Fabulous! At 1/3 the size!

We are now back from Cincinnati. The week was packed full of so much, as vacations to new places often are. I am trying to organize both my photos and my narrative of the week so it won’t torture or bore  my readers.
I wanted to start by talking about two great landmarks of the city of Cincinnati that both have corollaries here in New York.
The first is the Roebling bridge.
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The baby brother of the more famous Brooklyn bridge was built just after the Civil War.
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Kentucky is an easy walk and probably an easy row across the Ohio River. I need to do more reading about what life was like in Cincinnati during the Civil war.
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The Roebling Bridge is also known as  “The Singing Bridge”.  As cars ride on the bridge, their weight stretches the cables it’s almost like a harpist plucking the stings of a harp.SAM_4978
It’s kind of a high pitched song that the bridge sings.
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We have walked the Brooklyn bridge several times. The Cincinnati version is smaller than it’s northern brother, there is just one lane of traffic in each direction. There is a much shorter approach to the bridge.
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The bridge was great for duck viewing.
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We walked to Kentucky, bought some sodas and drank them in a park and then walked back to Ohio.
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The following day we went with my sister to the Plum Street Temple, the first American Reform Synagogue built as a reform synagogue.
The synagogue was also built in 1865. It is downtown right across the street from a Catholic Church.
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New York’s Central Synagogue is a supersized version of this beautiful building.
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In post Civil War style, ever surface is ornamented. It’s of the more is more school of interior design.

The walls are stenciled in multiple layered patterns.
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We were impressed with the choice of verses that circle the sanctuary. They were all smart interesting choices that are not the sorts of verses that tend to be used in synagogue decoration.
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Looking up was a pleasure.
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The organ is in good working order.
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My sister is a development professional in the Jewish world. We loved reading the plaques that noted funds raised for the synagogue.
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The modern equivalents of such lists no longer list the amounts donated.
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We loved seeing this monument to Jewish communal generosity.

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The synagogue is now used for ceremonial occasions, including ordination from Hebrew Union College. The congregation that owns the building is now housed in one of the northern suburbs and is an active community.
We loved the tour we were given. our only regret was that we had to leave before we were satisfied. We had other obligations and had to rush away.

Comments

  1. Beautiful! Thanks for showing the inside of the synagogue. The bridge is amazing, too. I wish I could hear the 'singing'.
    Sandy
    By the way, those are Canadian Geese (But actually residents of most of the Northern Hemisphere!)

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  2. Thanks for the bird ID.
    you can hear the bridge sing here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSNqy6akP6Q

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