Sephardic Home for the Aged Records

The Sephardic Home for the Aged was an elderly care facility located in Brooklyn, New York. Sephardic religious and cultural practices were followed at the home, from accommodating languages spoken by Sephardic Jews to providing typical meals and traditional holiday festivities.

In 1948, a group formed to bring about the Sephardic Home for the Aged. It was incorporated in 1949 as the Sephardic Home for the Aged, Inc., and it became a not-for-profit corporation in 1973.

The first building was opened on August 16, 1951 with five stories and 58 beds. Community need soon proved to be greater than this facility could handle, and plans for expansion began. A seven-story building with a 178-bed capacity was constructed on Crospey Avenue in Brooklyn, New York and opened on March 29, 1960. On September 8, 1969, the LASHA pavilion was dedicated, adding communal areas and a new entrance. In 1974, the Jacob A. and Jeanne E. Barkey Wing was added, bringing capacity to 272 beds.

By the 1980s, the home offered medical, nursing, and rehabilitative services. Dedicated physicians were available on the premises, and there were fully equipped dental, radiology, and ophthalmology facilities. In addition, there was a full-time rabbi and an onsite synagogue with daily, Sabbath, and holiday services. The kitchen was kosher.

The members of the Board of Directors of the Sephardic Home were often part of the Sephardic Jewish community whose family members were or became residents of the home. Some of the children of early board members later became board members themselves.

The main fundraising events for the year centered around the creation of an annual journal and honored a person of the year chosen by the board. The annual Journal Kick-off, usually held in May, started the fundraising season, which culminated in a formal Dinner Dance, usually held in November, which served as the main gala event for the year. The annual journal featured the fundraising campaign contributors.

The Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Sephardic Home Association (LASHA) was created in 1960 through an amendment to the Sephardic Home’s constitution. LASHA ran several regular fundraising events for the Home, including a weekend excursion, a golf outing, a bazaar, a donor luncheon that generally took place in the summer, and a luncheon/fashion show in Cedarhurst that generally took place in October.

Other regular events included the installation ceremony for board members and officers, a presentation of a photograph album to an honoree, a “Nite at the Races” outing to the Meadowlands or Atlantic City, and an Oriental Soiree.

In December 2014, the Sephardic Home for the Aged, Inc. was dissolved. The facility was sold to Allure Group and renamed the King David Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation.