Shul Destroyed by Superstorm Sandy Rebuilt

Almost 400 people gathered on Sunday to celebrate the reopening of Young Israel of Brighton Beach, a synagogue destroyed by Superstorm Sandy one year ago, and the completion of a new Sefer Torah.

“Our community is finally recovering from the devastation wreaked upon it by the winds and flood waters of Hurricane Sandy” said Rabbi Efraim Zaltzman, the synagogue’s Rabbi. “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.”

In the 1970s a huge wave of Russian Jewish immigrants poured in from the Soviet Union to escape communism, thus giving Brighton Beach the name ‘little Russia’ or ‘little Odessa.’ The neighborhood became known throughout the world as having the largest concentration of Russian Jews in the U.S.

The synagogue, one of the few left in Brighton Beach, was rededicated Sunday in a special ceremony. Shluchim from Ukraine, France, Sweden and Israel were present at the opening.

Photos by Alex Gorokhov