A fire that caused $100,000 damage to the offices of a synagogue Wednesday morning was set deliberately, fire investigators ruled.
The fire at the Congregation Ahavas Sholom synagogue began in a first floor closet, but officials were not ready to say how it started and were continuing their investigation, said Kelly McGuire, a fire department spokeswoman.
One firefighter was treated at the scene for a twisted ankle, but no one else was hurt, she said. The fire had been called in by people working in the synagogue who got out safely.
It was reported shortly before 8 a.m. and was contained in about 15 minutes, but the damage was so extensive because the flames burst quickly through the first floor and onto a staircase, McGuire said.
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37 Responses
One must stop a moment to think how many incidents are being reported on Yeshiva World of vandalism and acts of terror to shuls all over the world. Anti-Semitic attacks are clearly on the rise, both abroad as well as in the U.S. Stark reminders that we are in galus even in this medina shel chesed.
It was not set deliberately, but accidentally, by a small boy playing with a lighter.
Esther;
Where did you hear that?
I find it hard to believe that a fire which caused 100 000 dollars in damages resulted from a cigarette lighter, and if thats the case, why were officals hesitant to disclose that information,?
I have several relatives who are members and were there at the time. A 7 year old boy was playing with the lighter and when it lit, threw it in the closet and shut the door. I have no idea why officials were hesitant to disclose that, or if that’s even true.
this is somewhat off the subject, but it struck me when reading this:
“A fire that caused $100,000 damage to the offices of a synagogue”
imagine our alter alter bubbies and zadies in europe (or wherever), seeing this….. the OFFICES, in plural, of a shul; and just the offices ALONE worth more than $100, 000 dollars (in terms of rubles or whatever) !!
i wonder what they would think?
My husband was at minyan this morning at Ahavas Sholom and he was there when they discovered the fire. B”H it was contained to the first floor of the old building. Although the small shul was badly damaged, the damage to the offices upstairs was minimal. A 7 year old boy found a lighter in a closet and did not know what it was and when he opened it, it ignited. When the men opened the door to the closet where the fire was there was a backdraft that caused the fire to quickly spread. B”H no one was hurt.
where is this shul-you didnt mention any city or country?
Freind, Columbus is the capital city of Ohio, in the USA. That’s where the fire took place.
“imagine our alter alter bubbies and zadies in europe (or wherever), seeing this….. the OFFICES, in plural, of a shul; and just the offices ALONE worth more than $100, 000 dollars (in terms of rubles or whatever) !! i wonder what they would think?”
Who cares what they would think? Why is that important?
@ Kishke: He meant that it is a pity that people squander money on ridiculous things when so much good could be done with it. Whichever city you live in, I’m sure there are aniyim there. People who try hard to support themselves and families but just cannot, or people who do not have someone to support them and they themselves cannot work. Don’t you think that money would be better spent supporting one of those families, rather than spending 100 grand on offices?
To kishke , you allways crack me up.
I usually agree with you, but in this case I don’t, why should a shul have offices for $100,000. A shul isn’t a buisness. It’s just a place where yiden gather – to learn and daven, that’s it. There’s no reason to have executive offices.
maybe, maybe they would think – B”H our kinderlach are spending their hard earned $’s on shuls and not on country clubs!
so Who knows: ummmm…. should we sell off all the shuls and give the money to the aniyim? Real Estate values have risen and construction costs (new/replacement) is not cheap.
i’m surprised no 1 said that this kid was smoking because that seems 2 b the new cause 4 a fire just like in the detroit storage room as reported on yw
Who knows & Sheryl:
I knew what he meant (not that I agree), but what I was poking fun at was his invocation of the bubbies and zaidies of yesteryear to make his silly point. If offices in shuls are so terrible, just say so. Leave the bubbies and zaidies out of it. I mean, really, when you hear about a fire in a shul, is your first reaction what the bubbies and zaidies would have said about how much the shul cost? It’s weird.
And Sheryl, thanks for the nice comment.
i wasn’t making any point at all, “silly” or “weird” or not.
all i meant is what i said: “i wonder what they would think?”
would they think:
“what a wonder! what a miracle! could we ever even have dreamed such a marvelous state of Yissishkeit?
“how wonderful Yidden live so well?
or perhaps:
Oy, what have we become?, goyim?
or perhaps something else.
i found it intriguing to speculate
do we know who our Fathers and Mothers were?
if one doesnt share my sense of curiosityand speculation, that’s fine, dont speculate.
why someone on this website would find reason to be critical of this and say hurtful things, of this i dont wish to speculate.
feivel
A Shul has to be the most maginficant building in the community. We spend millions on our houses, but often daven in a dump!
We built a shul, recently, and yes, it did cost over $3mil, and yes, many had the Svorah, that if we cant pay our teachers, how could we build such a Shul….
