In June 2021, the Sephardic Torah Center of Marine Park announced something audacious for a shul not yet six years old: a campaign to buy a building of its own.
The case for a home
The math was simple and the need was real. The congregation had grown to well over one hundred families — filling its rented home on Quentin Road and East 36th Street beyond capacity. Rent bought space, but it built nothing. The campaign's goal, in the Rabbi's words to the kehila: more space for the fast-growing congregation, more Torah classes in the shul's Bet Midrash, more daily minyanim and programs.
How a community answers
The campaign offered every family a way to build: dedication opportunities from the sanctuary's pillars and benefactor plaques to the bookcases, tables and chairs of the Bet Midrash. Some gave large; many gave steadily; all gave l'shem shamayim. The name of the building itself — Bet Aharon — was dedicated by Mr. Harry and Alice Adjmi, whose generosity crowned the campaign.
Across the street, and worlds away
In December 2023, the shul purchased an expansive property at 3609 Quentin Road — directly across the street from its rented rooms. The renovation that followed turned it into a true Torah center, and the kehila has now moved in. The distance of the move was a few hundred feet. The difference is a home the community owns forever.
Dedication opportunities in the new building remain available — see the dedication gallery or give to the Building Fund.