Bidspirit auction | (AMERICAN PINKAS). Pinkas MeChevra Kadisha

(AMERICAN PINKAS). Pinkas MeChevra Kadisha of the Ershter Varshaver Shul, New York. Manuscript in Hebrew and Yiddish written in a fine calligraphic hand. Finely illuminated title-page. Customs, practices and regulations of the Burial Society. Lists of officers, members and names to be memorialized. c. 50 pages (excluding blanks). Recased in original boards. Sm. folio. With 3-page English summary and translation. New York City, c. 1930’s-50’s. Located at 58-60 Rivington Street, the Erste Washawer synagogue was originally built in 1903 for immigrant Jews from the town Jassy (Iasi). Upon completion, it became known as the grandest of the small synagogues. Congregation Adath Jeshurun of Jassy remained there until 1912, when a group of Polish immigrants purchased the synagogue and renamed it for Warsaw, their city of origin. By the 1970’s, as the Jewish Lower East declined, the congregation abandoned the building. In 1973, the Hungarian sculptor Hale Gurland acquired the space and repurposed it for use as his studio.