Mazel tov!
The Young Israel of Kings Bay synagogue in Sheepshead Bay showcased their new community social hall on Sept. 4 with a traditional Hebrew ceremony and blessing. The temple’s basement was so severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy that the synagogue leaders decided to revamp a new room for the community, closer to the heavens.
“We decided to do something with the upstairs room,” said the shul’s Vice President, Martin Bunis, who added that the whole congregation worked together for renovations. “It was a real communal effort to get it done.”
The community celebrated the opening with a Mezuzah blessing and ceremony. Rabbi Dovid Simpson hung a Mezuzah — a piece of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah — in the entrance to the synagogue.
The congregation also celebrated the new community hall with light refreshments of coffee, tea, soda, and cake. Bunis said this was only one of many future celebrations in the new room, which he said will be used for weekly Saturday luncheons after services, and for special events like Bar and Bat Mitzvahs.
“It is a beautiful room — certainly compared to the way it was,” said Bunis. “There is a scene of a fresh beginning and a new beginning.”
The synagogue remodeled the house of worship with funds from its capital account and with the support of locals, which included donations both monetary and muscular. Bunis said many of the shul’s leaders did renovations with their own two hands.
And now that the renovations are finally finished, Brunis said he hopes the community enjoys the new place they helped create.
“There is a lot of positive energy there,” he said.
