This video explores how Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Edmund J. Safra, and Ambassador David Corny, three of the most important Jews on the Upper East Side, built and established major institutions for the Syrian and Sephardic Jewish community in Manhattan.
Discover the remarkable stories of three visionary leaders who shaped one of Manhattan's most important Torah communities. From Holocaust survival to banking dynasties, learn how Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Edmund J. Safra, and Ambassador David Corny built a thriving Jewish heritage on the Upper East Side.
Rabbi Arthur Schneier was born in Vietnam in the 1930s and survived the Holocaust by hiding in Budapest. After the war, he became a rabbi at Yeshiva University and took over the Parke Synagogue in 1962, where he established the Parky State School and became an international diplomat for religious freedom.
Edmund J. Safra came from the Safra Beni dynasty, originally from Syria. His family fled Beirut in the 1940s, and Safra went on to build a significant financial empire in banking.
Together with Ambassador David Corny, these three visionary leaders shaped one of Manhattan's most important Torah communities on the Upper East Side. Safra and his family established the Edmund J. Safra synagogue on East 63rd Street, which provided a dedicated space for the Syrian and Sephardic Jewish community to flourish. Through Rabbi Schneier's leadership of the Parke Synagogue and the institutions he founded, combined with the Safra family's establishment of their own synagogue, these individuals created important communal spaces that allowed the Jewish heritage to thrive in the neighborhood.
Rabbi Arthur Schneier was born in Vietnam in the 1930s and survived the Holocaust by hiding in Budapest. He became a rabbi at Yeshiva University, took over the Parke Synagogue in 1962, founded the Parky State School, and became an international diplomat for religious freedom.
Edmund J. Safra was a child of the Safra Beni dynasty from Syria who fled Beirut in the 1940s and built a financial empire. He and his family established the Edmund J. Safra synagogue on East 63rd Street, which provided a space for the Syrian and Sephardic Jewish community on the Upper East Side to thrive.
Rabbi Arthur Schneier founded the Parky State School and led the Parke Synagogue starting in 1962, while Edmund J. Safra and his family established the Edmund J. Safra synagogue on East 63rd Street, creating important spaces and institutions for the Jewish community on the Upper East Side.
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