1927 - Synagogue Exterior (Vintage Photo (1927); image courtesy of Jim Lewis./Database Manager)
Note: Not extant. Not playable. (in this location)
2016-10-19 - This entry describes an original installation of a new pipe organ. Identified by Jim Lewis, based on personal knowledge of the organ. <br>The organ was taken with the congregation when they constructed a larger Temple. -Database Manager
2018-02-27 - Updated by Cantor David Silverstein, who has heard or played the organ. Cantor David Silverstein also named this publication as a source of information: Robert Morton staffer Benjamin Platt was a Past President of the Congregation Sinai in this entry and assisted in moving the instrument to Sinai Temple at 10400 Wilshire in 1960.<br> The original Robert Morton Theater console, pipes and all mechanicals of this Robert Morton were moved from the New Hampshire Street location to the "new" location at 10400 Wilshire Blvd. at Beverly Glen in 1960. Congregation Sinai was renamed Sinai Temple. The instrument is entirely under expression. When relocated, the original horseshoe console and pedal board sat on a metal grating cut/installed into the concrete floor behind the altar (bema) and 30' tall ark where the space functions as the choir "pit." The pipes are all installed in the void of the concrete floor space extending downward 40' into "chambers" constructed the lower parking garage and are encased in a concrete "room." In that room, the blower (14" pressure) is housed in a sealed and accessible space with wind lines feeding the chests above; all the pipe work is installed above the storage area on a wood pier and beam platform divided into two sections for Great and Swell divisions. These divisions are accessible behind wood doors to the chambers themsleves. Above the pipework, the shades operate (all under expression) beneath the choir pit below the steel grating which is approximately 8' x 30' and from which the sound of the pipes speak without amplification to the sanctuary . Reportedly, one of the few pipe organs "in the world" to speak from the floor; AGO experts opined "it cannot be accomplished, " yet, there it is. In the late 1990s the Morton was hybrid to a Rogers 900 series; it controls all pipes, mechanicals in coordination to the digital features of the Rogers. The original console, case, pedal and bench were discarded, all the wiring and harnesses replaced; the horseshoe stop rail rests next to the blower (for a keepsake, perhaps, I put it there). The "glock" and Vox Humana stops are exceptional and the only "traps." Releathering of the chests ongoing. Back in 1968, the old pneumatic relays were replaced with solid state contacts by Richard Meunch and associates. Meunch serviced the organ from the time it was relocated (perhaps prior) until his death. Chaim Smoller helped relocate the organ to the present site. I assisted Meunch in the rebuild in 1968; I am a fourth generation member of the congregation and served as Cantor/Executive Director 1993-2000. The current Organist is Aryell Cohen (1975-present), also a long time member of the congregation and longest serving staff member of the Temple. Mr. Cohen may be able to provide the Original Opus number and information on the hybrid project affected by Dr. Robert Tall and Associates.(Sinai Temple 310.474.1518) -Database Manager
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