Bnai Adath Destroyed by Fire: Will Rise Again

Bnai Adath Destroyed by Fire: Will Rise Again

Tragedy struck our community on Monday, November 13, 2017, when fire destroyed Bnai Adath Kol Bet Yisrael congregation located at 1006 Greene Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. A contractor hired by the congregation was attempting to make repairs to their aging roof using a blow torch when the fire got out of control at approximately 9:06 a.m. Within minutes, dozens of firefighters were on the scene. They tried to extinguish the blaze from above and from below, shattering the beautiful stained-glass windows that depicted the menorah and the Star of David in the process. Mercifully, no one was seriously injured and courageous firemen were able to rescue all the Torah scrolls from the ark. Once the smoke cleared, it became painfully obvious that what remained of the brick synagogue that stood so proudly on the corner of Patchen and Greene since the 1800s would need to be demolished. Standing in front of the ashes of what had been their spiritual home for over three generations, Rabbi Baruch A. Yehudah told those members who had already begun to arrive at the site, “We will rebuild. Our congregation will rise again!”

News of the conflagration spread almost as quickly as the fire that engulfed the building. Local television networks broadcasted footage of the burning synagogue and many of the newspapers printed pictures of the inferno the next day. We were devastated. Our hearts were broken. It was painful to see through the tears in our eyes all the images that appeared on social media and blewup on our phones. One of our rabbis said, “This tragedy is the nearest experience in our lifetime to what our ancestors must have felt during the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem—except their suffering was magnified a thousand times.” We have seen congregations close before and their buildings sold, but the sudden loss of such a vibrant congregation through such violent and uncontrollable means was like a death in the family.

Bnai Adath Kol Bet Yisrael was founded in 1954 by Rabbi Yirmeyahu Yisrael, one of the disciples of our founder, Chief Rabbi W.A. Matthew. In fact, in 1945 Rabbi Yisrael and Rabbi McCloud established a congregation called Kohol Beth B’nai Yisroel, Inc. and it was located at 204 Lenox Avenue in Harlem, just a few blocks from Commandment Keepers Congregation. Like many of the synagogues in the Israelite community, this building has a long and storied history. At some point in the nineteenth century, Ashkenazi Jews acquired the property and built a synagogue that was then called B’nai Jacob Joseph. As the population of this section of Brooklyn became more African American, the exodus of White Jews to other parts of the city increased. Most of those abandoned synagogues became churches, but a few fell into the possession of Black Jews who kept the perpetual lights burning. Such was the case with B’nai Adath when it acquired the once grand tabernacle in 1967. During the1970s the Israelite Board of Rabbis and the Israelite Rabbinical Academy would be created at meetings within its walls.[i] “B’nai Adath Kol Beth Yisrael, also boast of being the parent congregation to many other congregations such as Hashabah Yisrael of Brooklyn, New York which in turn was parent to Hashabah Yisrael in Guyana, South America, Hashabah Yisrael in Baltimore, Maryland, Kwahal B’nai Yisrael, Brooklyn, New York, Kwahalet Mishpachah, Atlanta Georgia, She’ar Yashuv, Atlanta Georgia, and most recently, Hashabah Yisrael Hebrew Family of Charlotte, North Carolina. Other congregations whose founders are products of B’nai Adath include such places as Kol Sheareit B’nai Yisrael, Bronx, New York, and most recently Kalutzeh Yisrael, B

ronx NY.[Also,Or Ami Congregation in Atlanta] Adon Rabbi Knaizadek Ben Zadok Ben Levi Ben Yeshurun, here mentioned first as he along with his brother-in-law, the late Rabbi Amasiah Ben Azriel Ben Yehudah succeeded Rabbi Yirmeyahu, the founder of the congregation in 1984.”[ii] Since the death of Rabbi Yeshurun, Rabbi Baruch Yehudah has been the spiritual leader of Bnai Adath.

In recent history, Bnai Adath was the site where our current leader, Chief Rabbi Capers S. Funnye, Jr., was elected in 2015 and inaugurated the following year at an international gathering of Black Jews including representatives from Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, and South Africa. With a seating capacity of 1,500, Bnai Adath was one of our oldest and largest congregations. It is almost impossible to calculate the number of events, weddings, bar mitzvahs, ordinations, and circumcisions that have taken place there. Years of precious memories are associated with that building.

A congregation is more than the building it occupies at any moment in time. In truth, we—each and every one of us—is the temple of the living God. The spirit of God lives in us and cannot be destroyed. However, this catastrophe represents an existential threat to our survival. The members of Bnai Adath are determined and dedicated.

Chief Rabbi Funnye has called upon us to support them every way that we can. A special GoFundMe site has been created to accept donations for the immediate needs of the congregation, which include: securing the site, legal fees, finding temporary housing to hold services, etc. Please be as generous as you can; your assistance is desperately needed. Over the next weeks and months, Bnai Adath will have an opportunity to grieve and determine their best course of action. In the meantime, we must open our arms to any families or individuals who need our help. Often when I attempt to comfort a family following a tragedy, I remind them that suffering—and particularly death—is a part of life and we should not always assume that God is punishing us. As King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, “There is a time for everything… a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted a time for tearing down and a time for building up.” Perhaps, as we try to understand the mind of God, we should consider the possibility that this fire is a sign to us that we must cherish the synagogues we have more fervently? Perhaps something good will ultimately come from this disaster? Perhaps this is God’s way of bringing us together?