text: east midwood jewish center east midwood jewish center is a conservative synagogue located at 1625 ocean avenue , midwood , brooklyn , new york city . organized in 1924 , the congregation 's renaissance revival building ( completed in 1929 ) typified the large multi - purpose synagogue centers being built at the time , and was from the 1990s until 2010 the only synagogue with a working swimming pool in brooklyn . the building has been unmodified architecturally since its construction , and in 2006 was added to the national register of historic places ( nrhp ) . membership dropped during the great depression , and the synagogue suffered financial hardship , but it recovered , and by 1941 had 1 , 100 member families . in 1950 the congregation built an adjoining school ; at its peak its enrollment was almost 1 , 000 . as neighborhood demographics changed in the late 20th century , and brooklyn 's jewish population became more orthodox , the east midwood jewish center absorbed three other conservative brooklyn congregations . the east midwood jewish center has had only four rabbis since it was founded . reuben kaufman served from 1924 to 1929 , harry halpern from 1929 to 1977 and alvin kass from 1976 to 2014 . in 2014 , matt carl became the rabbi . history founding east midwood was organized in 1924 by jacob r. schwartz , a dentist who was concerned that his two sons had no nearby hebrew school which they could attend . from the start his intention had been to create a conservative synagogue : conservative judaism was seen as a compromise between orthodox and reform , providing the familiar ( and lengthy ) hebrew services of orthodox judaism , but , like reform , adding some english prayers . east midwood differed from earlier ashkenazi synagogues in new york , as services were to be conducted in hebrew and english only ( not hebrew and yiddish ) , and the members were to come from immigrants from all over europe , not just one city or region . east midwood held its first annual meeting on november 18 , 1924 at the jewish communal center of flatbush ( also known as the flatbush jewish center ) , and there elected its first president , pincus weinberg . weinberg , who was also chair of the real estate committee , was the father of sidney weinberg , who rose from the job of assistant porter to head goldman sachs from 1930 to 1969 . prior to moving to flatbush , pincus weinberg had been president of congregation baith israel anshei emes . east midwood 's first rabbi was reuben kaufman , and its first cantor was jacob . kaufman , a brooklyn native , had celebrated his bar mitzvah at baith israel anshei emes . building construction the real estate committee almost immediately purchased land located on avenue l between east 26th and 27th streets . most members , however , felt a location on ocean avenue would be more desirable . issues arose with developing the land on avenue l , and in 1925 the committee purchased the current location at 1625 ocean avenue in midwood , brooklyn . the cornerstone was laid in 1926 , and , although not complete , the building was fully enclosed by the autumn , and high holiday services were held there that year . the center 's talmud torah , which had been created in 1925 and held in a temporary structure , also moved into the new building . designed in the renaissance revival style , the building was finally completed in 1929 at the cost of $ 1 , 000 , 000 ( today $ 13 . 8 million ) . it typified the new " synagogue - centers " being built at that time , combining the functions of both a synagogue and community center , and included " a synagogue , auditorium , kitchens , restaurant , classrooms , gymnasium , and swimming pool " . that year kaufman left the center to become the rabbi of temple emanu - el in paterson , new jersey , and harry halpern became east midwood 's rabbi . halpern , who also became an adjunct professor of pastoral psychiatry at the jewish theological seminary of america ( jtsa ) , would go on to serve as rabbi for 49 years , until his retirement in 1977 , four years before his death in 1981 . great depression and school building the great depression took its toll on the congregation , and membership dropped . in order to cope with the financial burdens , dues were raised , teachers were given endorsed notes rather than paychecks , the executive secretary was laid off , pews were sold , and individual members provided mortgage guarantees . the synagogue survived , and membership recovered ; by 1934 there were 300 members , and by 1944 there were 1 , 100 . in 1950 , east midwood built a three story school building and a two - story bridge link between the school and synagogue . at its peak in the early 1950s the school had an enrollment of almost 1 , 000 . east midwood later created a conservative jewish day school , serving students from kindergarten to grade 8 , and also providing " afternoon religious instruction for public school students through high school . " the school was subsequently renamed the rabbi harry halpern day school , in honor of rabbi halpern . in october 1968 , then mayor of new york city john lindsay was booed and jeered by a huge crowd at the east midwood jewish center , in an infamous incident during the 1968 new york city teachers strike . lindsay had supported a school decentralization plan that had pitted mostly black parents against mostly jewish teachers and school administration ; after the administrator of the ocean hill — brownsville school board dismissed 13 teachers and 6 administrators ( mostly jewish ) for opposing decentralization , the united federation of teachers " called a strike that closed 85 percent of the city 's 900 schools for 55 days " . when lindsay arrived he was met by a mob of 2 , 000 people outside the synagogue , who shouted " lindsay must go " and " we want shanker " . halpern admonished the