Justin Vellucci
Raised without a strong foundation of faith in the former Soviet Union, Avrohom Kremansky took a trip to Israel in his mid-20s and discovered his Judaism.
About five years ago, Kremansky, now a father of six, moved to Rhawnhurst in Northeast Philadelphia and joined Congregation Ahavas Torah — and there he discovered an extensive Orthodox family he could call his own.
“It’s a great community, with a lot of potential — there are a lot of people focused on learning,” said Kremansky, 50, the congregation’s president and a kashrut supervisor for the kosher certification agency KOF-K. “Everything has come together really well. The people here are very, very sincere.”
Founded more than 45 years ago in 1975, Congregation Ahavas Torah held its early services in a member’s basement, said its rav, Rabbi Mordechai Terebelo, who joined the Orthodox shul in 2001. The congregation, which boasts a membership of about 100 local families, constructed a modest, one-story building on Rhawn Street in the 1990s.
Located near the westerly seam of the Northeast Philadelphia eruv, Congregation Ahavas Torah proudly stresses its dedication to education and to Torah learning, Terebelo said.
On its website, it does not self-identify as Orthodox, instead referring to itself as “a Torah-observant community.” Terebelo’s work to boost the number of shiurim, or Torah lessons studied in groups, also is cited prominently on Ahavas Torah’s online home.
The place bustles, with Terebelo and an inner circle of educators regularly leading Daf Yomi, learning the oral Torah and its commentaries, or — for example — studying Mishna Brurah, an 1884 work of halakha offering commentary on laws of prayer, synagogue, Shabbat and holidays.
“It’s a very vibrant shul,” Terebelo said. “In summertime, we open at 6 a.m. and close at 11 p.m. It’s cooking here all day long.”
Terebelo starts davening each day around dawn. In summertime, that means forming a minyan at 6:30 a.m. A minyan is held around 8 a.m.
“I’m there with the first minyan,” he laughed.
Terebelo is no stranger to early mornings. For about 12 years, he helped lead The Politz Hebrew Academy, starting his day bright and early with a host of young learners. For several years before that, he worked as a Politz teacher.
That academy, formerly the William C. Jacobs School and the Fayette School, is a historic school in Philadelphia’s Bustleton neighborhood that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Even today, Terebelo is proud to list the hometowns of Politz Hebrew Academy’s staff — as close as Philadelphia or Scranton and as far-flung as Dallas, Los Angeles and Israel.
“Having that has made such a tremendous change in this community,” Terebelo said. “They’re here, they’re learning with members of the synagogues — it’s been a real game-changer. And it keeps bringing people to this community.”
Congregation Ahavas Torah also prides itself on being welcoming and keeping its front door open, at least figuratively.
“It’s all very inviting,” Terebelo said. “It’s not judgmental. We can talk to people about anything.”
Many Orthodox Jews have settled in recent years in Northeast Philadelphia, Terebelo said. In 2018, another incentive was added to the reasons for Jews to relocate there when the Northeast Philadelphia Community Kollel — sometimes known just as “Northeast Kollel” — opened on Solly Avenue, part of an eruv already home to roughly a half-dozen Orthodox shuls.
“It’s another reason to come here,” Terebelo said. “It’s another draw.”
Terebelo’s story is not an unfamiliar one.
Born and educated in Detroit, Terebelo previously served as the spiritual leader of the congregation Young Israel in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, about 35 miles northeast of Philadelphia.
His roots in education run deep. In addition to his work at Politz Hebrew Acadamy, he previously taught Limudai Kodesh classes — Jewish religious studies — at Yeshiva Shaarei Tzion in central New Jersey and at the Bezalel Hebrew Day School of Lakewood, New Jersey, the congregation’s website said.
“I knew the kids, I knew the parents, I knew the schools,” Terebelo said. “It was just another to influence and help out people and counsel them.”
Terebelo is married to Rivka (née Rosenstock) Terebelo, a Northeast Philadelphia native who holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University. They have nine children ranging in age from 18 to 37. Seven of the nine went to Politz Hebrew Academy, with some taught by their father.
When Terebelo’s children are in Northeast Philadelphia, they daven alongside members of Congregation Ahavas Torah.
“When they come home for Shabbos, yes, they worship with me,” he said.
So does Kremansky.
He said his job dealing with KOF-K accounts keeps his schedule pretty packed. But he is committed to davening and learning at Terebelo’s shul.
“As soon as we moved into the Northeast, I became part of Ahavas Torah right away,” Kremansky said. “That’s my shul. So, that’s where I daven.”
Justin Vellucci is a Pittsburgh-based freelance writer.
