Final chuppah for “The Sixth Town”

Five minutes from North Woodmere lies a community of neat suburban homes, close to the train station, and with a sizable park at its edge. Its synagogue boats a sanctuary bathed in the color of stained glass, a wood-paneled dining hall, and basement classrooms, all hearkening to a faded Rosedale community.

“We’re almost done. It’s been sold and we are only awaiting final approval on the building,”

David Pecoraro said. Years earlier, the lifelong resident of Rosedale, learned in the packed classrooms of the synagogue. On May 22, the dust-covered seforim were reopened once more, as a ketuba was signed in one classroom for a modest wedding, possibly the last one for the synagogue, as Zalman Nemtzov, 29, signed his vows to bride Sheri Dunner, 25.

“The Conservative Jewish population has diminished, and my generation abandoned Rosedale,” Pecoraro said. Taking stock of the demographics, the synagogue attempted an Orthodox makeover in 1993, hiring Carlebach-trained Rabbi Yisroel Finman. The microphone was removed from the pulpit, and a makeshift mechitzah hung in the center aisle, but it divided the congregants. “The majority of congregants wanted to worship with their spouses,” Pecoraro said. As a result, while the mechitzah stood, some men continued to sit with their wives.

The decline did not abate. “We’ve lost Morris, we’ve lost Fred. Mostly we lost people through death. We’ve tried everything, renting out the classes to a local nursery, but we still could not afford to pay for the upkeep,” Pecoraro said. Since 2003, another Carlebach-trained cantor, Rabbi Shalom Nemtzov, 66, has given his effort to reviving the shul. A father of ten, he invited his grown children to Rosedale to encourage the aging congregants.