The First Roumanian-American Congregation, also known as Congregation Shaarey Shomayim, or the Roumanishe Shul, was an Orthodox Jewish congregation at 89–93 Rivington Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The congregation was organized in 1885 by Romanian-Jewish immigrants, serving the Lower East Side's large Romanian-Jewish community. The Rivington Street building, erected around 1860, switched between being a church and a synagogue and was extensively remodeled in 1889. The First Roumanian-American congregation purchased it in 1902 and again remodeled it.
Synagogue entrance in 2005, prior to its demolition
First Roumanian-American synagogue building on Rivington Street
Demolition of the Rivington Street building
Carved stones from the arch of the entrance to the collapsed First Roumanian-American synagogue and its former Talmud Torah, incorporated into the entrance of the building next door at 95 Rivington Street
Moishe Oysher
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Moishe Oysher was an American cantor, recording artist, and film and Yiddish theatre actor. During the 1940s and 1950s he was one of the top Hazzans and his recordings continue to be appreciated due to his rich, powerful voice and creative arrangements.
