About This Item

  • Call NumberBJHP_0450
  • Summary(00:40) Ted Beyda, born September 17, 1947. Yousef Beyda, great-grandfather of Ted, born in 1860, a merchant, arrived from Aleppo in 1900, wife Nizha and 4 children joined him two years later, among them Raymond (grandfather of Ted) 13 years old -- (03:08) Yousef sent Raymond to Ellis Island to welcome other immigrants from Syria. After WWI, the Syrian community moved from Lower East Side to Bensonhurst around 20th Avenue and founded Magen David synagogue -- (07:20) Family lore says Yousef Beyda, was nicknamed "Christopher Colombus" because he was most probably the first Hallaby (native from Aleppo) to arrive in New York -- (09:50) For almost 40 years, the community centered around 67th Street and Bay Parkway in Bensonhurst where Magen David Shul, Magen David Yeshiva, and other smaller shuls were located. In the 1950s, the Syrian community became wealthier and moved to Ocean Parkway near Avenues S and T, as did the family of Ted. Shaare Tzion Synagogue, where Ted did his barmitsva, was built there in 1960 -- (12:45) Ted went to Magen David Yeshiva in 1951 from kindergarten until 8th grade then to Yeshivah of Flatbush (YOF) High School in 1962 -- (14:45) The son of Ted, Rabbi Joseph Beyda, became the head of YOF -- (16:45) Ted was in the first generation of Syrian kids at YOF where the majority of students were Ashkenazim who did not welcome Sephardim students. In the 1970s the balance reversed -- (19:45) Education is of primary importance in the Beyda family -- (20:45) Ted felt safe and comfortable in Bensonhurst. The community owes a tremendous debts to those people and rabbis who fought for these educational institutions to exist.
  • Date3/21/2022
  • Physical Description1 audio file (30 minutes) : digital, MP3
  • CreatorBeyda, Ted
  • CollectionBrooklyn Jewish History Project
  • Cite AsOur Streets, Our Stories collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
  • Formatsound recording-nonmusical
  • Genreinterviews
  • NoteTitle supplied by cataloger. Audio interview conducted on March 21, 2022 by Ariane Loeb at Yeshivah of Flatbush. Collected through the Brooklyn family Jewish History Project of Brooklyn Public Library. This project is funded by the David Berg Foundation.
  • SubjectJews--Identity ; Jews--Syria ; Jews--Education--United States
  • PlaceBensonhurst (New York, N.Y.)
  • RightsThis work is covered by a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Users are free to share and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes as long as appropriate credit is given to the source and new material created with this work is shared under the same conditions.
  • TitleYousef Beyda family collection. Oral history interview with Ted Beyda conducted on March 21, 2022.
  • Biographical NoteYousef Beyda was born in 1860 in Aleppo, Syria. He travelled with his brother Jacob from Aleppo in 1900 to settle in America. In 1902 his wife Nizha Blanco (1872-) and four children: Rahamim (Raymond, b. 1889), Rose (b. 1893), Abraham (b. 1894) and Rena (b. 1899) joined him. The youngest child, David, was born in New York City in 1903. After living a few years on the Lower East Side, Yousef's family settled in Bensonhurst, then moved to Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn. Ted Beyda is the great-grandson of Yousef.