Book: Nassau County synagogues

The other day I came across a very interesting book at a Massapequa library: "That I May Dwell among Them," A Synagogue History of Nassau County, published in 1991. This volume of 172 pages describes more than a hundred synagogues or temples. The editors are Tobie Newman and Sylvia Landow, but the individual articles were submitted by each congregation. Because of my interest in Nassau County parishes, this makes for thought-provoking reading. For sure, the Nassau County synagogues are constituted differently from our parishes, with no bishop ("overseer") supervising things religious or mundane.

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Our parishes and the Jewish congregations reflect demographic changes. There is some resemblance to the decisions this year regarding parishes in Elmont, Cedarhurst, and Inwood. Believers arrive in a neighborhood, a congregation is formed, and sometimes many move away. In the two decades since the book's publication, some congregations have sought mergers. Other smaller orthodox congregations have arisen adjacent to larger reformist synagogues. In at least one place, a "For Sale" sign has long been posted at a temple.

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The book's title is full of meaning: "That I May Dwell among Them."

St. Boniface, Elmont

Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

The mailing address of St. Boniface Parish is 631 Elmont Road, Elmont NY 11003, telephone 516-354-0715. The parish website is linked HERE, and it is current as of March, 2019.
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The church, rectory, and graveyard are on the northeast corner of Elmont Road and Dutch Broadway. When the parish was established in the 1850's, this location was known as Foster's Meadow, in the Town of Hempstead, within Queens County, as Nassau County came into existence in 1899. The Catholics were mostly farmers, mostly of German heritage. St. Boniface himself was born in England and became an apostle to the Germans. He lived from about 672 to 754. A bas-relief of Boniface stands to the right of the main door of the church, built in 1963.

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An article printed 6.23.2011 in the Franklin Square/Elmont Herald says that the church was first named the Nativity of Our Lord. "In 1857, the building was rededicated and called St. Boniface." The diocesan website gives 1858 as the date of the establishment of the parish.

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Please do not confuse this parish with St. Boniface Martyr, Sea Cliff. That parish is younger, and the patron is a different Boniface.

Stained glass windows surround the pews. Quite a few present extraordinary topics. Above is the martyrdom of St. Boniface in Frisia, now the Friesland, Netherlands. The year was 754.

St. James the Less does not have a Catholic parish on Long Island, so here he is in Elmont, writing a letter. The Bible has a epistle with his name.

I find it difficult to take good photos of stained glass windows; exposure fools me. This window depicts Pope John XXIII welcoming Bishop Walter Kellenberg to the Second Vatican Council. The council opened in October, 1962. John died the next June. The cornerstone of St. Boniface church is dated 1963. In 1976, Bishop Kellenberg retired.

St. Rose of Lima, Massapequa

St. Rose of Lima church, on the southeast corner of Merrick Road and Bayview Avenue, has the mailing address 2 Bayview Avenue, Massapequa NY 11758, telephone 516-798-4992.  The parish website is linked here.

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The mailing address of the parish elementary school is 4704 Merrick Road, Massapequa NY 11758, telephone 516-541-1546.  The school website is linked here.

Looking east from the church, one sees the school auditorium and classrooms.

The church is capacious.

St. Rose of Lima lived in Peru from 1586 to 1617.  At age 20, she joined the third order of the followers of St. Dominic, known as Dominicans.  This parish was founded under her patronage in 1952, and when the large church you see here was built in the 1960's, it included ten stained-glass windows depicting her life. However, the window shown above must be a metaphor of her spirituality rather than an actual event. 
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According to a parish history, Rose was the name of the mother of the first priest assigned as pastor in 1952, Rev. John Fagan. However, he became ill before he could start his assignment.

