The Actors' Temple, officially named Congregation Ezrath Israel, is a non-denominational Jewish synagogue located at 339 West 47th Street, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States.

History

The congregation was founded in 1917 as the West Side Hebrew Relief Association, an Orthodox congregation for the shopkeepers in the area. The temple has been located at its current site since 1923, and it was the synagogue of choice for the entertainment industry. Many vaudeville, musical theater, television, and nightclub performers attended services there, including Sophie Tucker, Shelley Winters, Milton Berle, Al Jolson, Jack Benny, Joe E. Lewis, Edward G. Robinson, as well as two of the Three Stooges. Bernard Birstein, an aspiring actor himself, was the first rabbi; he died in 1959.

The temple declined after World War II as actors moved to California and the neighborhood changed. The congregation diminished from 300 members to approximately 30 in 2009. In 2005, in order to bring in additional income, the temple started renting out dance rehearsal space to New Dance Group as well as temporarily transforming into a theatre for plays. However, even with this additional income, the $120,000 annual operating costs used up the $2 million endowment by 2009. Despite these challenges, the temple continues to operate. In 2011, the temple had a fundraising program and about 150 dues-paying members, with an average Friday night worship attendance of 20–30 people.

The Temple congregation was once Orthodox, transitioned to Conservative, and is now non-denominational.

The Temple's Rabbi, Jill Hausman, made an appearance in the Weekend Update portion of the season 49 finale of Saturday Night Live, sitting next to Colin Jost during his delivery of jokes written by co-host Michael Che.

Building

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