Every shul has an address. Very few have a story like the one that leads to 3609 Quentin Road.
In the summer of 2015, the Sephardic Torah Center of Marine Park opened its doors — except that there were no doors to open. The shul began in the basement of our Rabbi, Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Aboud of Ateret Torah, as the only Sephardic minyan in the neighborhood. Fewer than twenty families davened together that first summer.
A community finds its center
From its inception, the minyan was a success beyond anything its size suggested. There was an excitement in that basement — the feeling of a community discovering it had a center. Programs began almost immediately: classes for ladies, youth minyan programs, and learning that reached entire households. The shul established a night-time Kollel for Ateret Torah Avrechim, planting Torah and kedusha at the heart of the growing kehila.
Barely a year later, the basement could no longer hold everyone. The shul rented a home on Quentin Road and East 36th Street, and word spread quickly: there was a thriving Sephardic shul in Marine Park. Families moved to the neighborhood because of it — and soon the rented shul, too, was filled beyond capacity.
The campaign for a permanent home
In June 2021, with the congregation grown to well over one hundred families, the kehila launched its New Building Campaign with one goal: a permanent home with more space for minyanim, more Torah classes in the shul's Bet Midrash, and more room for the community's semachot.
In December 2023, the shul purchased an expansive property directly across the street from its rented location — 3609 Quentin Road. After large-scale renovation and expansion, the kehila has now moved out of its rented rooms and into a building it owns.
Bet Aharon
The shul today carries the name Bet Aharon Torah Center, dedicated through the generosity of our benefactors, Mr. Harry and Alice Adjmi. From a basement of twenty families to a building of our own — the story of this shul is the story of Marine Park's Sephardic community itself: young, fast-growing, and built family by family, l'shem shamayim.
“With Bitachon in Hashem, we are confident of its success.” — from the Rabbi's message to the kehila