Beth Hamedrash Hagadol - Schism

Schism

In 1859, disagreement broke out between Ash and the synagogue's parnas (president) Joshua Rothstein over who had been responsible for procuring the Allen Street location, and escalated into a conflict "over the question of official authority and 'honor'". Members took sides in the dispute, which led to synagogue disturbances, a contested election, and eventually to Ash's taking Rothstein to a United States court to try to oust him as president of the congregation. After the court rejected Ash's arguments, a large majority of members left with Ash to form Beth Hamedrash Hagadol ("Great House of Study"), adding the word "Hagadol" ("Great") to the original name.

The followers of Rothstein stayed at the Allen Street location and retained the name "Beth Hamedrash" until the mid-1880s. With membership and financial resources both severely reduced, they were forced to merge with Congregation Holche Josher Wizaner; the combined congregation adopted the name "Kahal Adath Jeshurun", and built the Eldridge Street Synagogue.

According to Eisenstein, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol provided an atmosphere that was "socially religious", in which Jews "combine piety with pleasure; they call their shule a shtibl or prayer-club room; they desire to be on familiar terms with the Almighty and abhor decorum; they want everyone present to join and chant the prayers; above all they scorn a regularly ordained cantor." In contrast to the informality of the services, members scrupulously observed the Jewish dietary laws, and every member personally oversaw the baking of his matzos for use on Passover.

The congregation initially moved to the top floor of a building at the corner of Grand and Forsyth Streets, and in 1865 moved again, to a former courthouse on Clinton Street. In 1872, the congregation built a synagogue at Ludlow and Hester Streets. There the congregation's younger members gained greater control and introduced some minor innovations; for example, changing the title of parnas to president, and in 1877 hiring a professional cantor—Judah Oberman—for $500 (today $10,900) per year, to bring greater formality and decorum to the services as well as to attract new members. While somewhat "Americanized", in general the congregation remained quite traditional. Men and women sat separately, the full service in the traditional prayer book was followed, and the congregation still trained men for rabbinic ordination. Additionally, Talmud and Mishna study groups, founded in the 1870s, were held both mornings and evenings.

Ash had only served as Beth Hamedrash Hagadol's rabbi intermittently during this time; during the American Civil War he had briefly been a successful manufacturer of hoopskirts, before losing his money, and returning to the rabbinate. Congregants had a number of issues with him, including his outside business ventures and an alleged inclination towards Hasidism. The more learned members of the congregation contested his scholarship. Ash resigned as rabbi in 1877, and in 1879, directors of Beth Hamedrash Hagadol proposed that a Chief Rabbi be hired for New York. A number of New York City synagogues formed the "United Hebrew Orthodox Congregations", and agreed to select the Malbim (Meïr Leibush ben Jehiel Michel Weiser) for the role. The appointment was announced in Philadelphia's Jewish Record, but the Malbim never filled the position. Beth Hamedrash Hagadol re-hired Ash to fill the vacant role of congregational rabbi at a salary of $25 per month (or $300—today $7,000—per year). The following year the congregation hired a new cantor, Simhe Samuelson, for $1,000 (today $25,000) a year, over three times Ash's salary.