Heart of the Matter

A cool Tuesday evening found me driving along the winding lanes and rolling hills of scenic Monsey, New York. For a city slicker like me, I might as well have been in Montana.

Zipping down Viola Road, I hung a right at Number 161, turning onto a spacious expanse of land surrounding a building that looks like it could pass for a countryside church. Half a year ago, it was. That’s when a big-hearted dreamer named Benjie Brecher bought it and turned it into the new home of the Lev Teen Center.

The metaphor of the converted church — turning the profane into the something so precious and holy — is an apt one for Lev Teen, which has been a vehicle of transformation for countless chassidic teens in the Monsey area. For the past seven years, the center has been a home and a haven for kids who need one. And now it, too, has a home of its own.

I spent several hours at the center that night, and here’s what I saw: No amazing miracles. Nothing.