It all began at the beginning of the summer. Members of the Aliya youth center in Crown Heights decided to build a 1200 square foot deck above the one-story section of the center’s E New York Avenue building.
Whilst embarking on the plan, the engineer informed the dedicated young men that Aliya’s present roof is caving in and must be taken down before it collapses.
Upon hearing the news, the new deck project quickly became a new roof project. The humble project that was expected to take about a month and under $10,000 quickly became a mega demolition gut job of the downstairs shul. The guys helped a lot in the process but it was quite clear that this was no small feat.
The initial deck job that was expected to be complete by Yud-Bais Tammuz but ultimately was rushed to be barely usable for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. With 5-8 workers working 6 days a week under contractor Raffi Halevi we just made it!
Literally hours before yomtov the construction cleanup began and the boys bought the furniture back into the shul during the 18 minutes.
But when Aliya filled up for Maariv on Rosh Hashanah, everyone was astounded by the stunning new partially exposed roof which is now 5 feet higher than the old roof. The new lights which were installed hours before Yomtov were gorgeous and the shul’s new beauty shined from all corners. The place now feels twice as big as the old Aliya with almost an extra foot of width after removing several layers of walls and the higher ceilings.
Special thanks to True Value/Hardware Express, Lavie Popack, Yanki Sufrin, Mani Weingarten, designer Sara Wigle, Shmaya Glick, Dr. and Mrs. Eli Rosen in memory of their mother/mother in law, L”N Michla bas Moshe, Mr. and Mrs. Warren Forman Esq., The Tzfasman family, The Finck family, Sholom Ber Okunov and the Aliya crew especially Alex Hecht, Josh Katz, Michael “Dude” Klein, Dovid Steinhauser and Yehua Lipkind.
Construction resumed during Aseres Yemei Teshuva, between Yom Kippur and Sukkos and during chol hamoed and still has a long way to go to be complete. This unplanned and unforeseen complete makeover has brought so much pride and joy to Aliya’s young community and has attracted many more young people to Aliya’s yomim tovim services and other programs.
To learn about dedication opportunities please call 347.347.9777 or email admin@aliyainstitute.com. To contribute and be part of this exciting project please visit www.aliyainstitute.com/donate. Naming rights for the deck and newly renovated shul are available.
My 16 year old son has never had an easy life. He was born into a home that was shattered by domestic violence. He grew up with the stigma of being from a divorced home. He is wise beyond his years and maybe that is why he always felt like he never belonged. Going through the yeshiva system no one took the time to be that positive male role model that he desperately searched for so he turned his back on everyone that he felt turned their back on him. He dropped out of yeshiva but was terrified at the… Read more »
Thank you r Shemtov for all the work you do for the community
Thank you so much Aliya for being there for my son.
Aliyah and rabbis do great work and students are family who feel loved! Thank you
Aliya is available for brisim and lechaims when it’s not being used for Aliya events
Email admin@aliyainstitute.com
Thank you
Rabbi Feiglan is an incredible man who drives an organization which does incredible work!
behind every great man is a greater woman.
much respect to Sara Feiglin for working behind the scenes. making the guys feel at home in your home with your delicious homemade cooking.
I’m sure it’s not easy having your husband at Aliya day and night and taking the guys on Shabbatons ….
kol hakavod and may Hashem give you both the strength to continue your amazing work
To our dear Rebbe Every Yid is “our own” kuddos to Moshe Feliglin. Keep up the great work
Just name it and it will become a local Chabad House.
Hatzlacha to everyone involved with Aliya in the New Year!
I never succeeded in Yeshiva, had a a tough childhood and was fortunate to discover Aliya in my late teans.
The Rabbis at Aliya made me feel important, like I mattered and they believed in me.
I am now BH married and successful and proud to be an aliya supporter
is this available to rent for a bris/.?
Rabbi Moishe Zalmen Feiglin,
Keep up the amazing work you do for Aliya .
Our whole community of Crown Heights, benefits so much,
from what you do for so many of our great young men, here in our own schchuna.
This made me so happy. All our Chabad houses could close down if we do not take care of our own. Kudos to Rabbi Feiglin for doing the most amazing work. I wish there were more people in our community like you.
Rabbi Moishe Feiglin is amazing and gives his heart and soul to Aliya! May Hashem give him continued Hatzlacha in all that he does with abundance!