Shul Rededicated Year After Sandy

Just a year after Hurricane Sandy, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Odessa Head Shliach Rabbi Avrohom Wolf, philanthropist Alex Granovsky amongst many shluchim and dignitaries joined Rabbi Efraim and Chanie Zaltzman to celebrate a great historic milestone.

It was the occasion of the Synagogue’s gorgeous renovation, community Rededication and the completing of a new Torah Scroll followed by a lavish buffet on Sunday, November 3rd, 2013. Close to 500 people attended.

“Our community is finally recovering from the devastation wreaked upon it by the winds and floodwaters of Hurricane Sandy. The rededication marks the conclusion of a long construction project and its occurrence shortly after the first anniversary of that hurricane is nothing short of heartwarming,” said Rabbi Zaltzman, the synagogue’s Rabbi.

“This is a historic event,” explained Rabbi Zaltzman. “In the 1950s and 60s, 90 percent of the Brighton Beach population were Jewish. Although not all of them were observant, the many synagogues were bustling. However the people started aging and passing on, the children moved out of the neighborhood and the ones moving in were Jewish Russian immigrants, thus giving it the name ‘little Russia’ or ‘little Odessa,’ and known throughout the world as, arguably, the largest concentration of Russian Jews in the US.

“The problem is that these Jews were torn away from Yiddishkeit by the Soviet regime for 70 years! Thus the synagogues began to dwindle and unfortunately at least six Jewish homes of worship in Brighton Beach closed their doors. The situation of the Young Israel of Brighton Beach, once a hub of Jewish life, was dire as well.”

Thus, in 1998 Mr. Steven Frohlich, current President of the Young Israel of Brighton Beach Reached out to the Lubavitch Youth Organization’s Program Director Rabbi Kasriel Kastel to send them a spiritual leader who would reach out to the unaffiliated, revitalize the community and ensure the continuity and growth of Jewish life in the Synagogue.

Rabbi Zaltzman and his Rebbetzin Chanie worked tirelessly as a team. Despite skeptics and cynics of various baalei batim, They inspired adults and children alike to get involved in the synagogue and learn more about their heritage. The dynamic duo held Chanukah parties, Purim celebrations, Pesach Seders and Torah classes on various topics. And of course chassideshe farbrengens as well.

Rabbi and Rebbetzin Zaltzman are also the Directors of Chabad of Kingsborough. This organization sponsors ongoing classes and outreach activities for Jewish students at Kingsborough College, Community development, an annual Summer Day Camp, Gan Israel Chamah and a Hebrew School – the Chabad Gan Israel Hebrew School.

Thank G-d, the efforts of Rabbi Zaltzman and his wife Chanie succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. The synagogue membership grew into a warm, young, enthusiastic community. The synagogue became a home away from home for its members. “Today there are only 5 couples left from the time we came to the shul in Elul 5757. All the other people are a result of our hard shlichus work,” testifies Rabbi Zaltzman, who is fluent in Russian.

The Synagogue was renovated to be one of the most beautiful Synagogues in New York, sponsored by many individuals mostly, by the F. Kogan family and the A. Korchmar family, both Russian Jewish families. The latter was introduced to the Rabbi through a contact at the Annual International conference of Chabad Emissaries some eight years ago thus initializing the current young dynamic group of young Russian families involved in the Synagogue life and growth.

This great milestone of the newly renovated Synagogue was celebrated together with the completing of the writing of the new Sefer Torah that was funded by, and united many members of the community. This community Sefer Torah became a rallying point, a unifying factor, and a symbol of the growth of the Jewish community.

“Together with the other Shluchim in the neighborhood we are brightening up Brighton,” said Rabbi Zaltzman.