Rebecca Gratz. Mikve Israel Certificate. Lifetime purchase of a synagogue seat. Printed with <<manuscript>> additions. Text in English and Hebrew.

Rebecca Gratz was issued this certificate for her seat at K.K. Mikveh Israel - Upstairs, No. Fourteen. Many congregants rented their seats annually, but wealthier ones were able to purchase a seat for the duration of their lifetime. The seats themselves were offered in three classes, both upstairs for women, and downstairs for men. Rebecca’s seat was of the first class, and cost $60 as a one-time fee, with an additional annual fee of $8. (See Congregation Mikveh Israel “Record of annual seat rentals, 1845-1862,” Philadelphia Congregations Early Records). In a recent publication Daniel Judson estimates that seats such as this one cost the equivalent of $1540 and $205 annually in today’s dollars (“Pennies for Heaven: The History of American Synagogues and Money,” Brandeis University Press, 2018,  p. 41). This certificate was issued in the aftermath of a grand remodeling of the synagogue. The Occident tells us that in the summer of 1845 complete repair and expansion was made, adding seats, windows, and other amenities, an expense which it estimates cost $1600 to $1700 (The Occident, v. IIII, November 1845, p. 55).