Fire Devastates Synagogue Under Repair in Manhattan

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Elizabeth Harris
NEW YORK - A four-alarm fire broke out Monday night at an Upper East Side synagogue that was being renovated, spitting flames through stained-glass windows, destroying the roof and heavily damaging the upper floors, the Fire Department said. Hundreds of people crowded around Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, a modern Orthodox synagogue on 85th Street near Lexington Avenue, after the fire began about 8:30 p.m. The synagogue, which is 110 years old, was being renovated and no one was inside, according to Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, and the sacred Torah scrolls had been removed when construction began. The renovation was to have been completed in September. [link]

Firefighters on the 84th Street side of Kehilath Jeshurun, a modern Orthodox synagogue, during the blaze on Monday.