Community Magazine January 2019

28 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Moroccan Community Takes Off in Jackson, New Jersey MACHLA ABRAMOVITZ R abbi Eliyahu Attias may be in his mid-70s. Even so, his voice rings loud and clear as he delivers his Shabbat drasha , Torah that combines Ashkenazi learning tinged with a Moroccan flavor. For now, Rabbi Attias’s new synagogue is located in the converted garage of the Tchiprout family. The male congregants, young and middle-aged fathers and children, sit together on one side, while the mothers and daughters listen attentively from behind a one-way window that separates the Tchiprout’s family room from the rest of the synagogue. The painted walls and gleaming floors lend an aura of renewal to the new shul and to the entire enterprise. Raphael Tchiprout, 31, and the father of three children, looks on with well-deserved pride. This Shabbat minyan is the first of its kind in Jackson, and is one of the first initiatives undertaken by this unique community – the only Moroccan community for b’nai Torah in the U.S., which Tchiprout helped to found. It is situated off Hwy 195, a mere 15-minute walk to the outskirts of Lakewood and a 35-40-minute drive to Deal. The Jackson community started with only three families. It now boasts twenty families, with others living in the vicinity taking advantage of the synagogue’s minyanim and shiurim . Besides the Shabbat minyan, there is also a Sunday night minyan for Maariv , as well as a Thursday night Humash shiur by Rabbi Attias that is attracting more and more attendees. Soon the synagogue will host the first-ever weekday Shacharit minyan in Jackson. Next on the agenda is the opening of a night kollel . After that: a mikveh ? a synagogue complex? “With Rabbi Attias at the helm, the possibilities are endless,” Tchiprout says. A Moroccan Dream Only two years ago this kind of community was inconceivable. Tchiprout’s dream of founding a community of Moroccan b’nai Torah located an eight-minute drive from the Bais Medrash Govoha was realized much faster than he dreamed possible. And it was to be headed by a Torah scholar of the caliber and stature of Rabbi Attias! Rabbi Attias is recognized as a Torah giant in both the Ashkenazi and Sephardi Torah communities. “Rabbi Attias epitomizes the best of bothworlds.He learned inTorat Emet, Rav MosheSchneider's yeshiva in London, England; he studied with Rav Aaron Kotler, as well, and held a makom kavuah in the synagogue of Hacham Ovadia Yosef, zt”l. Rabbi Attias speaks fluent English, Yiddish, Arabic, and Hebrew. He also helped found the Scranton Yeshiva, and together with Rabbi Naftali Friedler opened Yeshivat Ner Israel in Toronto. Moreover, for 23 years he, together with Rav Nissim Yagen, administered the Kehilas Yaakov Kollel in Yerushalayim. He bridges both worlds, which define the character of today’s Moroccans attracted to what Lakewood is offering,” Tchiprout said. ItwasnotassuredthatRabbiAttiaswouldacceptthisposition.When Tchiprout first invited Rabbi Attias to head this newly-established yeshivah community two years ago, the Rosh Kollel did not commit. At this stage of his life, the decision to uproot himself and his wife Mina Raisel (Cookie) from Yerushalayim and move to New Jersey was not easy. True, they had family here, and for the Rav and Rabanit, moving close to Lakewood was like coming home. In the 1960s, the two lived beautiful Torah lives here. Ultimately, it was the challenge of contributing to Torah learning that clinched their decision. “There was no minyan in Jackson. It was a midbar, ” Rabbi Attias explains. “And if we can do something for Torah and the Jewish people, well, that’s our job.” The Draw of Jackson – A Community with a Moroccan Flavor For Tchiprout and other community members, Jackson offers muchmore than just affordablehousing inapreferredneighborhood. It fills a void that touches the core of their being. Tchiprout had grown up in a vibrant, established Moroccan community in Toronto. Even though he attended Ashkenazi yeshivot, he accompanied his father to a Moroccan synagogue every Shabbat and yom tov . So, when his three-year-old son asked to accompany him to shul on Shabbat, and he noticed that there were no children there – the Lakewood synagogue in his neighborhood could not accommodate 250 children as well as their parents – Tchiprout realized that his children would not experience what he had growing up. "What will become of our minhagim ?" he asked himself. The issue, though, is more profound than accommodating children in shul. “The Moroccans who live in Canada, in Montreal and Toronto, as well as those living in France, South America, and Israel, developed strong communities and Moroccan identities. The Moroccan Kehila celebrating the Hiloula of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Lag B’Omer. Rabbi Eliyahu Attias blessing Nissim Shalom Tchiprout. Hanukat Habayit in Rabbi and Rabbanit Attias’ new home in Harmony Farms, Jackson.