Andrew Guckes | Staff Writer
When people think of American Jews, a few things come to mind. New York City, “Seinfeld” and the entertainment industry are some examples.
Rabbi Yosef Zarnighian of Congregation Mikveh Israel in Center City, a Sephardic synagogue, said his congregation is inconsistent in terms of the expectations that many non-Jewish Americans have for their Jewish peers.
“We’re not the matzo-ball-eating and lox-and-schmear community that most people associate with [American Jews] or their bubbes,” he said. “By the way, I love bagels. It’s nothing against the Ashkenazi community, but there are common clichés of Judaism in America that don’t even come close to capturing the full mosaic that is the Jewish people.”
There are a dozen ways to characterize Mikveh Israel. The synagogue, located a block from the Liberty Bell, is known as the Synagogue of the American Revolution thanks to its ties to the movement and the significant figures that led it. In fact, Mikveh Israel was already in its fourth decade of operation by the time the Declaration of Independence was signed.
The country’s oldest continuously operating synagogue — currently in year 284 — is also one of two synagogues in the country that still practices in the Western Sephardic traditions of Portugal and Spain.
Additionally, Philadelphians know Mikveh Israel as a place that has leaned into traditional worship while many other shuls have opted to appeal to younger or more modern demographics.
If one thing is clear about Mikveh Israel, it’s that the congregation marches to the beat of its own drum — and it has for a long time.
Zarnighian joined the congregation in 2021, serving as assistant rabbi for the first two years and spending the last year as the leading rabbi. He filled big shoes, replacing the legendary Rabbi Emeritus Albert E. Gabbai, who led the congregation for 35 years and is still known as a legendary figure in the local Jewish community.
For some, the task to take over this position might have been too tall to handle. For Zarnighian, he felt like this was where he had to be.
“The history was a huge selling point of the job. Ultimately, I knew that this was an opportunity that would not present itself often. Synagogue opportunities come and go, but to be the torch bearer of a very rich tradition, that is not something that happens every day,” he said.
Zarnighian was raised in New York by Iranian parents and is proudly Sephardic. He said even within that designation, there is nuance that most people don’t appreciate.
“When most people think of Sephardic Jews, they think of Jews from Iraq, Syria, Iran, [et cetera],” he said. “But that is just Eastern Sephardic tradition. We have Yemenites, Syrians, Egyptians and actual descendants of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews who first came here.”
Zarnighian stressed that Mikveh Israel intends to become a place that welcomes Jews of all backgrounds and traditions. Its events have served Ethiopian, Indonesian and Mexican food.
“That’s what it means to be an American Jew,” Zarnighian said. “It’s having one foot in the door of [Jewish] tradition and the other foot in the door of immigrant pride.”
However, while the synagogue may be especially welcoming to Jews of all backgrounds, that does not mean it will cater to their style of service. In fact, Zarnighian said, Mikveh Israel still proudly worships exactly the same way that it did when it first opened in 1740. The only thing that has changed is that the siddurim are printed with a computer, not written with a quill.
“The etiquette is very formal and almost Victorian. The rabbi wears a Geneva gown, and we wear top hats during the service, if you’re a part of the service, and before some of the melodies we bow to each other as a form of greeting,” he said.
The biggest differences, though, are in the style of prayer and song.
“It’s difficult to describe; it’s something that you have to come and experience to see the difference,” Zarnighian said. “Our melodies are a lot more formal and they sound more Middle Eastern than European. There is a lot more opera-type singing.”
For about 200 families, Mikveh Israel is preserving a style of worship and Jewish tradition that many of their Jewish peers don’t even know about. Zarnighian said that it is all our duty to continue to show the world the good that Jews do every single day.
“Rabbis are not the gatekeepers to the religion and to the entire traditions. It’s every Jew’s responsibility and every parent’s responsibility to educate and debunk the misinformation,” he said.