Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale

CSAIR is situated in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx and serves Jewish residents of Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Yonkers, and Upper Manhattan.[1] Its mailing address is 475 West 250th Street, Riverdale, NY 10471.[2] Its contact page invites visitors to call about Shabbat hospitality or to arrange a weekday tour.[5]

The congregation describes itself as an inclusive, egalitarian community dedicated to Jewish learning (Torah), prayer and observance (Avodah), acts of kindness and social responsibility (Gemilut Chasadim), and Israel.[2] Among its services is Minyan Kivinu, a traditional egalitarian service that meets at the synagogue.[6]

The Conservative Synagogue of Riverdale was founded in 1954, with Rabbi Max Kadushin as its first rabbi.[3]

In 1973, the congregation merged with Adath Israel of the Grand Concourse at the 250th Street location.[4] The synagogue's history page describes Adath Israel as one of New York City's great Conservative institutions.[3] A plaque commemorating the consolidation bears the words: "We loved our house of worship. It enriched our lives and uplifted our souls."[4] The consolidation created CSAIR at the 250th Street location.[4]

In 2003, on its Jubilee Anniversary, CSAIR launched a community-wide Capital and Endowment Campaign to support its financial future.[3]

CSAIR serves Jewish residents of Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Yonkers, and Upper Manhattan.[1] The congregation says its membership includes people of varied ages, backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, income levels, family structures, and approaches to religious practice and thought.[2]

Jewish education has been a sustained institutional priority at CSAIR. A 1983–84 Fund for Jewish Education summary report — administered by the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York and sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph S. Gruss, the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, and the United Jewish Appeal — listed the congregation in three supplementary-school program appendices: Basic Grants, Life Insurance, and Special Education Grants.[7] The fund's stated aim was supporting and enhancing the quality of Jewish education through school grants and educator benefits.[7]

In the 2006–2007 Census of Jewish Supplementary Schools, the congregation's school was listed at 475 West 250th Street under the Conservative denominational affiliation.[8] A Center for Israel Education document also lists CSAIR among schools and organizations that participated in ISMI/CIE one-week workshops during the 2000–2023 period, although it does not specify the congregation's participation date.[9]

CSAIR's current Passport to Jewish Education program provides scholarship support intended to reduce the cost of formal and experiential Jewish education for members' children, with incentives covering Hebrew school, Jewish day school, camps, and Israel study or travel.[10] The Herman and Sarah Schwartz Israel Scholarship Fund provides an annual $1,000 scholarship to a CSAIR student; recipients are required to write about the experience afterward and complete a community service project approved by CSAIR education staff.[10]

The congregation has also developed programming aimed at welcoming young families. A 2018 entry in the Congressional Record describes a leader who ran CSAIR's Young Family Children's Program for two years, planning weekly Shabbat and annual High Holiday services for young children and their families — services featuring prayer, song, stories, and dancing — while giving parents an opportunity to connect with one another.[11] The program was credited with helping young families feel welcome and at home in the synagogue community. One family later celebrated two life-cycle events — a naming and a bris — at CSAIR, and its three children came to call the congregation "our shul." In 2018, CSAIR selected the program's leader as a distinguished honoree at its annual Gala Celebration.[11]

The congregation's first building served as a Hebrew school. A sanctuary designed by architect Percival Goodman was dedicated in 1962, after which the community began to grow.[3] The synagogue's history page later described the sanctuary as renewed and the building as having an accessible entrance.[3]

Rabbi Barry Dov Katz has served the Bronx community at CSAIR since 1998.[12] He has also served as an adjunct lecturer at the Jewish Theological Seminary since 2007, and the congregation describes itself as a "teaching shul" where rabbinical students intern, learn about congregational life, and contribute their skills.[12] Katz testified at a sentencing hearing regarding the 2000 attack on the synagogue, stating that the incident had "rekindled painful memories of other events in Jewish history" for congregants and others who witnessed the damage.[4]

Rabbi Katie Greenberg serves as Associate Rabbi and joined CSAIR in 2018.[12] Cantor Elizabeth Stevens joined in 2009 and works with Rabbi Katz to create inclusive, engaging services featuring enthusiastic congregational singing.[12]

Rabbi Chaim Pearl was ordained as a Conservative rabbi in 1964 and that year took a post at the Conservative Adath Israel Synagogue in Riverdale, serving through 1980.[13] Pearl had previously served congregations in Birmingham and London.[13]

CSAIR was targeted in a 2000 antisemitic firebombing attempt and in a 2021 wave of vandalism against Riverdale synagogues.[4][14] Early on October 8, 2000 — the eve of Yom Kippur — two ignited Molotov cocktails were thrown or left at or near the synagogue's door.[4] One bottle was broken and the other remained intact; the door's glass windows were cracked.[4] The synagogue was unoccupied at the late hour except for its caretaker.[4]

The Anti-Defamation League, filing an amicus brief in the resulting prosecution (New York v. Mazin Assi), characterized the attack as an attempt to damage and burn the synagogue in order to send a message to Jewish people, and argued that the attack was intended to intimidate and harm the Jewish community, not merely to damage a building.[4] Rabbi Katz testified at the attacker's sentencing that the incident had "rekindled painful memories of other events in Jewish history" for congregants and others who saw the synagogue damage.[4]

In April 2021, CSAIR was one of four Riverdale synagogues whose windows or glass doors were smashed by rocks overnight.[14] New York Governor Andrew Cuomo directed the State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to assist with the investigation, and police presence around the affected synagogues was increased.[14] Security footage reviewed by the volunteer Community Security Service showed the suspect had vandalized two of the synagogues earlier that same week.[14] The CSS national director described the incidents as the third consecutive time in one week that Jewish institutions in the area had been harassed or vandalized; no arrest had been reported at the time of publication.[14]