The Eldridge St Project

Unlike a traditional museum, we offer an intimate, authentic portal to the past for people of all backgrounds. Step into the footsteps of the synagogue's immigrant founders. Explore digital displays. Discover how the immigrant experience transformed and continues to transform communities today. Discover the history, architecture and spiritual significance of the Eldridge Street Synagogue, the first great house of worship built by East European immigrants in America. The Museum is open Sunday — Thursday from 10am to 5pm, and Friday from 10am to 3pm. Our digital displays, created by Potion Design, are truly magical! Explore the sites and streets of the Lower East Side of 100 years ago. Discover synagogues from around the world. Design your own Yiddish newspaper and play other interactive games. The Museum’s digital displays were the recipient of the American Association of Museum’s 2008 Gold Award for Interactive Installation. Also, be sure to spend time in our Family History Center with its display of artifacts from our collection and the Women’s Gallery which is home to an exhibit on the synagogue restoration. Between 1880 and 1924, two and a half million East European Jews came to the United States. Close to 85 percent of them came to New York City, and approximately 75 percent of those settled initially on the Lower East Side. The Eldridge Street Synagogue opened its doors at 12 Eldridge Street on September 4, 1887, just in time for the Jewish High Holidays. Hundreds of newly arrived immigrants from Russia and Poland gathered here to pray, socialize and build a community. It was the first time in America that Jews of Eastern Europe had built a synagogue from the ground up.