Edmond J. Safra Synagogue Torah Center Video

I'll be honest, it's actually hard to describe what's taking place here without getting emotional. I remember first coming to the synagogue and thinking to myself, would this place ever become a real makum Torah, place of Torah learning? Well, five rabbis later with classes every single day of the week, multiple classes in the morning, people studying gimmar, people studying halaka, people studying parasa, people studying musayor. It is unbelievable. >> Every class is full beyond beyond capacity. >> It has something for everybody. It attracted many many people that never would have participated. And uh I think that's what led to this being a place of 1500 to 2,000 people. >> This kabort squirreled away everywhere. We have a young man Jack Dwek. He's got a hab of boys learning every morning on the porch cuz we couldn't even find a place to put them. We have another group of guys learning beun a little bit more in depth. >> These people want serious learning. I mean, you come, you walk in the morning, you see what's going on. Gimar class. I think there's like six Gimar classes going on at the same exact time. We created a minyan. The 8 a.m. minan. Everyone came to the 8 a.m. minan. That was about 3 years ago. And now if you walk in on a regular day, it's 3 years in. [music] The minyan's thriving. Guy comes in the morning to pray first and he feels great. He's connecting to God. Then you give the person an option also to learn. And you really don't feel that kind of stimulation and connecting with your creator other than experiencing it through learning. >> The guys are finding that the Torah is relatable. Torah is instruction. Torah is for [music] life. To makes me a better father, a better husband, better friend. Doesn't only bring better into my life. It makes me [music] into a more blessed person. What started as a begging and pleading for a teenyad has mushroomed into a beautiful crowd of teenagers coming to to [music] pray and to learn. One of the fathers came in and said, "You know, this is the most beautiful minan in the whole [music] school shoot. These are the ones that are going to be the future. And if they love coming, then you know we've got it made." I took him to the social hall downstairs. I said, "We have a minan for the kids younger than the teens. We've got learning for the kids that are 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 up to the teen miny. They're downstairs with Ela Levi. Then I took him next door to there where there's a toddler's minan where they're teaching them to pray and to kiss the muzza and what Shabbat is and covering their hands. The kids are our future also. They are our foundation. He started a program last year. It's exploding with Jack Braha and he's teaching all the young kids [music] how to pray. After doing this for a few times on my way home, I was driving home and I was just thinking if this keeps up the way that this is going and it keeps growing. I picture myself coming back here in five or 10 years and just seeing [music] all these boys reading and Hazan and Shulgo goers to be a part of this is a very big [music] to me and it means a lot to me and I'm very excited. It's an unbelievable program. People are so excited. People sending their kids and [music] it's really it's going to make a massive difference where they This is the only gift that we can give these kids for the rest of their life. >> However much learning we had last year, somehow we've upped the ante by like 50%. The girls wanted a class so they're coming and learning with Jack Braha how to say old school. I walk through the sh and I hear them singing exactly in the same tune that Kamaruk used to teach the init all those years ago. And I know that we're touching something which is priceless. We are arming the future generations with pride, with knowledge, with understanding. Literally, I would say we're probably doubling to tripling our output. I deal primarily with the young singles in their 20s and 30s. And we've seen a tremendous growth of these young men and women who are coming to all of our programs. It's very hard to find community here in Manhattan. They finish their work, they go home, and then they just wake up on this rat race that can be Manhattan. What we have created here at Saffra Synagogue is something incredible. We've given them a home away from home. This afternoon, I got finished [music] doing a ladies class downstairs. We have to turn the whole downstairs into an auditorium with tables everywhere because all the women are sitting there writing notes. grandmas, great grandmas sitting next to young single girls to be [music] able to study and to learn how to pray and connect to God on the highest level. The synagogue is flourishing. Uh I'm not surprised. It all starts at the top. Your rabbi is he's one of a kind and it was godscent that he came here and he's revolutionized the uh programming and the goings on. So, Rab Faraki is a in my opinion, he's a superstar. He's a brand of his own. He's uh an amazing energy level 247, always available, always responsive. He relates to everybody in many different ways. >> Rabbi Fahi really puts this community in front of him at all times. [music] And working with him has been the most incredible, inspiring, evolving position I've ever had in my 25 years [music] as working as a rabbi. He's making a Torah to become a part of their life and really bring them closer to the true meaning of life. >> Every person who walks into the shul should understand this is a midrash. I know that if Edmund Safar shalom and Lily Safra alum were here today, as much as they would enjoy the synagogues minyim that are packed, what they would love to see more than anything else is the young and the old engaged in Torah learning. We cannot do this without you. The programs are exploding and the costs along with it. Baroo Hashem, we have a community that surrounds us with fundraising opportunities. They love giving. People have been so generous. But it's never enough. More kids, more learning. More women interested, more learning. You got it. The answer here is always going to be yes. When it comes to more Torah, there is no greater investment that you can make in this world than in Torah. As our rabbis teach us, Tora [music] is worth more than everything.