5. Ten Commandments and Electric Lights

When the Eldridge Street Synagogue first opened to the public, it was dimly lit with hundreds of gas jets. At the time, synagogue members used lamps fueled by coal, lard, kerosene and other substances that had a tendency to give off odors. Electricity was introduced into the facility decades later in 1907, and a crown of light bulbs was consequently installed around the wooden tablets that depict the Ten Commandments in Hebrew. Even after the restoration, the bulbs and 19th-century gas fixtures have all been maintained. If you study the picture above, you may also notice that the bulbs are left bare—that’s because the congregation was excited by the new technology and felt that they didn’t need any adornment, states the Museum.