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Do You Know Anyone from the Brooklyn Jewish Center?

In 1920, the famous Brooklyn Jewish Center, on Eastern Parkway, opened its doors to cater to all aspects of Jewish Life. During this time, Crown Heights was one of the most exclusive Jewish communities in New York, and many prominent doctors, lawyers and politicians in the community were amongst the founding members of the Center.

Of its many facilities, the Brooklyn Jewish Center boasted a wedding hall, gym, sauna, swimming pool and a large Hebrew Academy. What was most unique however, was the tremendous devotion, energy and resources that its members invested in their Center.

It was largely due to their devotion that the stronghold of remaining members and Board of Trustees first rented the facilities to the Educational Institute Oholei Torah, to ensure that the building stay part of the Jewish Community. Some years later, the building was sold to Oholei Torah where is has continued to flourish and expand. The Brooklyn Jewish Center is one of the few synagogues that has remained a part of the Jewish Community in the entire area.

It is interesting to note that the Rebbe appointed Rabbi Hirschel Chitrik to oversee the acquiring of the BJC building for Oholei Torah, many, many years before the actual transfer took place.

Today, the anchor building of the Oholei Torah Campus is familiar to all members of the Chabad community worldwide, as well as to the thousands of guests who attend the myriad of simchas and functions that take place in Crown Heights. Just next week, the 90 year old edifice will host over 4000 Chabad emissaries coming to NY for the Annual Shluchim Convention.

Throughout the years, a warm friendship has been maintained between the administration of Oholei Torah and the former members of the Brooklyn Jewish Center. The members have joined in and taken pride in several momentous events at Oholei Torah and have participated in various yeshiva building campaigns and annual dinners.

In a show of appreciation and ahavas yisroel, a reunion celebration is being planned for those who were associated with the center. This celebration will culminate the current façade restoration project and commemorate the 90th year of the founding of the Brooklyn Jewish Center.

The Oholei Torah administration is actively seeking people who were connected in any way to the Brooklyn Jewish Center, whether they celebrated a milestone such as a bar mitzvah or wedding at the center or if their parents of grandparents were associated with the center.

If you know anyone who was once connected to the Brooklyn Jewish Center, or is you have archives of pictures of the Center, please contact Rabbi Nosson Blumes, co-ordinator of this project at (718) 483-9000, or via email at rnblumes@oholeitorah.com

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28 Comments

  • mago

    met someone with very fond memories of her years spent there>

    she is an active member of the park east synagogue.

  • Zelig

    There used to be a plaque on the staircase with names of the famous= Mayor Abe
    Beame, Speaker Stanley Steingut. ask Chanina to use his powers to find them

  • awacs

    I recall .. in the Nineties, I think? – sitting with Velvel Karp, who had just found (handwritten) ledger books of the Center. From 1924, I think. They had megabucks back then – eight figures, ISTR – a lot for a shul in the 20’s.

  • A Shandeh

    Celebrating the conservative movement as if it was an episode of Living Torah?!

  • Oholei Torah parent

    An Absolutely fascinating peek into the past – and eyes wide open for the future – thank you!

  • My first ever comment

    This film is very impressive. I recall as a child (not long ago), Oholi Torah was referred to as the Brooklyn Jewish Center. Look at any wedding invitation, from as late as the early 90’s.

    What’s most impressive is that I’m finally able to see the proper use for all the random places in the building that never made any sense to me; like the upper level of the gym. I spent so much time wondering why that whole area was boarded up. Than in sixth grade Isma (pronounced Is-Ma, I think) left the door unlocked to that area, which had access next to the woman’s bathroom. They turn it into a janitorial closet. Now I see they had some gym related devises hanging from there.

    The Shul looked incredible. It makes sense that they turned it into the zal. As a kid I thought it was a bit odd that us fifth graders davend shachris in a multi-million-dollar shul.

    In Pre-1-A my glass room was one third of the viber shul, or so I thought before I understood what reform Judaism was. The original main sanctuary had a balcony, not seen in the photos, and it was made into three class rooms.

    Entering the older grades were terribly difficult, for it meant we gained the mental and emotional flexibility to spend our entire year in a basement classroom-it was awful-with no windows. Over my 9 yeas there my classrooms were a shvitz, a hallway, a circuit breaker room and twice ended up with the same sports equipment closet.

    Anyway, so much to remember. I remember some idiots used to go up to Rabbi Leader’s classroom, then on the room, and sneak through the little door on the left which led to the “yamaka” as we called it, or dome of the Shul. These kids would literally walk around on the tracks which laid across that room. I think the tracks were part of the devise that held up the chandeliers. Officially, that door was one of the shaimis rooms. Who would think of making the shaimis room on top of the shul sealing.

    The tunnel was spooky. I suppose only real Oholi Torahnick know what that was.

    The bar was fun, before they demolished for the new building. It was on the left side of the main entrance, now where the washing station were–near Mottel’s old office.

    The upper part of the stage, which is only on the right and left sides-non in the center-was a great hiding place. If you need to relax, and the beds on the roof were taken :-) you could go there and not be disturbed.

