

The congregation was founded in Newark in September 1860 by a group of Bohemian Jews, the congregation's members have lived in and served Essex County and the broader community for over 160 years.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

The modest Moorish Revival building at 32 Prince Street in the Springfield/Belmont neighborhood was built in 1884.{{cite book |title=A History of the City of Newark, New Jersey |publisher=Lewis Historical Publishing Col |location=New York & Chicago |year=1913 |page= |isbn= }}{{cite journal |title=Rediscovering Jewish Infrastructure: Update on United States Nineteenth Century Synagogues |author=Gordon, Mark W. |journal=American Jewish History |volume=84 |number=1 |year=1996 |pages=11–27 |edition=2019 update |url=http://www.ajhs.org/rediscovering-jewish-infrastructure |access-date= }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/30/realestate/postings-razing-or-reuse-sanctuary-s-fate-in-the-balance.html |title=POSTINGS: Razing or Reuse?; Sanctuary's Fate In the Balance |date=1993-05-30 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2018-02-22 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} It is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States.{{cite web |url=http://www.virtualnewarknj.com/churches/denoms/jewish/ohebjew.htm |title=Congregation Oheb-Shalom |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020141120/http://virtualnewarknj.com/churches/denoms/jewish/ohebjew.htm |archive-date=2007-10-20 }}{{cite book |title=The New Jersey Churchscape: Encountering Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Churches |author=Greenagel, Frank L. |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=2001 |page=93 }}

Documentation records{{cn|date=February 2024}} note Prince Street in Newark as a being one of the earliest, relatively clandestine places of Jewish settlement and worship (primarily Sephardic Jews of Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian descent) in the colonial and early American eras. The later arriving Ashkenazi Jews of Newark accommodated to the areas in and around Prince Street, named for one of the original anglicized Sephardic family names.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In 1911, the congregation moved to High Street (later renamed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.) and subsequently relocated to Scotland Road in South Orange in 1958.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ohebshalom.org/home/page.jsp?pg=1&pgName=OurHistory |title=Our history |work=Oheb Shalom Congregation |year=2018 |language=en |access-date=2018-02-22}}{{self-published-inline|date=February 2024}}

The Prince Street building served as the home of the Metropolitan Baptist Church from 1940 to 1993. In 1990 it was slated for destruction as part of land clearance to enable the construction of Newark's Society Hill housing development. Mark W. Gordon, a historic preservationis, led a movement to preserve the historic building.{{cite web |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CE5D6163BF933A05756C0A965958260 |title=Sanctuary's Fate in the Balance |work=The New York Times |date=May 30, 1993 |access-date= }}

It was restored by Greater Newark Conservancy and is now used as an environmental center.{{cite web |url=http://www.njchurchscape.com/index-July.html |title=July |work=New Jersey Churchscape |date= |access-date= }} It was listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places on January 16, 1990.{{cite web |title=New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Essex County |url=https://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/ESSEX.pdf#page=21 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection – Historic Preservation Office |page=21 |date=September 29, 2022 |quote=listed as the Oheb Shalom Synagogue (Metropolitan Baptist Church) (ID#1299) }} The brick synagogue features windows with Horseshoe arches, an entrance arch with red and white Voussoirs, and twin towers topped by modest domes.

The rabbi, since July 2021, is Rabbi Abigail Treu; and the cantor is Eliana Kissner.

References

External links

{{official website|http://www.ohebshalom.org/}}
{{cite web |archive-date=2006-03-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060322002645/http://www.virtualnewarknj.com/churches/imagepage/jewish/ohebjew/prince.htm |url=http://www.virtualnewarknj.com/churches/imagepage/jewish/ohebjew/prince.htm |title=Synagogue images |work=Virtual Newark, New Jersey |date= }}
[http://www.ohebshalomcemetery.org/ Oheb Shalom Cemetery website]

Category:1860 establishments in New Jersey

Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States

Category:Ashkenazi Jewish culture in New Jersey

Category:Buildings and structures in Newark, New Jersey

Category:Conservative synagogues in New Jersey

Category:Culture of Newark, New Jersey

Category:Czech-Jewish culture in the United States

Category:Jewish organizations established in 1860

Category:Jews and Judaism in Newark, New Jersey

Category:Moorish Revival architecture in New Jersey

Category:Moorish Revival synagogues

Category:New Jersey Register of Historic Places