Brooklyn, NY – Hurricane Devastates Sefer Torah And Yeshiva In Brighton Beach

    14

    The soaked holy scrolls was unrolled and laid out on benches in Shul to dry.Brooklyn, NY – Located four long blocks from the Atlantic Ocean and even further away from Sheepshead Bay, officials at the Mazel Day School in Brighton Beach weren’t overly concerned about flooding from Hurricane Sandy. But in the devastation that struck shorefront communities all across New York and New Jersey, it wasn’t ocean water that deluged the school and adjacent Shul, it was water from Sheepshead Bay that wreaked havoc on the two buildings located on Brighton 6th Street.

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    “We had six to six and a half feet of water in the school and another five feet of water in the Shul,” Rabbi Hershel Okonov told VIN News. “We didn’t take the Sefer Torah out of the Shul, because we weren’t expecting any flooding and the Torah is kept in a safe which is elevated off the ground.”

    Despite those predictions and the fact that the portion of the safe which housed the Sefer Torah remained higher than the water level in the room, several feet of bay water seeped in through the bottom of the safe and pushed its way up through the Aron Kodesh, wreaking havoc on the Sefer Torah stored inside.

    The soaked scroll was unrolled and laid out on benches to dry.

    “On some of the panels you can see that the damage is very severe,” said Rabbi Okonov. “Others are in better condition. Repairing the Sefer Torah is a long process and we don’t even know if it can be done, but we are going to take it step by step and then give it to sofrim who are professionals in restoration.”

    Rabbi Okonov says he has no idea how much it may cost to repair the Shul’s Sefer Torah but that he would do his best to see that the repairs are performed.

    “It hurts that this happened because we could have saved it, but we are far from the ocean and even farther from the bay,” said Rabbi Okonov. “We never dreamed that anything like this could happen here. Even if it costs more to repair this Sefer Torah than to buy a new one we will do our best to restore this scroll because every Sefer Torah deserves to be saved.”

    Mazel Day School is a project of Free Russian Jews of Eastern Europe and has an enrollment 145 students in preschool through sixth grade. Community members, parents and teenagers turned out yesterday at the school to help with the cleanup efforts and Rabbi Okonov is looking for a temporary location for the school.

    “All of our school supplies, our textbooks, the teachers things, it is all ruined and has to be thrown out,” reported Rabbi Okonov. “The building is starting to smell from mold because everything is so wet and we have no idea what will be with our school.”

    Donations can be made to the Hurricane Sandy Restoration Fund at both freeofbrighton.com/donate and mazeldayschool.com/donate.


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group


    14 Comments
    Most Voted
    Newest Oldest
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    11 years ago

    B’h no one was hurt…..the sefer torah and seforim can be replaced so thats no big deal. The residents of this and other neighborhoods whose homes and workplaces were flooded are the real tragedy. The Jewish Welfare Agency, the Jewish Federation of the NY/NJ Metropolitan Area and several other regional and national jewish charities are seeking funds for flood and disaster victims. These are reputable organizations where you can be reasonably certain are legitimate and the funds go to most needy individuals and mosdos

    stamm
    stamm
    11 years ago

    I would love to know it that is so, that it is better to repair the sefer Torah than to buy a new one? does anyone know? it sounds strange bec. a new one would still be more mehudar.
    anyways, my heart goes out to all of you who sustained so much loss, I wish you all a smooth recovery.

    PaulinSaudi
    PaulinSaudi
    11 years ago

    What a sad story and photo.

    11 years ago

    Its heartbreaking, they should have evacuated the sefer torah anyway as a precaution. A godol should be consulted to decide whether a fast is warranted.

    headsup
    headsup
    11 years ago

    #1 unfortunately you don’t understand the chashivus of a sefer torah. “that’s no big deal”. huh? “no big deal”?! it’s a world tragedy!

    BrightonBeach_Jew
    BrightonBeach_Jew
    11 years ago

    To #1 : The children and families living in the areas affected attend this Shul and school. The fact that they have lost not only their personal homes and property, but also their classrooms, the Shul where they daven for daily Minyanim, and Shiurim take place throughout the week – just makes their personal loss even more devastating. Your help and support will make a MAJOR impact in helping the Yidden in this area. Every dollar donated will go directly to fund the restoration of this school and Shul. There is NO overhead!

    The-Macher
    The-Macher
    11 years ago

    Jewish Welfare Agency, the Jewish Federation of the NY/NJ Metropolitan Area and several other regional and national jewish charities are seeking funds for flood and disaster victims. These are reputable organizations where you can be reasonably certain are legitimate and the funds go to most needy individuals and mosdos

    Troll elsewhere, please, especially at times like these. Those agencies are rigid bureaucracies that take far too much of what is donated. Donate to a Beis Chabad that is serving food and offering shelter (Atlantic City, NJ, Stamford CT), and support other grassroots frum efforts and you get the most bang for your buck, because the people behind them do what they do leshem Shomayim and not to show they deserve a bloated private-sector size salary check for pushing paper. The shaliach in Atlantic City doesn’t have power himself and he’s busy helping others.

    MONTREALYID
    MONTREALYID
    11 years ago

    I am not very observant but the picture of the Torah scrolls on the benches being dried out, touched my heart.

    The Torah represents everything to the Jewish people. It has kept us alive as a people forever and ever.

    It is a tragedy.

    proud-mo-israeli
    proud-mo-israeli
    11 years ago

    If you’re worried about flooding, why don’t you make Aliya & move to the Negev?

    SherryTheNoahide
    SherryTheNoahide
    11 years ago

    Seeing the Sefer Torah draped across the aisles in an effort to dry it out, breaks my heart & moves me to tears! G-d bless them for hanging onto it & for not giving up hope!

    I am so heartbroken for the families & friends who have lost so much during all this. A great friend of mine lives in Manhattan & isn’t sure if he’ll be able to go back home or not. And I know he’s not the only one facing that situation!

    Remember folks: your whole country is standing by your side during this difficult time & is praying for you all! We’ll get through this tragedy, as long as we all stick together!

    reasonableman
    reasonableman
    11 years ago

    I won’t go so far as #1 to say this was no big deal, I’m saddened to read about this and see the picture of the Sefer Torah stretched across the Shul to dry, but compared to the 88+ people killed by Hurricane Sandy in the US, of whom 40+ were killed in NY alone (and globally, over 157 people were killed by Hurricane Sandy), it is no big deal. They are replaceable in a way that people are not. That’s not to take away from the holiness of a Sefer Torah and the historical continuity of passing Sefer Torahs from generation to generation, but the holiness of a human life, crafted in the image of God, trumps the holiness of even a Sefer Torah. That was what I read in #1 ’s comments-I didn’t see it as trolling.

    happy123-face
    happy123-face
    11 years ago

    It breaks my heart to see the picture.
    The Ben Ish Chai (in Ben Yehoyada Brachos 59) explains that hurricanes are created by loshon hora.