    I have mixed emotions when I look back at my years in Oholi Torah. On the one hand they have the most disastrous, unqualified teachers (with a very few exceptions). The facility, while beautiful, functioned in total disarray-as expressed above. It seemed as if none of the teachers had any training what so ever or really cared for their job (again, with a few exceptions). But they taught you survival skills. It was like New York compared to the rest of the country–“if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.” Which proved to be useful for zal (that chapter will be saved for another evening :-)

    We carried the three Cheses: Chassidish, Chayis and Chutzpa. Everyone was a clinic, and at the same time holier than thou-a dynamic we’ve developed with our lack of caring for others, due to the lack of love shown to individual students-particularly those who don’t make the teacher’s job easier.

    Looking back I can’t believe the teachers would smoke during giving a class, or play a tape and leave the room (we’re taking about the 90’s my dear friends).

    RabbI Rosenfeld wanted all the teachers to give their classes in yiddish. It was so funny when he would come by occasionally and the teacher would switch to yiddish as the site of him. I know he meant well, but he wasn’t an easy person (first hand experience).

    With all said and done I find warmth when I enter the building again, especially since I left Crown Heights 11 years ago, it remains a novelty. Its nothing more than a childhood experience which is ingrained today as attachment. But it couldn’t have been that bad, for I don’t hyperventilation when I enter.

    On top of all this crap we had to defend ourselves when we went to camp, not just against the our-of-towners, but against the shluchim’s kids as well. We didn’t learn English, for noble reasons mind you, and we got picked on for it. I felt we should have been immortalized–“we are taking the Lubavitch dive for you.” “We, the Oholi Torahnicks, are the modern day Reb Mendel.”

    Anyway, my wife says I need to go to bed, so perhaps I’ll finish this in a book one day. Until then, enjoy the memories, and the let the flame live on.

  • mottell

    I quote “ This celebration will culminate the current façade restoration project and commemorate the 90th year of the founding of the Brooklyn Jewish Center.” Definitely an OT graduate! It should say culminate in or otherwise some other loshon

  • Hirschel Chitrik

    would love to hear more details. It must of been a most interesting “parsha”. I once heard the Rebbe asked why the BJC stopped printing their newsletter, and asked Rabbi Chitrik to fund it so they can continue.

  • interesting to see history

    To #2

    tell Rabbi Blumes, that’s the whole point, he’s trying to track down the people who remember it in its heyday.

    #7

    You are one miserable human being.

  • Good Job!

    Really very very nice,
    I really hope oholei torah does well from this program, looks like it off to a great start!

  • Zahava Krevsky

    My step mother’s father HALPERIN had a seat with his name on it in the BJC. And the first thing she told me when we met was that they were descendents of RASHI! They lived on Crown Street back in the day….in the early part of the century.

  • Pool!

    Wow Look at the Swimming pool! Looks amazing…However, looks much better now with all the upgrades…

  • The Old Sunday Minyan

    Yes I remember the old minyan on Sunday Morning, learning mishnayos, Bagels Tfillen….
    Boy, they had real perseverance to keep on coming, and i remember my Rebbe< Rabbi Feldman, telling me if these older men come every week, how much more so us young Lubavitcher children should devote ourselves to Torah!

  • Chana S.

    my grandfather, Nathan T.Schwartz, z”l, a brother-in-law of M.s Soloman Schwartz, was a co-founder of the Brooklyn Jewish Center. His daughter,Estelle,my aunt,was the first one to get married there back in the late 1930’s… finally got some yichus!

  • a proud OT grad

    to 14:
    i’m sorry u had such a miserable time in OT but as a talmid in OT through the 80’s (yes I am a proud oleiteyra’nik, I am not sure if I should write a talmid of the 80’s, we enjoyed most of our untrained teachers who were not that proffesional but loving, warm and caring nonethelss, (though rabbis kass and burston contributed something special by being properly trained even for us oldies who didnt have them as teachers ever)
    I understand OT gre too large in the 90’s and wasnt the same loving warm school we had, but it’s hard to believe it really deteriorated that far.
    thanks for your excellent description of the building.

    I still remember my terror running past the ‘yetzer horo’ tunnel and eventualy my bravery going into the forbidden tunnel:)
    while we wished they would teach us yiddih properly,
    yassel rosenfeld used to ‘cam in to class and talk only inglish to the booys’
    ‘sam’ strong accent that we did not recognize with out ch accent
    my only complaing is that they never realy taught us why we were not learning ‘english’ (secular studies) and never pushed us to be proud of our ignorance until bar mitzva as the rebbe wanted, and so by age 11 all of use read, write (and usually spell correctly) even if our gramar still suffers on occasion. once we learned the sichas, we felt it was a shame to miss education and yet still have our minds sullied by those studies before bar mitzva.
    the only thing worse are those parent who ‘sully their children’s mind with non jewish entertainment at home and yet deprive them of a proper education in secular studies. what logic is there in that?

  • Engraving in wall!

    There is an ingraving next to the Zal outdoor main entrance, it says (according to my memory):
    1920 &#1514;&#1512;”&#1508;
    And in the middle there is a big green Magen Dovid

  • Cleveland

    Nathan Schwartz, my grandfather, and Solomon Schwartz were brothers. My mother, Estelle, was married there in the late twenties.