Fire Engulfs New Haven Shul, Torahs Rescued

By COLlive reporter

A fire broke out at a Chabad Shul New Haven, CT, on Sunday, in the midst of the Sukkos holiday, New Haven Independent reported.

Fire engulfed the Shul at 296 Norton St. in the heart of the New Haven Chabad community at around 4 am.

Rabbi Berl Levitin, who lives on the second floor of the house with his wife Feiga, customarily wakes up at that time. He went into the kitchen to wash his hands. He smelled smoke from outside the house.

“Then I see red outside,” Rabbi Levitin, who is 69, told the New Haven Independent.

Seeing flames, he woke up Feiga and they fled to safety. Thankfully, the Torahs were rescued from the Shul in time. Rabbi Levitin kept the Torah, which was written in 2019 and welcomed with a grand Siyum event, in a fire-proof safe, he said, which made the difference.

The fire department received the call at 4:12 a.m., according to Assistant Chief Justin McCarthy.

He said the three-alarm fire began on the rear of the first floor of the building. Sixty firefighters were called to the scene; they brought the fire under control at 5:26 a.m. (Firefighters from Hamden, West Haven and East Haven came to New Haven to help provide coverage for the rest of the city.)

The fire caused “pretty heavy damage” to the second and third floors, according to McCarthy. He said the cause of the fire is being investigated.

296 Norton also houses another Shul, called The Schlounge, for young adults and young families who are connected to the Lubavitch community but weren’t regularly attending services at Congregation Chabad Lubavitch, the main synagogue next door at 292 Norton. (The Levitins conduct programs for elderly Russian emigres inside 296 Norton, as well.)

But because the scroll survived, reading and dancing with the Torahs on Simchas Torah can still take place — next door, at Congregation Chabad Lubavitch. The congregation’s president, Moti Sandman, said Sunday that the scroll has been relocated there, and the members of the Schlounge will have their own space inside the Shul for Davening and Hakafos.

A fund has been set up to help the Shul recover from the loss. Click here to donate now.