Some shuls are founded by committees. Ours was founded by a Rabbi who opened his own front door.
In the summer of 2015, Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Aboud, of Ateret Torah, established a small minyan in the basement of his Marine Park home. There was no Sephardic minyan in the neighborhood; he created one, and fewer than twenty families joined him that first summer. The shul that grew out of that basement — today's Bet Aharon Torah Center, with well over one hundred families — has been led by Rabbi Aboud from its first Shabbat to this day.
A shul built on learning
From the beginning, Rabbi Aboud built the shul around Torah rather than around walls. Classes for ladies and youth programs began in the shul's earliest days. He established a night-time Kollel for Ateret Torah Avrechim to fix constant Torah learning at the center of the kehila. His weekly Wednesday night class remains a fixture of the shul's calendar, and his recorded Daily Halachah series on Hilchot Shabbat brings practical halachah into the community's homes every day.
From basement to building
It was Rabbi Aboud's letter to the community that framed the New Building Campaign — a campaign that ended with the purchase of 3609 Quentin Road in December 2023 and the kehila moving into a home of its own. "With Bitachon in Hashem," he wrote of the project, "we are confident of its success." The building now standing on Quentin Road is that confidence, made of brick.
Read the full story of the shul, or come hear the Rabbi in person — visitors are always welcome.