On Brooklyn's Ocean Parkway, Congregation Beth Torah is known for nine weekly Shabbat minyanim, programs that welcome children as young as four, and a congregation that brings as many as five generations together in prayer and community life.
Serving a Jewish Syrian Sephardic community, Beth Torah combines daily weekday prayer with educational commitments, family programming and gatherings for fundraisers, learning and celebration. More than 1,000 worshippers take part in its weekly rhythm.
From 1957 to a Six Hundred Family Congregation
Congregation Beth Torah was established in 1957 to serve the growing Jewish Syrian Sephardic community on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn. Around 1967, plans were finalized for the building at 1061 Ocean Parkway, and the structure was completed in 1969. It became a spiritual home for nearly 600 community families, and the building received architectural acclaim for its enduring, sturdy design.
Growth in Prayer and Community Life
Beth Torah grew steadily under Rabbi Z. Lieberman, its early founders and hazzan Isaac Cabasso. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, it added an early minyan, a youth minyan and a young adult minyan. In the 1990s, the congregation welcomed hazzan Yehezqel Zion, acquired the Ocean Parkway and Avenue K building then known as Club 1000, and added a fathers-and-sons program. Rabbi Yehuda Ari Azancot is its current rabbi.
Daily Shahrit and Minha/Arbit
Shahrit forms part of the congregation's regular prayer schedule:
- Sunday Shahrit: 7:00 AM, 7:30 AM, 8:00 AM and 9:15 AM.
- Monday through Friday Shahrit: 6:10 AM, 6:45 AM, 7:00 AM and 8:00 AM, with the start time five minutes earlier on Mondays and Thursdays.
- Minha and Arbit: 6:00 PM and 6:30 PM on Sunday and Monday through Thursday.
Beth Torah hosts nine weekly Shabbat minyanim, while its broader Shabbat programs welcome more than 1,000 worshippers each week. The youth and young-adult minyanim give those generations defined places within the prayer rhythm, while a fathers-and-sons program adds another family grouping.
Programming for children begins at age four. Beth Torah's ability to connect younger and older generations is reflected in gatherings that bring family members from four or even five generations together.
From Four-Year-Olds to Five Generations
Beth Torah's Shabbat programming targets children as young as four. Hundreds of children, teens and young adults take part in its programs each week, alongside their parents and other generations. The congregation's ability to hold together family members from four or even five generations is central to its community life.
Beyond prayer, Beth Torah functions as a major community institution. It hosts community events, fundraisers, educational events, family celebrations and community celebrations, with several dozen catered events taking place each year. These activities place social, educational and family life alongside the congregation's prayer schedule.
A Sanctuary Complex That Grew with Its Families
In 2004, growing youth and young-adult populations led Beth Torah to build its first extension since the original structure was completed. The north-side addition was intended to address the congregation's expanding numbers of children, teens and young adults, while the 1969 building continued to serve as its spiritual home.
Lifetime Seats in the Harary Sanctuary
The Ralph and Gloria Harary A"H Sanctuary provides a lifetime-seat program for members in good standing. A one-time purchase reserves a permanent seat for a named family member. Men's seats are designated for year-round use, while ladies' seats are for High Holiday use. Beth Torah emphasizes that owning a lifetime seat is not required to pray there.
Each seat must be assigned to a specific member of the purchasing household, and household seats are grouped together. Members do not choose the exact seat location, while the congregation makes efforts to keep extended family nearby when space allows. Lifetime-seat holders must remain members in good standing; if membership ends, their seats return to the available pool.
What a Full Torah Life Means at Beth Torah
Beth Torah's founding principles call for complete conformity to Halakha while maintaining respect and offering assistance to those who may not conform fully. All rabbis, whether within the congregation or outside it, are entitled to Kabod HaRab, or a level of rabbinical respect. Lecturers, teachers, authors of written material distributed in the synagogue, and guests are also entitled to the same respect.
The congregation strongly supports secular education beyond high school and sees value in forming a Jew who can appreciate all of God's work. It defines a full Torah life as one that combines Torah learning, mitzvot and a livelihood. Jews are encouraged to participate in society rather than withdraw from it, sanctify everyday encounters, and express Torah in the world beyond the synagogue.
Beth Torah also sees God's hand in the establishment of the State of Israel and calls for respect for its leaders even when they do not adhere to Torah. It respects truth wherever it comes from and does not reject opinions out of hand, even when it finds a belief or lifestyle objectionable. The congregation honors community institutions with different philosophies and holds that compliance with applicable law in the United States is both a Torah commandment and a duty of Jews as citizens.
An Enduring Beth Torah on Ocean Parkway
At Beth Torah, daily prayer, Halakha, education and multigenerational participation are joined by a commitment to life in society. Rabbi Yehuda Ari Azancot leads a congregation that grew from a spiritual home for a developing Ocean Parkway community into an institution serving almost 600 families. That combination of tradition, family life, learning and engagement defines Congregation Beth Torah's enduring home on Ocean Parkway.