History of Fleetwood Synagogue

Fleetwood Synagogue traces its roots to the mid-1950s, when a small but determined group of Jews in the Fleetwood section of Mount Vernon sought a spiritual home of their own. First organized as an auxiliary synagogue of Congregation Brothers of Israel, the oldest shul in Westchester County, the fledgling congregation began meeting in 1955 in a small store on Locust Street. When that space was rented to a commercial tenant, the group moved twice more—to another Locust Street store, and then to East Grand Street—before worshipping for a time in the basement meeting room of the Eastchester Savings Bank on Gramatan Avenue.

In May 1957, the congregation broke ground for its own building. Financial constraints initially allowed only for the digging of the foundation, but the dedication and generosity of its founders carried the project forward. By Rosh Hashanah of 1958, the new synagogue building opened its doors.  After the departure of its initial Rabbi, Marcus Ganz z”l in 1959, Rabbi Joseph Chait z”l was installed and he served as spiritual leader of Fleetwood Synagogue until 1992.

In 1970, extensive plans were made for the renovation of the Synagogue interior. The sanctuary was completed in 1975, and a ceremony dedicating the new sanctuary and ark was held on February 15, 1976.  After the renovations of the 1970s, subsequent shul records show limited changes to the physical plant of the shul and its sanctuary throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Most impactful to the community was the completion of the eruv, created under the aegis of the Mount Vernon Eruv Committee.
Rabbi Chait retired in 1992 after 33 years leading the congregation. Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz served from 1992-1996, and Rabbi David Hirsch served from 1996-2001. In 2001, the shul installed Rabbi Gedalyah Berger, who served until 2016, followed by Rabbi Daniel Rosenfelt, who served until 2022.

 The Modernization Committee was formed in the early 2000s to undertake a renovation of the shul’s interior and to oversee the updating of the interior aesthetics of the shul. Other alterations included moving the Torah Reader’s table to the middle of the sanctuary in the early 2000s, and the raising of the mechitza in 2018. In 2019, the shul kicked off a campaign to commission a new sefer torah.

The COVID-19 Pandemic was particularly disruptive to the shul’s operations. Some of the shul’s children were in the original quarantine order, and the shul was shuttered from March 2020 until June 2020. B”h the shul did reopen successfully in June 2020, and has operated continuously since. In the fall of 2022, the shul celebrated two new beginnings, with the completion of its new sefer Torah in September, and the installation of its new Rabbi, Yosef Cohen, in November. It installed its first assistant Rabbi, Zaki Dayan in 2023.

Rabbis of Fleetwood Synagogue

Rabbi Marcus Ganz z”l 1958-1959
Rabbi Joseph Chait z”l 1959-1992
Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz 1992-1996
Rabbi David Hirsch 1996-2001
Rabbi Gedalyah Berger 2001-2016
Rabbi Daniel Rosenfelt 2016-2022
Rabbi Yossi Cohen 2022-Present