Riverdale Temple

{{Short description|Reform synagogue in the Bronx, New York}} {{use American English|date=January 2025}} {{use mdy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Riverdale Temple | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = | religious_affiliation = [[Reform Judaism]] | tradition = | sect = | district = | prefecture = | province = | region = | deity = | rite = | festival =  | organizational_status = [[Synagogue]] | ownership = | governing_body = | leadership = {{ubl|Rabbi Thomas Gardner|Rabbi Judith S. Lewis {{small|(Emerita)}}|Rabbi Stephen D. Franklin {{small|(Emeritus)}}}} | bhattaraka = | patron = | consecration_year = | functional_status = Active | religious_features_label = | religious_features = | location = 4545 Independence Avenue, [[Riverdale, Bronx|Riverdale]], [[the Bronx]], [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]] 10471 | locale = | municipality = | cercle = | state = | country = United States | map_type = USA Bronx | map_size = 250 | map_alt = | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in [[the Bronx]], [[New York City]] | grid_name = | grid_position = | sector = | territory = | administration = | coordinates = {{coord|40|53|31|N|73|54|47|W|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=it|format=dms}} | coordinates_footnotes = | heritage_designation = | architect = | architecture_type = Synagogue | architecture_style = | founded_by = | creator = | funded_by = | general_contractor = | established = 1947 {{small|(as a congregation)}} | groundbreaking = | year_completed = | construction_cost = | date_demolished =  | facade_direction = | capacity = | length = | width = | width_nave = | interior_area = | height_max = | dome_quantity = | dome_height_outer = | dome_height_inner = | dome_dia_outer = | dome_dia_inner = | minaret_quantity = | minaret_height = | spire_quantity = | spire_height = | site_area = | temple_quantity = | monument_quantity = | shrine_quantity = | inscriptions = | materials = | elevation_m =  | elevation_footnotes = | nrhp = | designated = | added = | refnum = | delisted1_date = | website = {{url|riverdaletemple.org}} | module =  | footnotes = }}

The '''Riverdale Temple''' is a [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] [[Judaism|Jewish]] congregation and [[synagogue]] located at 4545 Independence Avenue, in the [[Riverdale, Bronx|Riverdale]] neighborhood of [[the Bronx]], [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States.<ref name=Freedman>{{cite news |author=Freedman, Samuel G. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/us/30religion.html?_r=1 |title=Two Rabbis Find They’re Separated Only by Doctrine |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 30, 2009 |access-date= }}</ref> The congregation was founded in 1947.<ref>{{cite book |author1-link=Kerry Olitzky |author1=Olitzky, Kerry M. |author2=Raphael, Marc Lee |title=The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group|Greenwood Press]] |date=June 30, 1996 |pages=224 |isbn= |access-date= }}</ref>

In 2009, the rabbi was Judith S. Lewis.<ref name=Freedman/> In July 2015, Rabbi Lewis retired and was succeeded by Rabbi Thomas Gardner.

== Terrorism plot == {{main|2009 Bronx terrorism plot}} In 2009, a group of four American Muslims planned to blow up the temple.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Hernandez, Javier C. |author2=Chan, Sewell |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/nyregion/22terror.html?hp |title=N.Y. Bomb Plot Suspects Acted Alone, Police Say |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 21, 2009 |access-date= }}</ref> After a six-week trial, the four were convicted on conspiracy to use [[weapons of mass destruction]] and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles. In 2011, the men were sentenced in the District Court to 25 years in prison each. On appeal to the Federal Court, their sentences were upheld. In July 2023, a judge ordered [[compassionate release]] for three of the four men, with ''time served'', being eleven years. The judge declared their 25-year sentences ‘unduly harsh and unjust’.<ref>{{cite news |author=Larkin, Gary |url=https://www.riverdalepress.com/stories/three-of-the-newburgh-four-who-plotted-to-blow-up-riverdale-temples-have-been-released,118708 |title=Three of the ‘Newburgh Four’ who plotted to blow up Riverdale temples have been released |work=The Riverdale Press |date=August 6, 2023 |access-date=December 30, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Reilly, Patrick |date=July 28, 2023 |title=3 of ‘Newburgh Four’ convicted in 2009 New York synagogue bombing plot to be released, judge rules while blaming FBI |work=[[New York Post]] |location=New York, N.Y. }}</ref>

On May 30, 2009, New York Governor [[David Paterson]] announced he would give the [[Riverdale Jewish Center]] and the Riverdale Temple $25,000 each to improve their security. The money came from the [[Department of Homeland Security]] (DHS) and primarily involved the installation of alarms and surveillance equipment.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://jta.org/news/article/2009/06/02/1005549/paterson-gives-25k-each-to-synaguges-that-were-targeted-in-ny-terror-plot |title=Targeted Bronx synagogues to get security funds |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510001122/http://www.jta.org/news/article/2009/06/02/1005549/paterson-gives-25k-each-to-synaguges-that-were-targeted-in-ny-terror-plot |archive-date=2012-05-10 |work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |date=June 2, 2009 |access-date= }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{oweb|http://www.riverdaletemple.org/}} {{Synagogues in the United States}} {{The Bronx}}

[[Category:1947 establishments in New York City]] [[Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:21st-century attacks on Jewish institutions in the United States]] [[Category:Islamic terrorism in New York (state)]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1947]] [[Category:Reform synagogues in New York City]] [[Category:Riverdale, Bronx]] [[Category:Synagogues in the Bronx]]