Louis Marshall laid the cornerstone of the new Temple Emanu-El at Sixty-fifth Street and Fifth Avenue, New York on Friday afternoon in the presence of the synagogue’s three rabbis, Drs. Nathan Krass, H. G. Enelow and Samuel Schulman, and 150 trustees and members of the women’s auxilary.
Fulfilling the dying wish of Charles N. Pollak, the former comptroller, Mr. Marshall, president of the congregation, employd a silver trowel which Mr. Pollak had given him, with the specific request that it be used for that purpose.
A box containing a Bible in Hebrew and the latest revised edition in English, a Union Prayer Book, a history of Emanu-El and Beth-El, the two temples now merged were included in the metal book placed in the cornerstone.
In his address Mr. Marshall recalled that the founders of both congregations had come to this country “to find a refuge from persecution and wretchedness, the opportunities which they craved for, political and civil freedom the right to engage in honorable and useful occupations, and the right to worship God in accordance with their consciences.”
They were few in numbers in those days, nearly a century ago, he continued, but they prospered in the knowledge for the first time what it was “to be citizens of a free country and to practice their religion without fear and trembling, under the safeguards of the glorious Constitution.
“The concept of the architects,” he added, “is that of symbolizing monatheism and the deathless story of Israel.”
Mr. Marshall said the new temple must emphasize the spiritual teachings of the Hebrew prophets, poets and sages, must be a dwelling place for the divine presence, must join mercy and truth, righteousness and peace, justice and charity, and the love of one’s fellow men.
Trustees of the temple who attended, with members of their families, were Ben Altheimer, Henry M. Tooch. Otto E. Dryfoos. William J. Spiegelberg. Henry J. Bernheim. Davis Brown, Philip J. Goodhart Daniel Guggenheim, Sydney H. Herman, Irving Lehman. Benjamin Mordecai, Samuel M. Newburger, Mr. Ochs, Edward Schafer, Roger W. Straus. Ludwig Vogelstein and Arthur Zinn.
Dr. Joseph Silverman, rabbi emeritus of the congregation took part in the ceremonies.
Excavation on the structure was started in January. It is expected the temple will be ready for the High Holydays. It will be the third largest religious structure in the city, the building costing approximately $3,000,000 and the site $5,000,000. The temple will replace the Temple Emanu-El, of Fifth Avenue and Forty-third Street, and Temple Beth-El of Fifth Avenue and Seventy-sixth Street.
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