The war on the “mushroom synagogues” which each year spring up just before the High Holidays, is on again. These synagogues have been attacked from two sources, one a condemnatory resolution adopted by the Rabbinical Association of the Yeshivah College calling upon the Jews not to attend services in these temporary synagogues, and the other the enlargement of synagogues in the Bronx.
Pointing out that the “mushroom synagogues” are conducted for the profit of private individuals without any benefit to the community and that the services in them are not conducted in a true religious spirit, the Rabbinical Association urges the Jews not to patronize these synagogues and makes a special plea at this time because the economic crisis makes them a particular menace to the regular congregations.
In the Bronx, Rabbi Jacob Katz, spiritual leader of the Montefiore Congregation, is making arrangements to spend $10,000 to enlarge the vestry room so that it will accommodate 200 people, or the equivalent of the number of persons ordinarily attending services at one “mushroom synagogue.” Other Bronx rabbis who have joined the fight against the “mushroom synagogues” are Dr. Louis Hammer of the Kingsbridge Jewish Center and Dr. Alexander Basel of the Jacob H. Schiff Center.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
