New Sefer Torah dedicated at Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst

Happy faces abounded as the procession proceeded down Spruce Street in Cedarhurst with clapping, dancing and singing that celebrated the dedication of a new Sefer Torah in honor of Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst Rabbi Emeritus Moshe Teitelbaum and his wife, Rebbetzin Sori Teitelbaum.

Under a chuppa pushed down the street that was proceeded by the Torah Truck, YILC members and others celebrated the shul’s new Torah and then the older Torahs held by synagogue members as the festivities moved through the parking lot and then into the main sanctuary on Sept. 8.

The Sunday celebration took in words from Torah project co-chair Yossie Simpson, YILC Rabbi Ya’akov Trump, Rabbi Binyamin Teitelbaum, one of the honoree’s seven children, and noted Rabbi Berel Wein, Teitelbaum’s father-in-law.

Teitelbaum explained that for the Jewish people the Sefer Torah means life and is the
“personification of all that is holy” and Jewish values. First in Hebrew then in English the rabbi said: “The Almighty is Torah, the Jewish people are one.”

The Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst was formed in 1963 under the leadership of Rabbi Nuchim Kornmehl, and was originally located at 26 Columbia Ave. in Cedarhurst until the mid 1980s, when it moved to 8 Spruce Street, also in Cedarhurst.

In the mid-1980s there was a substantial increase in the number of observant Jews in the area, and the membership jumped dramatically. At the same time, the shul hired Teitelbaum as an assistant to Kornmehl. The new synagogue was built in 1986.  

“My parents gave their love to the community and the community gave their love back,” Binyamin said, adding that his bar mitzvah was the first in the new shul.

When Kornmehl died in 1992, Teitelbaum was elected to the position of the Mora D’Asra (master of the house) of Young Israel Lawrence Cedarhurst. The shul continued its growth, and in 1993 and again in 2005, expanded its building, and now includes four sanctuaries, a full youth center with classrooms, a large library and catering facilities

“Look what has developed, what a glorious institution,” Wein said, after recounting the story about having his son-in-law and daughter move from Poughkeepsie.

Shul membership, now more than 420 families is served by Trump (now the Mora D’Asra), who associated God’s words written on the parchment to all that was taught through Teitelbaum’s 32 years of leadership, which should not be forgotten, he said.