Generation to Generation Festival

Don a top hat, feather hat, or other period garb and prepare to travel back in time to the late 19th century when the Eldridge Street Synagogue first opened. Music, art, food demos, and fun historical activities bring to life what it was like to be an immigrant when the Eldridge Street Synagogue was first built. Take a citizenship test based on late 19th-century requirements. Learn recipes and household tips from the 1901 Settlement Cook Book. Visit a photo booth and take a picture that would make your old country family kvell. Hear a concert of early synagogue music – including some tunes you might not expect! Enjoy enactments of dramatic moments from the Eldridge Street Synagogue’s early history. Families discover what life was like for children 100 years ago by making a time capsule, learning about turn-of-the-last-century bar mitzvah ceremonies, and doing some old-fashioned “homework”.