The synagogue's spectacular façade, combining Gothic, Moorish and Romanesque elements, was a declaration of pride and arrival for the Jewish immigrant community of the Lower East Side. Its bold Star-of-David patterns unabashedly identified it as a Jewish structure. The design may reference gematria, or Jewish numerology, with, from top to bottom, its 10 upper keyhole windows (commandments), 12 rosettes (tribes of Israel), 5 center keyholes (books of Torah), and 2 front doors (tablets).