Queens Street Named in Honor of Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld, Z”tl

By Matis Glenn

The street corner next to the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills has been named “Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld Way,” in homage to the late and legendary rav of the shul.

The sign, posted on the corner of 150th Street and 70th Avenue, was revealed in a ceremony attended by city councilmembers, state assemblymen, organizers, and Rabbi Schonfeld’s family.

Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld, born in 1923 in Poland, grew up in a home that was steeped in askanus. His father, Reb Shabsi, was the secretary of World Agudah, and both father and son were close to the Gerrer Rebbes.

He built up the Queens Jewish community as a founding member of the Vaad Harabbonim and Rav of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills for 60 years. By many estimates, he was the longest-serving and eldest pulpit rabbi in America.

He spent decades working with community leaders, politicians, and various Jewish organizations to benefit the wider Jewish community. He was also a Rebbe in Yeshiva University, and the head of the Rabbinical Council of America. His political activities and fame led him to give the invocation at the 1984 Republican National Convention, under President Ronald Reagan.

Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld was niftar in 2020 at the age of 97.

“The word “way” in Hebrew is derech, and that has great significance in describing my father,” said his son and successor, Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld. “He was a rabbi’s rabbi, a leader’s leader. He followed Rav Hirsch in his Torah im derech eretz… in short, that the Torah makes you into a mentsch; [it teaches] the way of this world, and that was the way of my father. It’s very fitting to have a street called Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld way; in every facet of Torah life, civil life … he led the way.”

Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld will soon retire as rav to serve as president of the Coalition for Jewish Values.

Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal was active in beginning the process of getting the street named after the rabbi. “Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld was a true pillar and testament to the flourishing Jewish community of Kew Gardens Hills,” Rosenthal said at the ceremony Sunday. “Rabbi Schonfeld dedicated his life to growing and strengthening the Jewish community in Queens and was a powerful voice for American Jewry.” Rosenthal reached out to City Councilman Jim Gennaro, who submitted the bill, whereupon he received unanimous support from the City Council.

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mglenn@hamodia.com

Photos of street-naming ceremony Sunday, courtesy of Shabsie Saphirstein