The Jewish Tourist: NYC—Eldridge St. Synagogue, Yonah Schimmel, Russ & Daughters
The Jewish Tourist is an occasional series covering the Jewish sights, foods, and experiences I've encountered on my travels. Today we're heading to New York City for bagels, knishes, and an awe-inspiring historic synagogue.
New York is one the world's most Jewish cities—the New York metro area is home to 1.4 million Jews, the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. Many of the things people associate with New York, like delicatessens and bagels, originated with and continue to be heavily influenced by Jewish culture.
I recently spent a long weekend in New York to attend a two-day boot camp at Murray's Cheese, but since Jewish history and culture is so accessible in New York I squeezed in some Jewish tourism as well.
Museum at Eldridge Street
The Eldridge Street Synagogue was built in 1887 by the Lower East Side's Eastern European Jewish immigrant community—in fact, it was the first U.S. synagogue purpose-built by Eastern European Jews. It flourished until 1924, when the Immigrant Quota Laws restricted the flow of new immigrants and the existing community began to relocate to New York's outer boroughs. The main sanctuary was shuttered in the 1940s and deteriorated until 1986, when a 20-year restoration project was launched to save the building. The striking modern stained glass window pictured above was commissioned in 2010, and the basement-level visitor center was added in 2014. Today, the synagogue functions primarily as museum (services were held until 2020, when they were discontinued due to the COVID pandemic), and it also hosts concerts, weddings, and other special events.
The synagogue sanctuary is truly an awe-inspiring space—the stained glass (most of which dates to the 1880s) is stunningly vibrant, and the plaster walls are carefully painted to mimic marble. The floors in front the pews are worn down with grooves from the feet of thousands of worshipers, and the ceilings are covered with stars intentionally modeled after the American flag. The immigrants who built the synagogue fled horrific violence, persecution, and poverty in Eastern Europe, and the synagogue—with its grand facade and six-pointed stars towering over the street—is a deeply moving symbol of the religious freedom and opportunities that they found in the United States.
Admission to the Museum at Eldridge Street is $15, and you can tour at your own pace or join a hour-long docent-led tour. Take the guided tour if possible—we gained a much deeper appreciation of the building's history and the restoration project thanks to our guide. Although the synagogue isn't exactly a secret, I was surprised by how quiet it was, with only three other people on our 2pm tour and a handful of self-guided guests. The Museum at Eldridge Street is a little off the beaten path, but it's absolutely worth visiting.
Museum at Eldridge Street, 12 Eldridge Street, New York, 212-219-0302, Sunday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday closed
Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery
I found out about Yonah Schimmel thanks to the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research's online course about Ashkenazi food. A knish is an Eastern European pastry made by wrapping dough around a filling, traditionally mashed potatoes, kasha (buckwheat groats), or cheese, although modern knish fillings are more wide-ranging, including spinach, pastrami, apple, or chocolate. Knishes are usually round and are baked, never fried.
Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery—the last remaining knish bakery on Manhattan—has been selling knishes from a narrow storefront on the Lower East Side since 1910. The shop is currently owned by Yonah's great-nephew, and over the years has been visited by celebrities like Eleanor Roosevelt and Barbara Streisand.
The bakery does seem like it's seen better days—the dining area is roped off and being used for storage, and a single beleaguered employee was grabbing trays of knishes to restock the bakery case, ringing up customers, and boxing up DoorDash orders. The savory knishes are $5.50 each (I got potato, Mike got mushroom) which seemed a little steep for a smallish pastry.
However, these knishes pack a punch—for their size they are incredibly hearty. We ate them for lunch and were satisfied until dinner. It definitely tracks that knishes were a food popular with the Lower East Side's early 20th century working-class Jews, and I'm glad that Yonah Schimmel offers a connection to that history over a century later.
Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery, 137 E. Houston Street, New York, 212-477-2858, Sunday-Saturday 10:30am-6pm
Russ & Daughters Cafe
On previous trips to New York, visiting Russ & Daughters has been a highlight—the appetizing store has been a Lower East Side staple since 1914 and is currently owned and operated by fourth-generation owners and cousins Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper. (Since Jewish dietary laws dictate that meat and dairy can't be sold or eaten together, delicatessens sell cured meats and appetizing stores sell dairy and fish products.) Watching the employees expertly slice smoked salmon thin enough to read the New York Times through it never ceases to amaze me. However, the shop is takeout only, lines are long, and there aren't any great picnic spots nearby.
Enter Russ & Daughters Cafe, a few blocks away from the original shop. The full-service restaurant opened in 2014 and serves a fish-focused breakfast and lunch menu with open-faced sandwiches, soups, fancy scrambled eggs, pickled herring, and caviar. There are also sweet options like rugelach, noodle kugel, challah bread pudding, and babka french toast, plus a beverage menu with cocktails, beer, wine, housemade sodas, and egg creams.
I loved how the cafe evokes the original Russ & Daughters—there's a counter with an employee slicing smoked fish, and the dining room is decorated with historic photos and the same shelves from the shop, stocked with jars of candy, nuts, and pickles. I got an egg cream (a classic New York soda fountain drink made with chocolate syrup, milk, and seltzer), and it hit the spot even at 8:30 in the morning.
As tempted as I was by the babka french toast, at Russ & Daughters you kind of have to get smoked fish. I opted for the classic board with gaspe nova smoked salmon, cream cheese, tomato, onion, capers, and a choice of bread—I went with an everything bagel. No one does smoked fish like Russ & Daughters. It's so silky that it coats your tongue, and the flavor is rich without being intensely fish.
Russ & Daughters Cafe is walk-in only (no reservations or takeout). We arrived just before opening on a Monday and were seated immediately.
Russ & Daughters Cafe, 127 Orchard Street, New York, 212-475-4880, Monday-Thursday 8:30am-2:30pm, Friday-Sunday 8:30am-3:30pm
Bonus: Tenement Museum Shop
I've taken several Tenement Museum tours on previous trips—if you're interested in New York history, the Tenement Museum is one of the most engaging places to experience it. Even if you don't have time for a tour, pop by the museum shop when you're on the Lower East Side. In addition to unique New York and Lower East Side-themed gifts, there's an extensive selection of non-fiction and fiction books, many of which focus on Jewish history. The full selection of merchandise and books also seems to be available online.
Tenement Museum Visitor Center & Shop, 103 Orchard Street, 1-877-975-3786, Sunday-Saturday 10am-6pm