In Nassau County, St. Dominic (1170-1221) and his followers are patron saints of five parishes: St. Dominic (Oyster Bay), St. Hyacinth (Glen Head), St. Rose of Lima (Massapequa), St. Catherine of Siena (Franklin Square), and St. Raymond (East Rockaway).  It seems that no Dominican priests work in Nassau County, but for more than a century Sisters of St. Dominic (that is, Dominican Sisters) have immensely helped the Catholic church in this county by staffing schools, orphanages, and other responsible works.
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In the 18 miles of Merrick Road across Nassau County, a traveler passes the front door of three Catholic churches: Our Lady of Peace, Lynbrook, St. Christopher's, Baldwin, and St. Rose of Lima.  

St. Edward Confessor, Syosset

St. Edward Confessor stands in front of his new church at 205 Jackson Avenue, Syosset NY 11791.  The parish telephone number is 516-921-8030.  The school entrance is around the corner at 2 Teibrook Avenue, telephone 516-921-7767.  The buildings are about a half-mile south of the Syosset train station, via Jackson Avenue.
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Edward, who became King of England, lived from 1003 to 1066.  The title "Confessor" means that he confessed the Faith, not that he heard confessions.  He was not a priest.  It seems that there are two other parishes in Nassau County named for saintly monarchs: St. Hedwig and St. Ladislaus.

The church, seen here from Jackson Avenue, is many-sided.  The main entrance and foyer are at the left of this photo.  The church faces a large parking lot surrounded by the parish buildings and a green ballfield. 

An excellent article in the Long Island Catholic is linked here.

The school website is linked here.  The parish website, out of service as I type, is listed in the bulletin as www.st-edwards.org  On 5.28.2013, Newsday reported that the school enrollment is 218.

The quotation seems to be from a 1937 encyclical, "Divini Redemptoris."

Holy Spirit, New Hyde Park

Holy Spirit Church is located on the south side of Jericho Turnpike (NY 25) in New Hyde Park.  The rectory address is 11 South Sixth Street, New Hyde Park NY 11040, telephone 516-354-0359.  

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Bishop Charles McDonnell of Brooklyn established this parish in 1897 as Holy Ghost parish.  Five years later, he established the parish of St. Hedwig, a half-mile west.

A note in the parish bulletin states that the 5 p.m. Sunday Mass is not offered during the summer.

Looking north on South Sixth Street, one can view Precious Spirit Child Care Center in the former elementary school.  Also visible are the tall windows of the church with classrooms above it.  At the far end is Jericho Turnpike.  The rectory is to the right of the car.

St. Hedwig, Floral Park

St. Hedwig's church stands on the south side of Jericho Turnpike (NY 25) in Floral Park at the corner of Depan Avenue.  The rectory address is 1 Depan Avenue, Floral Park NY 11001, telephone 516-354-0042.  The well-designed, informative parish website is linked here.
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In 1902, the bishop of Brooklyn established the parish for Polish Catholics, and this church was built the next year.

The above schedule was photographed in August, 2012.

The parish patron is presumably Sw. Jadwiga, monarch of Poland, who lived 1373-1399, revered as a saint for centuries before her official canonization by Pope John Paul II.

An inscription in the vestibule lists the renowned and productive George Streeton as architect.

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St. James, Seaford

Note the scallop shells referring to the Apostle's shrine at Compostela, Galicia.

The parish of St. James is the most northern of the three parishes with a Seaford address.  At 80 Hicksville Road, Seaford NY 11783, its phone number is 516-731-3710.  The informative website is linked here. 
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Hicksville Road (NY 107) runs on the east side of the parish grounds, and Seamans Neck Road on the west side.  The grounds are mostly or completely within the Town of Oyster Bay (and the Plainedge School District), with the Town of Hempstead (and Island Trees School District) adjacent to the west. 

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The parish patron is the apostle James (called The Greater), brother of St. John.  In Nassau County, there are two other Catholic churches named in honor of one of the twelve apostles: St. Andrew (Westbury) and St. Thomas (West Hempstead).
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The former parish elementary school on Seamans Neck Road provides parish offices and religious education classrooms.  
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The 8.10.2011 edition of The Long Island Catholic carried an interesting story of the first building used by St. James parish in 1951.  It was a transformed chicken coop, which is now part of the parish of Sts. Peter and Paul in Manorville.