The first synagogue was a stately pillared mansion designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, which stood on the corner of the lot.

During World War I, the Hebrew Women's Aid Society commissioned the architect Maurice Courland to build a synagogue on Kissena Boulevard.

They included Rabbi Bernard Cantor, who left on a mission for the Joint Distribution Committee to help oppressed Jews in Eastern Europe.

When Silver left in 1922, the temple turned to Wise for help, and he selected Rabbi Max Meyer to serve on a "temporary basis", which lasted 40 years.

[citation needed] Rabbi Charles Agin came to Flushing in 1958 to assist Meyer, and quickly gained the affection and confidence of the congregation.

[citation needed] Michael Weisser joined as rabbi in September 2008, when the synagogue had around 100 members, down from several hundred decades earlier.

When Weisser was a cantor in Lincoln, Nebraska, Larry Trapp, the Grand Dragon of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan threatened him and his family.

He ultimately befriended Mr. Trapp and was instrumental in changing him from a lifelong racist to a renouncer of hatred who spoke out publicly against bigotry.

Three months before his death from diabetes-related kidney disease in 1992, Trapp converted to Judaism under Rabbi Weisser's guidance, in the very same synagogue he once plotted to blow up.

Ascending the stately steps is magnificent sanctuary where dark green pilasters support the walls upon which rest the enormous dome.

[7] Tiffany style stained glass windows crafted in Czechoslovakia bathe the sanctuary in rich, radiant colors.

The windows depict Noah's Ark, the lions of Judah, great swirls of leaves and vines and delicate flowers used in the Sukkot prayer, and the two hands of the Priestly Blessing.

The New York Landmarks Conservancy awarded their first-ever Historic Synagogue Fund award for the restoration of its monumental stained glass windows and wood sash, and in December 2011, the synagogue dedicated its new stained glass windows with prayers led by Rabbi Michael S.