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*-- Component: NYDailyNews : component/story/picture.comp *And on the 15th day, they rested.
A new synagogue was erected in Brooklyn in a whirlwind 14 days by more than 200 workers, many of them disciples of a fractious Satmar Hasidic group that up till now had been congregating under a tent.
Neither stop-work orders from the city nor the setting sun could keep followers of Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum from building the 18,000-square-foot stucco Temple Yetev Lev in Williamsburg.
The faithful worked 18-hour days to open the house of worship in time for last week's Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.
"It was done because it had to be done because the high holy days were coming up and [Teitelbaum] was on his way," said Satmar community leader Isaac Weinberger.
The steel-framed Hooper St. synagogue, which seats 4,350, was ready for worshipers on Sept. 22. But a visit yesterday revealed that additional work still needs to be done. The community also could be fined for twice defying the city's orders to stop construction.
Still, the finishing touches are expected to be completed in time for Simchat Torah, the conclusion of this year's high holy days, which leaders expect will draw as many as 20,000 followers to the area in mid-October.
"It's a miracle," said Mark Sapozhnikov, the owner of a gas station next door who watched the synagogue rise. "I've never seen anything like it."
A feud among the Satmars has been simmering since the late 1990s, when late Grand Rebbe Moses Teitelbaum anointed his youngest son, Zalmen, as leader of the congregation, which numbers about 40,000 in Williamsburg and Orange County.
The decision infuriated supporters of Aaron Teitelbaum because he is the oldest son and traditionally would be next in line to lead.
Zalmen's followers, who worship at a Rodney St. synagogue, which has been the scene of several fights, were happy about the new synagogue.
"This way they leave us alone, they don't come and curse and shout at us," said
Daniel Korzog, 55. "Everyone is happy
."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/456963p-384593c.html
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