Our History
Our History
“How do you start a synagogue?” Harold Levine, T&V’s first President, asked the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1948, and a new Conservative Jewish synagogue was soon created.
“You had to have a shul.” So said one of the members of the founding generation. They were young men and women, often newly married, starting new lives after WWII in newly built Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, which gave preference to returning veterans. Because at first, T&V had no full-time rabbi, many ritual as well as administrative responsibilities fell on the members. Lay Torah readers and lay daveners were needed if the shul was to exist from week to week. And from this necessity grew the lay participation that is the distinguishing feature and pride of T&V today.
In the early years, T&V was literally a congregation “on the move.” From a social hall, to the meeting room of a union, above a liquor store and elsewhere throughout our neighborhood, T&V kept moving until 1962. Then, in a procession of Torahs up 14th Street, the congregation moved into a former Ukrainian Orthodox church, ending our years of wandering.
Traditional, participatory, and egalitarian, T&V has members from throughout the New York area. Our members look to T&V, as did our founders, as our sacred space, our spiritual home, a place where Conservative Jews, lay and clergy, men and women, adults and children, together, create community and commitment.
Sat, April 27 2024
19 Nisan 5784
Today's Sefirah Count Is 4
היום ארבעה ימים לעמר |
Today's Calendar
Chol Hamoed Pesach |
Morning Services : 9:30am |
Havdalah : 8:39pm |
Upcoming Programs & Events
May 2 |
May 6 Yom HaShoah Holocaust Commemoration with Downtown Jewish Life Monday, May 6 7:00pm |
May 8 Benjamin Berman Gladstone Continues the Conversation on Feminist God Language Wednesday, May 8 7:00pm |
May 16 |
May 16 |
Candle Lighting
Shabbat, Apr 27, 7:31pm |
Havdalah
Motzei Shabbat, Apr 27, 8:39pm |
Chol Hamoed Pesach
Shabbat, Apr 27 |