When you speak of Harlem, the most famous African-American community in the world comes to mind.  But did you know Harlem was once the third largest Jewish neighborhood in the world from 1870 -1930, after New York's Lower East Side and Warsaw, Poland?  

Join Bradley Shaw as he talks about this often forgotten segment of Jewish history, starting with its origins as a community for the very rich and covering its glory days as one of the three major world centers of Judaism.

You will learn about Harlem's legendary Jewish institutions - many of which transformed the Judaism of today's world - and discuss sites such as Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein's trendsetting Institutional Synagogue, (affectionately known as the "shul with the pool"), the magnificent Temple Israel, the "Commandment Keepers"  (Harlem's Ethiopian Hebrew Synagogue), Ohab Zedek, the synagogue of the world famous cantor Yossele Rosenblatt - considered the uncrowned king of cantorial music - and Ansche Chesed, one of the oldest congregations in the United States.

Other topics included will be Mount Morris Park, designed by world renowned designers Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted, where numerous noted residents lived, including songwriters Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II and Lorenz Hart.