Congregation Shomrei Emunah

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Congregation Shomrei Emunah is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located in Borough Park, Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 1907, the congregation moved into its present edifice in 1910. Its current spiritual leader is Rabbi Aviezer Cohen.HistoryCongregation Shomrei Emunah was established in 1907 by a group that included a number of Torah scholars. It published its bylaws on September 3, 1907. In the beginning, services were held in a Masonic hall at New Utrecht Avenue and 56th Street. In 1910 the congregation constructed its own building at the corner of 14th Avenue and 52nd Street. The imposing, yellow-brick edifice designed in Romanesque Revival style features a large skylight over the bimah (reader's platform).The subsequent founding of Beth El, Congregation Anshei Sfard, and Bnai Yehuda drew membership from Shomrei Emunah, leading to the latter's sobriquet as "The Mother of Jewish Institutions" in Boro Park. Congregation members also played a role in the establishment of the Yeshivas Etz Chaim (the neighborhood’s first day school) and the Israel Zion Hospital (today Maimonides Medical Center). In the early years of the congregation, the Chofetz Chaim had advised Torah scholars traveling to America that they should turn to Shomrei Emunah upon their arrival. Rabbis who have addressed the congregation include Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and Rabbi Boruch Ber Leibowitz.