Congregation B’nai Avraham celebrates 24 years in Brooklyn Heights
Congregation B’nai Avraham, which celebrates its 24th anniversary this coming week, has grown from a young rabbi’s vision to a vibrant Modern Orthodox synagogue with an outreach that benefits the neighborhood and beyond.
Four members and friends of Congregation B’nai Avraham who are being honored at a dinner on Tuesday describe the synagogue as a place where Jewish learning is a joy; and they praise Rabbi Aaron Raskin as a dynamic spiritual leader who exudes joy in teaching and welcoming.
Roger Satnick, Deborah Hallen-Zelinsky; Amit Cohen and Paul Amit; and William C. Thompson, Jr. are the honorees being recognized at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park. Three are members; Bill Thompson and his father are both longtime friends who have helped build bridges between Jews and blacks, especially after the 1991 Crown Heights riots.
The vision of an Orthodox synagogue began in the summer of 1988, when Stephen and Penny Rosen, having recently become more observant, wanted to establish an orthodox Sabbath minyan. Together, they contacted Rabbi Shimon Hecht of B’nai Jacob in Park Slope, who supplied them with a Torah scroll, books, and a very young man to lead services and read from the Torah, according to B’nai Avraham’s website history.