Some Great Anecdotes about famous New York Jews

Once a Realm of Stars, a Temple Is Now Bereft of Them, and Their Money
By JOSEPH BERGER

The Actors’ Temple was once a spiritual home to countless entertainers.  Money quote:

Here is how the Actors’ Temple went from being an Orthodox synagogue to a Conservative one — at least for a time.
Sophie Tucker, the self-proclaimed “Last of the Red Hot Mamas” who was famous for her vaudeville renditions of “Some of These Days,” and “My Yiddishe Momme,” was sitting in the women’s balcony during the High Holy Days and spotted a wealthy woman she was acquainted with enter the men’s section below to pray with her husband, causing something of a stir. The formidable Tucker rose, marched downstairs and joined her, making an emphatic statement that the rabbi was loath to challenge. This was Sophie Tucker, after all. From then on, more women and men sat together in the Conservative custom, or so goes the story as told by the congregation’s current rabbi, who happens to be a woman, Jill Hausman.

Read the rest: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/nyregion/actors-temple-bereft-of-most-stars-plans-bill-paying-benefit.html

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