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Article: An Aging Synagogue Propels a Philanthropist on a Quest for Identity: With a $1 Million City Grant, Project at Eldridge Street Shul Sparks a Battle Over Church-State Separation
- Article from:
- Forward
- Article date:
- November 10, 2000
- Author:
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Keys, Lisa
Forward
11-10-2000
An Aging Synagogue Propels a Philanthropist on a Quest for Identity: With a
$1 Million City Grant, Project at Eldridge Street Shul Sparks a Battle Over
Church-State Separation
By LISA KEYS
For years, Roberta Brandes Gratz, the product of an "over-assimilated"
family, grew up with barely a semblance of Jewish identity. Coming of age
in Greenwich Village, Ms. Gratz had virtually no connection to the vibrant
Jewish history of the Lower East Side, a mere 15-minute walk away.
But one of her life's defining moments came in 1986 when her friend,
attorney Bill Josephson, brought her to the derelict Eldridge Street
Synagogue near Canal Street. Mr. Josephson had discovered the ...