In the early hours of Friday morning, Rabbi Yitzchok Lerman, shliach to South Bergen County, his wife, and their four children made a miraculous escape when a raging blaze tore through Congregation Beth El, which also serves as the base for Chabad in Rutherford, New Jersey.

By Anash.org reporter

Early Friday morning, at around 2:45 a.m., Rabbi Yitzchok Lerman, shliach to South Bergen County, his wife, and their four children were awakened by the shrill sound of their fire alarm — and discovered flames already racing through their home and the adjacent Congregation Beth El Chabad building on Montross Avenue in Rutherford, New Jersey.

“We heard the fire alarm, we jumped up,” recalled Rabbi Lerman. “I said to my wife, grab the kids. That was it. We grabbed the kids and we ran out. That’s the most important — our family.”

The family fled with nothing but their pajamas. “No glasses, no keys, no wallets, no phones,” relatives shared. They had barely sixty seconds before the blaze completely overtook the building.

Firefighters from multiple towns rushed to the scene of the four-alarm inferno, battling massive flames and a collapsing structure while contending with live electrical wires downed out front. Less than an hour later, the building was reduced to a smoldering pile of rubble, embers raining down over the surrounding neighborhood. Two nearby buildings were damaged, but boruch Hashem, no serious injuries were reported.

Sixty seconds after the family escaped, attempts to save the Sifrei Torah had to be abandoned as the flames engulfed the shul. “It’s a devastating, devastating loss,” a community member said at the scene. “But Rabbi Lerman promised they’re going to rebuild.”

Neighbors immediately came running, offering clothing, shoes, water — anything the family might need. “The support from the community has been incredible,” said Rabbi Lerman. “From our neighbors, to the mayor and council — they were here right away offering to help.”

Mayor Frank Nunziato described the structure as “a very old home. It’s wood. This is just a very old home that may just have burned down.” He noted that the cause remains under investigation.

The Montross Avenue institution has been a pillar of Yiddishkeit in the region for over a century. Founded in 1919 and moved to its current site in 1953, it has long served both as a vibrant shul and the base of the Rebbe’s shlichus in South Bergen County and The Meadowlands. In January 2012, it was targeted in an anti-Semitic firebombing using Molotov cocktails. That case led to an arrest, and officials have stated that there is no indication that the current fire is connected.

The Lerman family urgently needs our help, and together we can support them in rebuilding both their lives and this cherished center of Jewish life.

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