The members of the Sephardic Jewish community in Bensonhurst originally immigrated from the Middle East, and moved to Bensonhurst from the Lower East side of Manhattan. They kept many aspects of their culture upon arriving to Bensonhurst such as making customary Middle Eastern dishes. The older immigrants would also speak Arabic, the language spoken in the Middle East. “My parents would always speak Arabic when discussing private matters so me and my brothers and sisters couldn’t understand,” Norma Chabbott, who grew up in Bensonhurst, said. Shamosh recalls that there were even women who sold olives with Mediterranean spices out of their homes.
The Sephardic community built the Magen David Synagogue on 67th street for services. The majority of the community lived in walking distance from the synagogue so that they could attend on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest. Soon, the community grew enough to support a second synagogue, Ahi Ezer synagogue, which was also the first synagogue in Bensonhurst to have a social hall.
Beginning in the 1950s, the Sephardic Jewish community began to leave Bensonhurst for the Ocean Parkway area, moving to live in more spacious houses with more room for the community to grow. Today, there is no longer a Sephardic Jewish community in Bensonhurst. Its synagogue, Magen David, is still in Bensonhurst but is now mostly used as a funeral home.
