Brand new and not the Red Shul, please

By Sammy Steiner

Issue of February 12, 2010/ 28 Shvat 5770

It was Kehilla Bais Yehuda Tzvi Day in Cedarhurst Sunday — Mayor Andy Parise declared it so — as members of the shul joyously opened a beautiful new building that’s been a long time coming.

Five years ago the barn-like structure at West Broadway and Oakland known as “The Red Shul,” where in nice weather Kiddush used to be in the front yard, was torn down.

With the Chanukas HaBayis for their new facility behind them, the leaders of the 120-family congregation would like to leave the old nickname behind as well, preferring to call the shul by its full name or KBYT for short.

Beginning at 1:30 Sunday afternoon the sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls) were removed from the shul’s temporary quarters next door to the new building. Taking the long way around, down Oakland Avenue, across Grant Place, up Arbuckle Avenue and back across West Broadway, the Torah’s were danced into the new building for half-an-hour.

Curious neighbors with cameras stood on their front porches in jeans and Sunday button-downs while the parade of congregants, led by a decorated truck playing music and topped with a twirling wood and velvet crown, passed by in their Shabbat finest.

When the parade and float finally stopped in front of the new building, KBYT’s rav, Rabbi Yaakov Feitman, marched up to the front doors, recited a bracha (blessing) and drilled in the Mezuzot. The adults issued into the main sanctuary for speeches, while children were ushered back into the old building for magic show and snacks. The temporary building is to become a parking lot.

“This dream, which began thirteen years ago with a group of twelve families, has finally become a reality, ‘shehechianu v’kimanu v’higianu lazman hazeh,’” said Chaim Puderbeutel. Mentioned by name and thanked by nearly every speaker at the celebration, he oversaw the construction project, from the laying of the foundation through the move into the new building.

Harav Reuven Feinstein, Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva of Staten Island, was the keynote speaker. The master of ceremonies was Avrumy Zelmanovitz, the shul’s chairman of the board. Cedarhurst Trustee Ari Brown presented the shul with a citation commemorating the occasion.

“This process has gone smoothly thanks to the gracious assistance and guidance of Cedarhurst Mayor Parise, Cedarhurst Village Trustee Ari Brown, and Building Supervisor Wayne Yarnell, as well as other village officials and employees,” Zelmanowitz said. “The Mayor’s declaration of ‘Kehillas Bais Yehudah Tzvi Day’ was greatly appreciated by our congregation.”

Other speakers included Rav Feitman, longtime shul president Yakov Bodner and Rabbi Dovid Speigel of Congregation Bais Medrash of Cedarhurst.

Kehillas Beis Yehuda Tzvi opened in 1996 with twelve families. Under the leadership of Rabbi Feitman it has grown into a bustling congregation of mostly 25-to-45-year-olds, most of whom live within half-a-mile. The shul’s average member is 32 years old.

The building, which cost in excess of $2 million and took more than three years to complete, is said to be the first in Cedarhurst with built-in video technology to stream in lectures by speakers such as Rabbi Eli Mansour of Brooklyn’s Cong. Bet Yaakob, and Rabbi Yissachar Frand. The building also has a Simcha Hall available for rental.

“In these economically challenging times it’s refreshing to partake in the Chanukas HaBayis of the Red Shul’s beautiful new edifice,” said Isaac Schwartz of Lawrence, Zelmanowitz’s father-in-law. “It is a testament to the commitment and devotion of these special, hard-working young families in the heart of this growing Cedarhurst community.”