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It represented the latest milestone for the growing synagogue, but Congregation Ahavas Yisrael's 1st Annual Journal Breakfast was also a way of thanking the individuals who got the minyan off the ground during humble beginnings in an Edison basement.

In 1988, Ahavas Yisrael began its 18-year run in the home of Steve and Tova Josefovitz, where it acted as a satellite minyan of Highland Park's Congregation Ohav Emeth for individuals living in the "crossways" section of Edison. Rabbi Leon Glaser moved to Edison the same year, and immediately read Torah and gave classes for the new minyan.

Ahavas Yisrael now has 70 member families, rents its own building, employs a rabbi, holds weekday Mincha and Maariv services, dedicated its first Torah scroll last year, and continues to expand its children's programs and classes for women. On Feb. 7 in Highland Park, the shul honored the Josefovitz family and Glaser for helping make that present situation a reality.

"I think it's a fantastic milestone that we were able to reach this point already, and hopefully it's a sign of, God willing, more things to come," Rabbi Gedaliah Jaffe, leader of Ahavas Yisrael, told The Jewish State during the fundraiser at Congregation Ahavas Achim.

"It's a testament to the tremendous amount of self-sacrifice that these families put in and invested into the shul to get in to this point," he said. "It's a privilege to have people like this in our shul."

Steve Josefovitz, whose family also lent Ahavas Yisrael a Torah scroll before the congregation obtained one to call its own, recalled how families in the crossways of Edison lived over a mile from the closest shul in 1988; Agudath Israel of Edison/Highland Park, now near the crossways neighborhood, wasn't yet in existence.

"One thing led to another, and we got established," Josefovitz told The Jewish State.

"This is the normal set of events for a shul," Josefovitz said of Ahavas Yisrael holding its first community fundraiser of this kind. "It's a very normal occurrence, and thank God [we can have that]."

Glaser, who worked for a ritual committee that filled Ahavas Yisrael's spiritual needs before Jaffe was hired, said volunteering for a shul that originally had "maybe a handful of families" and sometimes struggled to get a minyan was a vehicle for personal growth.

"Every opportunity I had, I took advantage of it," Glaser told The Jewish State. "I think I got more out of it than the community did."

Rabbi Daniel Davis, a vice president for Ahavas Yisrael and emcee for the fundraiser, joked that the synagogue was just rejected for membership by the National Council of Young Israel and the Orthodox Union, speculating that it was because the shul's mechitzah is partially made of a tarp.

"While our shul may be different, it is terrific," Davis told the crowd.

When he moved to this area a year-and-a-half ago, Davis said he always heard people talk about a certain Steve at Ahavas Yisrael, but thought the shul was a "loony bin" because he never saw a Steve. Alas, it was the summer months, when the Josefovitz family was out of town, Davis said.

"It's hard to talk about them in front of them, because they don't want it," Davis said, to stress the Josefovitz family's humility.

After the Josefovitz family accepted Styrofoam cups (in honor of how Steve used to dole out cholent at Ahavas Yisrael kiddush), tissue boxes with the logo of Steve's "Appliance Doctor" business, and a more traditional gift in the form of a plaque, Steve said he told Ahavas Yisrael that "Tova and I don't do dinners," so of course, the shul put together an awards brunch. Steve warned the crowd not to try to get back into his basement for davening, because he has changed the locks.

Avi Berger, a past president of Ahavas Yisrael who presented the Josefovitz family as guests of honor, remembered how the crossways minyan was cancelled during his first Shabbat in the area due to the difficulty of the Josefovitz family's undertaking. Berger had lived in Israel for six years and moved to the crossways upon Steve's suggestion. Fortunately, "bad weather prevailed and the minyan opened again," Berger said.

Ken Lieblich, presenting Glaser with the service award, said he met Glaser on a New York train 20 years ago, when he spotted Glaser studying Talmud and decided to ask for his assistance with a gemara portion he was struggling with. The two have been chavruta learning partners ever since.

"He would provide a sense of decorum and kedusha (holiness) to that minyan," Lieblich said of Glaser's initial contributions to Ahavas Yisrael.

Glaser compared Ahavas Yisrael's creation to the creation of the world, explaining that the Josefovitz family was responsible for Ahavas Yisrael's beri'ah, or formation, because they created something out of nothing by giving the community a place to daven. The rest of the community, in turn, took advantage of that framework and was responsible for the yetzirah, or refinement, of Ahavas Yisrael, Glaser said.

Rabbi Eliezer Kaminetzky, former leader of Ohav Emeth, said he was proud of how his shul was part of Ahavas Yisrael's "birthing process," but like any parent, he yearns for his kids, so to speak, to come back and visit even when they are independent. Ahavas Yisrael has now been its own entity as a synagogue for four years.

"Let us all please remember that achdus (unity), like friendship, is a contact sport," Kaminetzky said. "If we can't live together, please visit often."

Jaffe recalled that four years ago, during Ahavas Yisrael's first Shabbat in its new building, Kaminetzky said "May it never be heard in this shul: 'You are sitting in my seat.'" One year ago, a visiting rabbi from Cleveland told Jaffe that Ahavas Yisrael is unique in that "It's a modern Orthodox shtiebel. You guys are so heimish (homey)."

"I think that does describe our beis ha'knesses (synagogue)," Jaffe said. "We are a warm place."

Jeff Borell, Ahavas Yisrael's president, said that since so many people in the crowd have helped the shul in one way or another, it simply wasn't possible to specifically thank each contributor.

"Please know that you are all the bloodlines that continue to pump the shul with energy," Borell said.