The ans. is: If we can’t pay our teachers.. or if the Chesed funds can’t put food on every table.. how could we go on vacations? or how could we spend 300k (or more) on our home renovations?
The ans., Rabosoy,.. is that PEOPLE SPEND ON WHAT THEY WANT TO SPEND ON! Period! I know this, as a Financial Planner. People like to put thier money in bricks and if we did not build the shul they would spend their money on other things.
All you do gooders who say the 100k in offices is a waste, should think again. Who said that Kiruv is not being done there? Who said that other good things are not going on there?
MDLEVINE- you are on target!
Sheryl –
YOU may just “gather around” in a shul. Speek for yourself. Other people feel that “Shivti Biveis Hashem Kol Yimei Chayai” they want to live there! The Bais Hashem should look like a Bais Hashem. even if it takes $100,000,000. Hashem has unlimited funds.
Who knows says: If you think that there is only a limited supply of money, and that by taking the 100K and reallocating it to the poor, it would solve the Anim problem, then you are a Kofer! Hashem’s supply is endless.
By the way, this is not MY Torah. This is what we got (Not word for word, but bierech) from Gedolim.
I am ready for any response to this
To my dear friend ‘KISHKA’ who always leaves me with a challenge:
I agree thatmy first reaction as well was the issue of the fire.
However…’alter alter Bubbies and zeides……..who cares what they think?????? WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT??????’
Hello…thats the mentality of the non frum hefker youth of today, ‘our grandparents ways are ‘passee’, our upbeat ideas are more relevant!” and i’m sure you didnt mean it badly, but OUR way is to see our ancestors as an example and to value their opinions. We all know that unfortunatley the quality of our generations are becoming less and less and the yiras shomayim our grandparents had we can never ever beat.
Feivel made agood point.
In our grandparents days in Poland our Hungary, they davend in ‘shtieblich’ (the heimisher people at least). materialistic issues were the furthest from their mind while PRAYING and ofcoure they would be taken aback by ashul with offices worth that amount of money .I dont think their point would be about the ‘poverty issue’ but more about a shul not being
connected to Gashmiyos but more with Ruchneyos.
When you live in a small community, like Columbus, the shul is a focal point for many religious activities, keeping the community alive. Therefore, it DOES need an office.
an office is ONE THING, but spilling out 100 grand on supplies or whatever else is involved in the ARCHITECTURE is CERTAINLY not a ‘hidur mitzva’
Nameless: Try and save the uplifting sentiments for a subject worthy of them. Ditto the bubbie and zaidie argument.
To Sheryl,
My husband and I belong to the shul that had the fire and my husband was there when it happened. Let me clarify a few things. The fire happened when a young 7 year old boy, who I know very well because we are friends with the family, found a lighter and accidently lit it and it caused a fire – he was not smoking. He was unsupervised unfortuantely and this was the result. B”H no one was hurt. Our shul is not a rich shul. The fire happened in the old building and it destroyed the small shul where the men daven during the week. It did not destroy the office upstairs of the small shul. The building is over 50 years old and still has the original woodwork which is probably why they ESTIMATED the amount of the damage. We have one secretary who works in a converted office which was probably a bedroom at one time. Nothing fancy – a desk and some filing cabinets. Our Rabbi has his office also upstairs of the small shul and his office was probably also a bedroom at one time. Our offices (two small rooms in total) are not eleborate and B”H they were only slightly damaged. It’s our beloved small shul that we lost – not $100,000 offices! B”H they were able to remove the Torahs from the small shul and the main building was not damaged and we can continue to use the building.
I dont go back on my word. This was the perfect example!
“an office is ONE THING, but spilling out 100 grand on supplies or whatever else is involved in the ARCHITECTURE is CERTAINLY not a ‘hidur mitzva”
What are you hocking a cheinik? What then is the hidur mitzvah of a building if not through architectural beauty?
This whole argument is nuts. When people spend money on themselves, the nudniks yell how terrible it is that they’re so into gashmius. When they spend on a shul, they yell about turning ruchnius into gashmius. The nudniks need to get a life.
Nameless,
What do you mean?
Susshow wants a response so here it is:
This might come as a shock to you but kiruv work and other community services can be done in anoffice EVEN if its not paved with gold. You can argue that the money should be invested in the house of worship itslef. Spill out on marble floors, chandeliers and comfortable chairs etc.
Yes Hashem is constantly giving but there are lots of ‘parnosoh ‘ issues lately. People are not even earning enough to feed families these days.Taking that in account, I dont think splurging on offices is apriority on anyone’s standards
Kishka….
I see your having some difficulty understanding this….
