Memory Lane: Agudas Yisroel Snif Chofetz Chaim

Situated on the outer edge of Boro Park, in the Mapleton section of the borough of Brooklyn, the shul has been here for more than 90 years. Established in the name of the holy Chofetz Chaim, it has retained his holy name to this day even as the shul became a branch of Agudas Yisroel. 

Throughout its tenure, the shul was led by illustrious Rabbonim, and cared for by exceptionally-dedicated officers and gabbo’im. 

Chofetz Chaim  

The earliest documentation that we could find related to the shul comes from the Works Progress Administration Survey—a document that surveyed hundreds of congregations in Brooklyn and Manhattan under President Roosevelt’s New Deal program.  

The entry reads as follows: Congregation Rabaini Chufetz Chaim Anshei Sfard (Our Rabbi, Chafetz Chayim, Men of Sephardic Ritual), 5413 18th Avenue Brooklyn. Organized 1932 by the follower of a great European rabbi, Chafets Chayim." Incorporated 1932 as Congregation Rabini Chafetz Chayim Nusuch Sfard. In 3 story red brick dwelling since 1932. First Rabbi: Nathan Kramer, 1932—1939. 

While we could not identify Rabbi Nathan Kramer, he does appear alongside fellow founders of the congregation—Harry Balzer, Leon Berger, Morris Hirschberg, M. Kinberg, Aaron Rochames, Leon Schafer, Raphael Spinner, Fred Buchman, and Max Breslau—who are featured in its incorporation documents. 

It is interesting to note that this must have been a very rare occasion where a Shul that was named for the Chofetz Chaim davened nusach Sfard. According to the legend, the condition was made that the name “Chofetz Chaim” would need to be kept as long as the shul would be in existence—a condition that is kept until this day.

Agudas Yisroel 

In 1962—three decades after the shul’s founding—the members of the shul chose to bring it under Agudas Yisroel, and we read about the inauguration of the shul as the Eighteenth Avenue branch of Agudas Yisroel in Dos Yiddishe Vort in the spring of that year. As noted above, the shul would incorporate the name Chofetz Chaim, and henceforth be known as Agudas Yisroel Snif Chofetz Chaim.  

“Celebratory chanukas habayis of Agudah branch on Eighteenth Avenue in Brooklyn,” Dos Yiddishe Vort reports. “A great impression was made throughout the Boro Park community by the celebratory Chanukas habayis of the new Agudah branch on Eighteenth Avenue in Boro Park, which took place together with a melave malkah in which participated a large group of balebatim, bnei Torah, and young people. 

“The celebration was chaired by Reb Yaakov Tzvi Fink, and an impressive speech was given by Reb Elimelech Tress, administrative president of Agudas Yisroel of America, who said that the 18th Avenue branch is the greatest proof of the blessing with which Agudah branches are blessed, and he called for the establishment of more Agudah branches. 

“With great yiras hakovod, the assembled listened to the words of the esteemed ga’on Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rosh Mesivta of Tiferes Yerushalayim, who called upon the chaverim to strengthen one another in Yiddishkeit.” 

Indeed, under the leadership of its esteemed Rabbonim, the shul remained a center of Torah, tefillah, and avodas Hashem for the entire neighborhood, and continues to serve as such to this day. One example of this is the daf Yomi shiur that has been given by Reb Mendel Feigenbaum—the son of the onetime secretary, Reb Baruch Feigenbaum— for close to forty years. 

The longtime president of the shul, Reb Moishe Kahan, relates that he once went to visit the Steipeler, and the Steipeler asked him a number of pointed questions about the shul, including about the height of the mechitzah and whether there was shalom in the shul. “He asked who the rov of the shul was, and when I told him that Rav Dovid Kviat was our rov, he looked up and said, ‘Der Sukkas Dovid?!’ He was satisfied to hear this,” Reb Moshe recalls. 

There were a number of mispalelim who were there for an incredible amount of time, including Reb Binyomin Friederwitzer, Reb Hersh Meilech Friedman, and Reb Yisroel Rosenberg who was the gabbai for 40 years.  

The known Rabbonim of the shul throughout the decades were all men of great caliber, and led the congregation with great dedication and distinction. 

Today, Rav Yaakov Feiner, shlit”a, a decades-long maggid shiur in Mesivta Tiferes Elimelech, serves the marah d’asrah of the Agudah as the shul surpasses 90 years of service to the Boro Park community.