protesters , asking " is this the exemplification of the jewish faith ? " , but many replied " yes " . lindsay was heckled off the podium by the audience inside , and his limousine was " pounded on " and " pelted with trash " by the mob outside ( which had grown to 5 , 000 ) as he drove away . the strike , which was marked by " threats of violence and diatribes laced with racism and anti - semitism " , ended when the new york legislature suspended the administrator and the board . following halpern 's retirement in 1977 , east midwood hired as rabbi alvin kass , a graduate of columbia college and the jtsa , with a ph.d. in philosophy from new york university . late 20th - early 21st century as brooklyn 's changing demographics have made non - orthodox institutions less viable , east midwood has absorbed three other congregations , including the jewish communal center of flatbush , where east midwood had held its first annual meeting , and , in 1978 , flatbush 's congregation shaare torah . in 1996 , membership was 1 , 000 families . the synagogue building has remained architecturally unchanged since its construction , and was from the 1990s until 2010 the only synagogue in brooklyn with a functioning swimming pool . in june 2006 , it was added to the nrhp . that year the congregation received a $ 300 , 000 loan from the new york landmarks conservancy for repairs for " masonry and steel repairs on the side and rear facades . " it also raised $ 40 , 000 in order to receive a 2 : 1 " matching grant " of $ 20 , 000 from the conservancy , and completed the repair work in 2007 . in november 2007 east midwood was awarded a $ 409 , 575 new york state environmental protection fund grant to " restore features of the sanctuary including stained glass windows , stained glass dome and skylight . " aaron pomerantz joined as associate rabbi in 1978 . born in poland , he had escaped europe after the outbreak of world war ii , moving to canada and then the united states . there he graduated from manhattan 's washington irving high school , and in 1952 received his rabbinic ordination from yeshiva rabbi chaim berlin . from 1948 he had served as ritual director and then rabbi of congregation shaare torah , joining the east midwood jewish center when the two congregations merged . he served until his death in may 2009 . dr. alvin kass served as rabbi from 1976 - 2014 . kass has also been a new york city police department chaplain for over 40 years , and had previously served as a united states air force chaplain for two years . at one point during his service as police department chaplain he and his family received months of 24 - hour security after death threats , and at another he defused a hostage situation by providing the hostage taker with sandwiches from the carnegie deli . kass , who teaches ethics at the police academy , was instrumental in getting jewish police officers time off to observe the sabbath . he also convinced the nypd society ( the fraternal organization of jewish members of the new york city police department ) to admit david durk . durk , along with the more famous frank serpico , had been the source of the allegations of police corruption that led to the formation of the knapp commission . in 2014 , rabbi kass retired from the position of rabbi at east midwood jewish center and currently serves as rabbi emeritus . as of 2014 , rabbi matt carl and cantor samuel levine serve as the clergy of east midwood jewish center . architecture the east midwood jewish center building 's architect is uncertain . the design is officially credited to the building committee and irving warshaw , the construction superintendent . the architect 's name is not recorded in synagogue records , nor on the building 's dedicatory plaque . the center 's national register of historic places ( nrhp ) nomination form , however , argues that the architect was louis abramson , based on visual evidence and one piece of written evidence . abramson was a leading architect of synagogue - centers at that time . he designed a number of new york examples , including the original synagogue - center , the manhattan jewish center ( 1918 ) , as well as the brooklyn jewish center , the flatbush jewish center , and the ocean parkway jewish center ( all constructed in brooklyn between 1920 and 1924 ) . while the flatbush jewish center has been completely remodeled , the brooklyn and ocean parkway jewish centers are visually similar to the east midwood jewish center , and the brooklyn jewish center in particular has an identical layout . the written evidence consists of an entry in a souvenir journal commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the flatbush jewish center , stating that abramson drew east midwood 's plans . the nrhp nomination form speculates that abramson drew the basic plans for the east midwood center , and that the building committee completed them , in order to save money . alternatively , maurice courland 's 1957 obituary claims the east midwood jewish center as his work . courland also designed a number of synagogues and new york landmarks , including brooklyn 's magen david synagogue . famous members author and talk show host dennis prager taught at east midwood 's hebrew day school , and famous congregational members have included supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg , who was confirmed at east midwood , and filmmaker marc levin . levin 's grandfather , herman levin , had been a president of the east midwood jewish center , and had also helped found , and been a long - time lay - leader of , the reconstructionist movement . east midwood has also had members who have died under tragic circumstances , including jason , who was killed in the september 11 , 2001 attacks , and danny farkas , a new york police lieutenant and national guard soldier who died while stationed in kabul , afghanistan .