The East 55th Street Conservative, located in mid-town Manhattan, was founded in 1906, as Chevra B’nai Lev.   Originally an Orthodox congregation, the community began meeting in a rented room on the second floor of a building on 57th Street and Second Avenue, when the El was still a fixture of the area. 

 The B'nai Lev congregation moved to our present site at 308 East 55th Street in 1916, having purchased the building from a Baptist Church.  In 1966, in response to changes in the community’s demographic profile, the congregation changed its religious affiliation to the Conservative Movement.  A year later, Rabbi Reuven Siegel was appointed as its first Conservative rabbi.  Rabbi Siegel brought with him several members of his Bronx congregation as well as the stained-glass windows from his former synagogue, which, due to demographic changes, had become a church. Rabbi Siegel served the congregation for 40 years, during which time the congregation grew from 60 families to more than 150.   Rabbi Siegel’s wife Penny, zikhrona livrakha, founded the original Sisterhood of our congregation, which now is an affiliate of the Women's League of Conservative Judaism.

 In 1986, under the strong leadership of Rabbi Siegel, the congregation became fully egalitarian. 

Throughout its history, one of the congregation's great strength has always been its great diversity.  Our community is comprised not only of people of  European descent, but also people from Israel, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, South Africa, and South America.  Our rituals, music, and even our catering reflects our unusual combination of Jews of Ashkenazi and Sephardi backgrounds worshipping together. 

Rabbi Siegel's retirement coincided with the completion of the synagogue's first century.  In honor of his long, dedicated service, he was named Rabbi Emeritus. 

After a two-year rabbinic search, the Congregation appointed Rabbi Jan Uhrbach as its new rabbi, effective October 2007.  It was impressed by her energy, enthusiasm, spirituality, care, and vision -- all of which promise not only a revitalization of our current membership, but also growth.

One of Rabbi Uhrbach's innovative accomplishments is her bridging of two congregations, the East 55th Street Conservative Synagogue and the Conservative Synagogue of the Hamptons, where she presides during the summer.  The partnership -- which represents a new model of synagogue structures -- is not merely in name, but in programming and membership, mutual assistance and support, and joint study opportunities. 

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