Firefighter Michael Farca braved heavy smoke and flames to rescue a Torah scroll from the burning Chabad of Greenvale synagogue, located in the basement of a multi-tenant building on Northern Blvd., on Wednesday morning, June 4.
Firefighters responded to a call at approximately 7 a.m. at 55 Northern Blvd. In the basement of the building is a Jewish synagogue, the Chabad of Greenvale.
Amid the ruins, firefighter Farca of the Roslyn Highlands Fire Department pushed through heavy smoke and flames to locate the synagogue’s ark and rescue the Torah scroll.
Farca has been with the fire department for four years. He originally wanted to help his community as an EMT.
“When you get to a certain point in life, you start to wonder what’s the greater purpose,” said Farca. “At some point, I just said, you know, you gotta think about giving something back to the community.”
When the fire department arrived on the scene, Farca noticed heavy smoke pouring out of the attic and the basement.
At the time, he was unaware that a synagogue was in the basement. Farca was part of the truck team that searched the building and was asked to force open the door that they were not able to access in the basement so the team could search for fire.
“I never expected something like that in the basement of the strip store and a strip mall,” Farca said.
Once he realized he was in a synagogue, Farca said, he knew he had to search for the Torah scrolls.
“The Torah represents our life, in our lifeline it’s our code, and to not safeguard that would be wrong, and everything we do in the fire service is to protect life and property,” said Farca. “It wasn’t even much of a question as to whether or not I needed to safeguard that of being Jewish or not, that was just again part of my instinct.”
The Torah is the central sacred text of Judaism. It contains the first five books of the Hebrew Bible and serves as the foundation of Jewish law, teachings and tradition. It was hung in the synagogue and used for prayer, according to Boris Maksumov, a member of the Chabad of Greenvale congregation.
“He located the ark to see if the Torah scrolls were in there and was able to retrieve it and bring it out safely, which we are very excited about,” Maksumov said.
The Chabad of Greenvale has set up a GoFundMe account to raise money to rebuild the synagogue.
According to the Syosset Fire Department, the fire started in the basement and extended to the stores above. Investigators say the cause was electrical.
“Multiple members of the Chabad were outside praying in tears because they were concerned that pipes were bursting, and we have a lot of siddurs, which are prayer books, that were all damaged. All the furniture, the rugs, everything is destroyed,” Maksumov said.
Farca said that although he is getting all the praise for saving the Torah scroll, this was a team effort.
“It’s a group effort and there is no one person who stands out. Sometimes you get the glory picture, but that’s not what this is about; this is really about helping the community,” Farca said.
The Roslyn Highlands Fire Department and Syosset Hook & Ladder Company No. 1 both responded to the scene and worked to contain the fire and prevent further damage to the building.
No one was inside the building when the fire started, and officials say there is no indication of suspicious activity.
