 An 1886 Brooklyn Eagle article states that until the founding of Baith Israel " [ h ] <unk> the Hebrew residents in Brooklyn had been under the necessity of finding their way across the East River in all kinds of weather , when they wished to go to their place of worship " . According to synagogue legend , the founders had grown tired of rowing across the East River each Friday to celebrate Shabbat in Manhattan . Carol Levin , however , writes that a ferry service from Whitehall Street in Manhattan to South Ferry , Brooklyn ( at the foot of Atlantic Street ) had existed since 1836 ( see South Ferry ( ferry ) ) , that the Atlantic Street synagogue 's location , so close to the ferry terminus , " must have seemed convenient to many " , and that " [ f ] <unk> service was fast , frequent and inexpensive ... In the year 1869 there were almost 52 million passengers . " Thus , in her view , the story of the founders growing tired of rowing across the East River is a " folk tale " . 
