Young Israel of Flatbush

Young Israel of Flatbush is a Modern Orthodox congregation in Brooklyn's Flatbush community.[1][2] A September 1959 neighborhood-services report listed it at 1012 Avenue I and categorized the synagogue as Orthodox.[3] The broader Young Israel movement began in 1912, when fifteen young men and women organized on Manhattan's Lower East Side and offered Friday-night lectures in English on Jewish topics.[4] By 1997, Moynihan described the Flatbush congregation as a major Modern Orthodox synagogue that had helped anchor the neighborhood's development.[2]

Although an exact founding date is not given in the cited sources, the congregation's 75th anniversary on March 2, 1997, places its founding around 1922.[2]

By 1959, the synagogue's Avenue I address appeared in a neighborhood-services survey of Brooklyn communities. The entry referred to programs for boys and girls ages 6–18, including clubs and scouts, as well as Saturday-afternoon storytelling and singing for children under six.[3] This programming reflected a sustained commitment to serving families in the area.

In 1968–1969, the synagogue's youth achieved national distinction through a Black tutoring program. A study of Jewish student and youth movements reported that Young Israel of Flatbush's youth had the highest per-worker success among youth groups in the country in “remediating” students. The author attributed the result to the program's efficiency and involvement.[5]

Rabbi Solomon J. Sharfman led the congregation from 1938 until his retirement in 1984; Congressional tributes described his service as spanning 45 years.[1][2] During his tenure, he served as president of the Rabbinical Council of America in the late 1950s and as president of the Synagogue Council of America from 1969 to 1971.[1] He also chaired the New York State Kosher Advisory Board and was a member of New York City's Committee for the Aged. The U.S. Air Force cited Sharfman for his work during World War II in Europe and North Africa.[6]

Beyond his national roles, Sharfman left a lasting institutional imprint on Flatbush. Representative Charles Schumer credited him with establishing the Vaad Harabonim and Rabbinical Board of Flatbush, the Flatbush Eruv, a mikvah, and Gemilath Chasodim of Flatbush, and noted his contributions to the broader Young Israel movement.[6] Schumer, who said Sharfman had presided at his wedding, declared: “To be in the glow of Rabbi Sharfman's sun has been both a pleasure and an honor for Iris and me.”[6]

Following Sharfman's retirement, Rabbi Kenneth Auman occupied the pulpit.[2] In 2009, Auman was identified as the rabbi of Young Israel of Flatbush and a former president of the Rabbinical Council of America.[7] Moynihan's 1997 tribute characterized Sharfman and Auman as the two spiritual leaders who had guided the congregation through most of its first 75 years.[2]

Moynihan's 1997 tribute described Young Israel of Flatbush as a source of strength in civic and Jewish life, crediting it with leadership and involvement at local, national, and international levels.[2] He highlighted the synagogue's emphasis on aid to people in need, both within the United States and abroad, and characterized it as an institution that had anchored the development of the Flatbush community over its first 75 years.[2]