Synagogue and School Mark Their Progress

To mark the expansion of the oldest Orthodox Jewish synagogue in the San Fernando Valley and the repair of a Jewish school damaged in a firebombing, more than 100 members of the Valley’s Orthodox community marched, danced and sang Sunday in an event that took place at both locales.

The celebration began in the parking lot of Congregation Shaarey Zedek, which is undergoing a $1.7-million expansion.

“As you can see, the construction has already begun,” said Joshua Levy, building chairman. “This is more an opportunity to reflect on who we are and where we are going.”

Concrete blocks and rebar had already been set in place for the congregation’s new facilities, expected to be completed in September, in time to celebrate the High Holy Days.

The expansion will include the addition of at least three classrooms for religious instruction, a library, study hall and banquet hall.

The congregation, which has 300 families in its membership, has planned the new addition for at least 10 years, Levy said.

Among dignitaries gathered in the parking lot for the ceremony was Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. When Yaroslavsky was on the City Council, he was involved in getting the project through the zoning process.

“I want to say mazel tov to you,” Yaroslavsky said to Rabbi Marvin Sugarman of Shaarey Zedek. “I frankly did not know we would ever be at this day, even after we approved the zoning.”

Following the ceremony, the group and a rental truck carrying musicians moved in a procession half a mile down Chandler Boulevard to Beis Midrash Toras HaShem, formerly the Aish HaTorah Institute, a school that was damaged by two firebombs in 1991.

Repairs to the building--which suffered approximately $250,000 damage--have been completed.

“It is time to show our joy to the public,” said Rabbi Zvi Block, dean of the Orthodox school and counseling center. The old name of the school, which means “Fire of the Torah,” has been changed to one that speaks of the “Torah of God.”

Although it was an arsonist’s fire that damaged the building, it was a spiritual fire that rebuilt it, Block said.