Upcoming Events

Calling all foodie families! Don’t miss this super-fun and delicious chance to learn history by eating. At this interactive program, we’ll be exploring the origin of the school lunch program in New York City schools and how it transformed the lives of turn-of-the-20th century Lower East Side kids – at the very place where it all began, the Henry Street Settlement. Today, the idea of feeding kids lunch at school sounds elementary, but in the early 1900s, it was pretty…

This tour of the Museum at Eldridge Street focuses on the architectural history of its landmark synagogue building. Built in 1887, it was nearly lost to neglect in the mid-1900s. A 20 year, $20 million restoration united meticulous research, period craftsmanship and contemporary solutions. This tour is presented in partnership with Archtober.

On this fall walking tour presented in partnership with the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy, you will visit two grand synagogues on the Lower East Side – rare remnants from a time when the neighborhood would have been filled with bustling houses of worship. Although both sites were places of prayer for new Jewish immigrants to the United States, their origins, histories, and architecture are entirely unique. The tour begins at the Bialystoker Synagogue, the largest active orthodox congregation on the Lower…

Open House New York is the city’s largest architecture and design event! The Museum is free all day for self-guided visitors or guided tours. Hourly tours with expert docents will tell the story of our home, the 1887 Eldridge Street Synagogue, and its 20-year, $20 million restoration. Completed in 2007, the meticulous restoration reversed decades of neglect and decay, uncovering fascinating history and raising preservation questions along the way. Tours will also explore the main sanctuary’s newest installation – a…

For more than 120 years, the Forward has given an eager American Jewish audience a unique mix of news, culture and opinion. Published on the Lower East Side beginning in 1897, this Yiddish-language newspaper had a circulation of more than 275,000 in its heyday. Now a digital-only publication appearing in both English and Yiddish, the Forward maintains a vast archive tracing the history of the printed publication and the stories it covered. Pressed dives into this archive, presenting a selection…

In this series with expert teacher Regina Stein, you will examine the variety of ways in which the story of Joseph, presented in Genesis 37-50, has been interpreted in post-Biblical Jewish literature (such as the Apocrypha and the Dead Sea Scrolls), by the classical rabbis, as well as by Christians and Muslims. In what ways do their interpretations promote their own agendas? How can a single Biblical character come to be understood in so many different ways? You’ll gain a…