Ramath Orah

{{Short description|Modern Orthodox synagogue in Manhattan, New York}}

{{Infobox religious building

| name = Ramath Orah

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| image = WSTM Mark Frank 0011.jpg

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| caption = Ramath Orah synagogue

| religious_affiliation = Modern Orthodox Judaism

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| status = Synagogue

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| location = West 110th Street, Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York

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| country = United States

| map_type = Manhattan

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| map_caption = Location in Manhattan

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| architecture_type = Synagogue

| architecture_style = Georgian Revival

| founded_by = {{ubl|Rabbi Dr Robert Serebrenik|{{nowrap|Mrs Julia Serebrenik (née Herzog)}}|anor.}}

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| established = 1941 {{small|(as a congregation)}}

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| year_completed = 1942 {{small|(converted the West Side Unitarian Church)}}

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| materials = Brick; rolled asphalt; granite, limestone

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

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| name = West Side Unitarian Church{{spaced endash}}
Congregation Ramath Orah

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| added = September 17, 2015

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Ramath Orah is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located on West 110th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City, New York, United States. Located close to Columbia University the synagogue occupies a neo-Georgian building that was built in 1921 as the first stage of a large West Side Unitarian Church.{{cite fromatoz|page=180}}{{cite morningside|page=459 (footnote 125}}{{cite web |url=http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/WestSideUnitarian.html |title=West Side Unitarian Church |work=nycago.org |date= |access-date= }}

The building was entered into the National Register of Historic Places on September 17, 2015.{{cite web |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/123e6603-a3e1-46b6-8c6c-1976d3d9c9c4 |title=West Side Unitarian Church{{spaced endash}}Congregation Ramath Orah |work=National Register of Historic Places |publisher=National Park Service |date=September 17, 2015 |access-date=December 8, 2023 }}

History

The congregation was founded in 1942 by Rabbi Dr. Robert Serebrenik, his wife Mrs. Julia Serebrenik (née Herzog), and sixty-one other Jewish refugees from Luxembourg. Serebrenik, who was born in Vienna in 1902, had been Chief Rabbi of Luxembourg since 1929. About 1000 Jews fled into France at the time of the German invasion of Luxembourg, May 10, 1940. Luxembourg had approximately 4,000 Jewish residents at the beginning of WWII, about half of whom had recently sought refuge there from Nazi countries. Rabbi and Mrs. Serebrenik stayed and organized a series of clandestine escapes of about 2,000 members of the Jewish population into southern, unoccupied France and elsewhere. On March 20, 1941, Serebrenik met in Berlin with Adolf Eichmann who demanded that Luxembourg must be “Judenrein”, and was given eleven days to complete the emigration of the Jewish population from Luxembourg. Serebrenik managed to secure the exit of a further 250 Jews before he and his wife were driven out by the Gestapo.{{cite web |url=http://www.ramathorah.org/theluxembourgheritage.html |title=The Luxembourg Heritage |work=Congregation Ramath Orah |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602125142/http://www.ramathorah.org/theluxembourgheritage.html |archive-date=2008-06-02 |date= |access-date= }}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/nyregion/thecity/02holi.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin |title=World of Their Fathers |work=The New York Times |date=2005-10-02 |access-date= }} According to the New York Times, Serebrenik stayed, working to secure visas for more Jews, “until he was seized by the Gestapo and beaten unconscious.”{{cite news |author= |title=ROBERT SEREBRENIK RABBI, IS DEAD AT 62 |work=The New York Times |date=February 12, 1965 |page= }}

With the new century, Ramath Orah experienced a revival with a dynamic, young Rabbi Stephen Friedman.{{cite news |author=Josephs, Susan |title=The Greening Of The Rabbinate: Manhattan shuls looking to the future are tapping twenty- and thirtysomething rabbis. Can the new breed keep young, fickle Jews fired up? |work=The Jewish Week |date=March 31, 2000 |page= }} The Columbia Spectator describes it as “very popular among Columbia students who want a spirited, liberal, Orthodox service."{{cite news |author1=Carhart, Matt |author2=Aronauer, Rebecca |title=CU Jewish Students Seek High Holiday Services |work=Columbia Spectator |date=October 3, 2003 |page= }}

The Hebrew name Ramath Orah is said to reflect a translation of the name Luxembourg as Mountain of Light, although the former's etymology is a Germanic name meaning little castle.

Ramath Orah is the synagogue described in Ari L. Goldman’s book, Living a Year of Kaddish.

Notable members

Diana Muir Appelbaum, a professor{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= Annual Dinner 2014 Honoring Paul & Dede Appelbaum and Andre & Shalhevet Jacobvitz |publisher=Congregation Ramath Orah |date= |url=https://www.ramathorah.org/annualdinner2014 |accessdate=January 20, 2019}}
Paul S. Appelbaum, a professor
Saul Berman, a rabbi
Ester Fuchs, a professor
Ari L. Goldman, a professor
Louis Henkin, a professor
Adam Zachary Newton, a professor
David Schizer, a dean
Ismar Schorsch, a rabbi
Robert Serebrenik, a rabbi
Joseph Telushkin, a rabbi