User:Rena.BerkovitsFrom The Peopling of New York City
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DEMOGRAPHICS
According to a 2002 study by the UJA-Federation of NY, 1 there are 41,600 Jews in Staten Island, 29,000 of which are situated in the 10314 zip code, the Mid-Staten Island section. This section of the borough includes the communities of Graniteville, Bulls Head, Willowbrook, and New Springville. Of the Jews in Staten Island, 31% reported that they were “Non-Denominational/ “Just Jewish” or “Secular/No Religion.” Additionally, 10% of Jews in Staten Island report an Orthodox affiliation, 26% Conservative, and 33% Reform. 1 Jews also make up at least 10% of the College of Staten Island’s student body. 2 The Willowbrook neighborhood of Staten Island’s Mid-Section contains a well-established Orthodox Jewish community. In her article, “Staten Island Jews Running on Dunkin,’” Tamar Snyder reports that there are 1,200 Orthodox Jewish families just within walking distance of the new, kosher Dunkin Donuts on Bradley and Manor in Mid-Staten Island. 3
A LITTLE HISTORY
The Young Israel of Staten Island (YISI) in Willowbrook has roughly 2,000 members. Rabbi Jay Marcus, a world-renowned lecturer, is the founding Rabbi of the YISI and its current Rabbi Emeritus. He received his rabbinical degree from RIETS rabbinical school at Yeshiva University and a PhD in Psychology from Fordham University. The Orthodox community of Willowbrook had consisted of just 8 families, under the guidance of a Mr. Avery Gross, prior to Rabbi Marcus' simultaneous arrival along with 32 more families. Shortly after his arrival and the construction of the synagogue, Rabbi Marcus became principal of the YISI Talmud Torah, a full time after-school Hebrew school. Slowly, as word of mouth spread, the community grew to over 500 families by the end of his 30-year leadership. Rabbi Marcus moved to Israel in 2000 to run the post-High School Talmudic Yeshiva Program, The Genesis Center, with roughly 90 young men yearly, that he had started several years earlier.4
NEIGHBORLY RELATIONS
With Jews living in such a predominantly Catholic Italian American neighborhood, it is important to understand their relations. Diane C. Lore in her article, “Good Faith Neighbors” shares the sentiments of Iwrin Keller. Lore writes, “Keller noted that Orthodox families who bought homes in the area are far from isolated. They share the neat suburban blocks with many of the original Italian-Catholic families who populated the neighborhood in the 1960s.” 5 While there have been confirmed cases of prejudice throughout Staten Island, 6 the Jewish residents of Staten Island are grateful for living in relative peace with their neighbors throughout the years.
ABOUT
There are currently around 10 synagogues, 2 private elementary schools (one coed and one separate), one private high school, and 7 stores (Judaica, groceries, restaurants, etc.) serving the Willowbrook Jewish community today. Willowbrook is a beautiful, suburban alternative to Manhattan, with direct access to the Staten Island Expressway (I-278), the Verrazano Bridge, the Goethals Bridge, and the Outerbridge. According to Irwin Keller, owner of Famous Kosher Bakery on Victory Boulevard, "Many Orthodox Jews have large families and can't afford to live on Long Island, in places like the Five Towns, or in Bergen County, New Jersey…Here you get your own piece of lawn and you're away from the hustle and bustle of Borough Park and Flatbush."5
The synagogues of Willowbrook now include, Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss’s Agudath Israel Bais Eliezer on Birchard Avenue, Rabbi Moshe Katzman’s Bais Menachem/Chabad Lubavitch on Harold Street, Rabbi Pollack’s Shomre Hadas on Rupert Avenue, Rabbi Lawrence’s Congregation Beth Yehuda on Woodard Avenue, Rabbi Oppenheimer’s Or Hachaim Sephardic Congregation on Harold Street, Rabbi Lehrfield’s Young Israel of Staten Island on Forest Hill Road, Rabbi Navaro’s Midrash David on Willowbrook Road, Rabbi Admoni's Yemenite Congregation on Washington Avenue, Rabbi Beryl Isaacson's Congregation Beth Shloime on Oakville Street, and Rabbi Eliyahu’s Agudat Tov on Oakville Street. The Jewish community of Staten Island has also branched out to the New Springville section: Rabbi Nate Segal’s New Springville Jewish Center and Aur Torah Sephardic Minyan and Rabbi David Willig’s Congregation Aviv Hadash, the Eltingville Section: Rabbi Reuvain Garfinkle’s Young Israel of Eltingville, and the Pleasant Plains section: Rabbi Yosaif Asher Weiss’s Yeshiva Ohr Hadaas and Rabbi Reuven Feinstein’s Yeshiva of Staten Island.
The Willowbrook community of Staten Island has proven to be an ideal neighborhood for Jews. The quiet atmosphere, the number of Jewish stores and synagogues, and Staten Island’s proximity to New Jersey and Manhattan, are all reasons these Jews came, stayed, and continue to come. It is no surprise that there are many families with three generations of Jews, quite a few of which include Holocaust survivors, living in this neighborhood. It seems as if the Jewish community is on excellent terms with its neighbors and I hope it will stay that way. With conditions as they are, I can only imagine that Staten Island’s best kept secret will be let out soon.
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF WILLOWBROOK: STATEN ISLAND'S BEST KEPT SECRET
REFERENCES:
1“Mid Staten Island”. United Jewish Association, Federation of New York. 2002.
Compiled by Rena Berkovits
2"About: Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life at College of Staten Island”. Web. 18 Apr. 2010.
3Snyder, Tamar. "Staten Island Jews Running On Dunkin'" The Jewish Week. (BETA) Connecting the World to Jewish News, Culture, and Opinion, 31 Oct. 2007. Web. 10 Apr. 2010.
4Marcus, Rabbi Jay. "Interview of a Willowbrook Community Official." Phone Interview. 7 April 2010.
5Lore, Diane C. "Good-faith Neighbors - Though Spiritual Jews Live All over Staten Island, Willowbrook Is Home to the Largest Orthodox Community in the Borough." Staten Island Advance 20 Apr. 2005, Lifestyle sec.: C1. NewsBank. Web. 10 Apr. 2001.
6 Gavin, Robert. "Spike in Island, City Anti-Semitism - Anti-Defamation League Finds 60 Percent Increase in Bias Crime Incidents." Staten Island Advance, 25 Mar. 2004. NewsBank. Web.
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--Rena.Berkovits 02:55, 20 April 2010 (UTC)