I MEAN THE STRUCTURE OF THE OFFICES NOT THE SHUL ITSLEF…..READ MY LAST POST……
Nameless,
I don’t think you’ve been reading any of my postings. The damage WAS NOT TO THE OFFICES – the offices, two small rooms, are FINE and will not be rebuilt. THE SMALL SHUL was destroyed at a tune of and ESTIMATED $100,000 and that is what will be repaired to the modest way it was before and not necessarily at a cost of $100,000. The building that houses the small shul is a 50 year old house not a milllion dollar mansion.
I and my husband daven at this shul and the small shul had the original wooden benches and was very modest and that’s how it will be rebuilt I’m sure.
BubbyG,
thank you for clarifying that the boy was not smoking in the closet, I too, know the family, and it is a dramatic event that just took place. It was simply an accident that happened; and it wasnt mentioned in the news that the fire was due to the fact that it was a kid who accidently started the fire. The shul, police and fire investigations, all agreed that the info would not be revealed to protect the family’ privacy. I think they have enough of their plate to be dealing with this, without having everyone in the jewish world know and judge them and or comment on the fact.
As for the value of the damages, 100 000$ is not much if you think about it, on an insurance perspective, and insurance is the key word here. We are not talking that 100 000$ was invested in what was destroyed, but the value of it, and the rarity of the materials used to build the building more than 50 years ago.
I completely agree with Susshow. I doubt there was $100,000 in damage as that is probably a rough estimate. Maybe we should concern ourselves with finding out how we can contribute to rebuilding the shul. Where can we send donations?
Emeti,
Thank you for your comments. Nameless doesn’t seem to understand that the damage was not to the offices but to the small shul. We are not rebuilding offices for $100,000. There was very little damage to the offices. It was the small shul that we lost and that is what will be rebuilt.
Actually this is written by BubbieG’s husband. Nameless, you are right and you are wrong. Yes, $100,000 offices, epsecially in a shul as small as ours, would be inexcusable. BUT THE ARTICLE WAS WRONG!! The damage was to the bes medrash, the library, the kids’ playroom, and some adjacent rooms. All of these areas are in fact quite modest, and are in the older part of the shul. It costs money to repair 4 rooms and smoke damage. Our Rabbi and our 1 person part-time secretary (our entire paid staff, who does more than a full time job) work out of renovated bedrooms, with used — very used–office furniture. B”H, no one was injured, the sifrei Torah from the bes medrash were saved, the seforim from the library can be salvaged (so they tell us) and our main shul should be usable iy”H by this Shabbos. In fact, our annual cholent cookoff (BubbieG’s pet project) is still on for Parshas Ysiro — send in your reservation and join us in the (modest and old) social hall for Shabbos lunch, with 6 different cholents to sample.
Zeidy Yankev
Nameless,
Your opinions are not based on Das Torah. The Gedolim don’t agree with you. I know that first hand.
I’m sorry to say, that you have Kruma hashkofos.
not because you don’t agree with me, but because you don’t agree with das torah.
Don’t take my word for it, go ask a Godol!
I think that nameless just wants to get attention. He/She is out to argue with the world.
Sadly, he/she has wrong views as evidenced with her rampage against everyone.
Who are you Chicagostu? I also live in Chicago and would like to knoe who “copletely agrees with me”
email me at [email protected]
Thanks
“imagine our alter alter bubbies and zadies in europe (or wherever), seeing this….. the OFFICES, in plural, of a shul; and just the offices ALONE worth more than $100, 000 dollars (in terms of rubles or whatever) !! i wonder what they would think?”
OK – I’m going to chime in because this shul that caught fire is my heart and soul.
1. The news media that described “offices” was, as BubbieG pointed out, incorrect.
The part of the shul that caught fire is a house that was built in 1917; the shul moved there in 1952. The “small shul,” or beis medresh, is the converted living room of the old house; the library where the seforim are is a converted “sun room;” and the men put their talis & tefillin on in the mornings in the adjacent room, which used to be the dining room. The “offices” are (1) the Rabbi’s office (the former master bedroom, upstairs), and (2) the administrator’s office, another converted bedroom, also upstairs. An addition to the shul was built in 1967, and contains a large shul, a social hall, and a kitchen.
2. $100,000 worth of damage. Not a lot when you consider construction and labor costs, esp. to repair and replace damage to a 90 year-old house. Let’s talk: the fire began in a closet under the stairs. So, the closet is gone. The stairs will likely require replacement. There is smoke damage throughout the building. The benches, or pews, in the small shul came from the shul’s earlier home, and are probaby 90-100 years old. Ditto for the bimah. Consider the cost of building a new house. Now consider rebuilding a third of that.
Bottom line: the media doesn’t always get it right. If your opinions are based on anything but that which you have seen and know personally yourself, you might think twice about criticizing others.
If anyone’s interested…I requested that Yeshiva World post a correction to the news article that was originally posted here along with a photo of the building where the fire was.
They posted the correction yesterday.