Temple Emanu-El unveils rare artifacts from the Titanic in special anniversary exhibit

This year, Temple Emanu-El, the first Reform congregation in New York City, celebrates its 180th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the synagogue is presenting a special exhibit titled “Emanu-El at 180,” now on view at the Herberg and Eileen Bernard Museum of Judaica, located on the second floor of the Upper East Side synagogue. The exhibit will be open through May 17, 2026.

Among the many objects on display is a portrait of the late Frieda Warburg Schiff, one of the synagogue’s most celebrated members. The art work constitutes the organization’s first-ever loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Schiff’s portrait belongs to a portion of the exhibit entirely “dedicated to its prominent members during the Gilded Age,” according to the New York Jewish Week. In the same room, attendees will notice a large-scale family tree highlighting the “New York Jewish families of the Gilded Age” alongside items formerly belonging to Isidor and Ida Straus, the couple at the center of the uber famous 1997 film Titanic.

A second exhibit room focuses on Temple Emanu-El’s own history, showcasing items like a machzor and, as mentioned by the New York Jewish Week, “a deed for a pew—an old-fashioned way of maintaining membership at a synagogue.”

While there, make sure to also pay a visit to the museum’s permanent collection, where you’ll find the sort of historic Hanukkah lamps that will have you rethink your interior decor game.