Rivington Street Synagogue

First Roumanian-American Congregation
Synagogue entrance-way in 2005
Basic information
Location	89–93 Rivington Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York,  United States
Geographic coordinates	40°43′12″N 73°59′20″W / 40.72°N 73.9888°W / 40.72; -73.9888Coordinates: 40°43′12″N 73°59′20″W / 40.72°N 73.9888°W / 40.72; -73.9888
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism
Country	United States of America
Status	Destroyed (2006)
Leadership	Rabbi: Shmuel Spiegel. Assistant Rabbi: Ari Spiegel. President: Gershon Spiegel.
Architectural description
Architect(s)	J.C. Cady & Co. et al. Charles E. Reid.
Architectural style	Romanesque Revival, Byzantine
Completed	c. 1860
Specifications
Direction of façade	North
Capacity	1600–1800
Length	100 feet
Width	70 feet
Materials	Foundation: Stone Walls: Brick Roof: Asphalt
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Added to NRHP	March 12, 1998
NRHP Reference no.	98000239

The First Roumanian-American Congregation, also known as Congregation Shaarey Shomayim (Hebrew: שַׁעֲרֵי שָׁמַיִם‎, "Gates of Heaven"), or the Roumanishe Shul (Yiddish for "Romanian synagogue"), was an Orthodox Jewish congregation that, for over 100 years, occupied a historic building at 89–93 Rivington Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York.

Those who organized the congregation in 1885 were part of a substantial wave of Romanian-Jewish immigrants, most of whom settled in the Lower East Side. The Rivington Street building, built around 1860, had previously been a church, then a synagogue, then a church again, and had been extensively remodeled in 1889. It was transformed into a synagogue for a second time when the First Roumanian-American congregation purchased it in 1902 and again remodeled it.

The synagogue became famous as the "Cantor's Carnegie Hall", because of its high ceiling, good acoustics, and seating for up to 1,800 people.Yossele Rosenblatt, Moshe Koussevitzky, Zavel Kwartin, Moishe Oysher, Jan Peerce and Richard Tucker were all cantors there.Red Buttons sang in the choir,George Burns was a member, and Edward G. Robinson had his Bar Mitzvah there.