A few years ago, I moved with my family from Brooklyn to Bayswater, NY. It was a very different lifestyle from living in Brooklyn. From the first days that we moved here, we noticed that living in Bayswater was like living outside of New York. It took us a few difficult months to get used to it. In fact, I even thought we made a mistake moving here. When I was living in Brooklyn, even though I was involved in the Sephardic community, I never found a Shul where I felt comfortable because I was always missing my Shul in Turkey. Now I moved to another community that was even further away from my roots.
In Bayswater, you can find many types of Jews: Modern Orthodox Jews , Yeshivish Jews, Hassidic Jews, even non-religious Jews. Everyone lives in harmony. But I wasn’t sure where I would fit in since I do not have a Yeshiva background and became religious later in life.
I knew there were a few shuls in Bayswater, but which shul was the right one for me? I felt very confused and lost. One Shabbat Morning I tried the closest shul (which is only two blocks away from my home,) YOUNG ISRAEL of WAVECREST & BAYSWATER. After I entered the shul, I had one more worry. I'm a Sephardic Turkish Jew and most of the people were Ashkenaz. While I was thinking that maybe I should try the Sephardic Shul, a miracle happened that changed my life and my family’s life. All the members of the shul welcomed me in a way that I was never welcomed in any shul before. People were very, very warm and nice to me. In that first week, I knew I belonged there. Even though I was a Sephardic Turkish Jew, the members of the shul made me feel at home.
I'm very lucky to have Rabbi Eliezer Feuer as the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Bayswater. He is very different from any other Rabbi whom I have ever met. His vast Torah knowledge and his gift for holding the community together make him well-loved by his congregants. Also, this year we have a new young president of the shul, Hillel Adelman. He is working very hard with Rabbi Feuer to help the shul continue to grow.
There are many shiurim available during the week, but my favorite is Rabbi Feuer’s Sunday morning Gemara shiur in Masechet Brachot.
Right now in Shiur they don’t serve Baklava or Turkish coffee, but hey, you never know.