The fire call came in last week – just after Shavuot — like any other call on any other day. Brother Mike Farca (Buffalo State, 1993), a volunteer firefighter with the Roslyn Highlands Fire Company immediately responded with about 70 other volunteers from departments throughout Long Island. The fire threatened a building that housed several offices and retail spaces. “It’s a commercial structure with seven or eight stores next to each other. I didn’t know that there was anything else there,” said Brother Farca.

How Brother Mike Farca ended up at this fire at this moment is a big part of the story, a big part of the bashert (destiny), if you will.

“I’m a Queens boy through and through. We moved out to the Island (Long Island) about four years ago and ended up in this wonderful neighborhood with a great Jewish community. We just acclimated really quickly; our family was integrated into the neighborhood really nicely.”

Before making the move away from Queens, Mike and his wife spent some time thinking about next steps. “Our kids were growing up and getting ready to leave for college and my wife and I were thinking about things like, ‘What are we doing? What’s the meaning of our lives? What happens next?”

The answer for Mike was to get involved in the community but, after dealing with a family issue, they made the move out of Queens to the Roslyn area. “Once we got ourselves settled here, I resurrected that conversation about getting involved in our new community. I told my wife right away, I think I want to become an EMT. I think I want to join the local (volunteer) firefighters. That’s what I’m going to do with my time and how I’m going to give back.”

“They asked me at the firehouse why I wanted to do this. You know, I’m not your average young guy volunteering. I remember that I told them that as you get a little older in life, you realize that there is something bigger and greater in the world. It’s not just running in the rat race your whole life to get things. It should be about more. It should be about putting yourself in a position where you can give back selflessly to your community. Some people have deep pockets and can make contributions. Other people can give of their time and that’s why volunteering struck a chord with me.”

“I thought it was a natural fit for me because, you know, I’m a little nuts and you need to be a little crazy to be a firefighter.”

As a volunteer firefighter, Brother Farca still works full time as a general contractor in the Queens and Long Island area. (Check out his company, Excelsior Design and Construction, if you live in the area and have any remodeling needs).

When it was time to go off to college, Mike wanted to get away from Queens a little and ended up at Buffalo State where he joined the Delta Psi chapter of AEPi. “I got into the fraternity and never looked back. We were the Alpha class, and I met such a great group of guys. To this day, some of my best friends are my fraternity brothers.”

After graduation, Mike’s contact with AEPi waned but he never forgot its importance. When his son Ben (Albany, 2021) went to the University at Albany, AEPi was inactive. “Ben called me one night and said that he and some other guys were going to restart AEPi at Albany. He was a refounding father and became the chapter president. It was great for me and brought back so many memories…when I was in school, we used to drive from Buffalo to Albany to go to parties! We had a great moment together when I came up for his initiation. It reconnected me to AEPi. My son and I have always been close but AEPi brought us even closer.”

When they arrived on the scene of the commercial fire on Long Island, Farca and his firefighter colleagues moved quickly to contain the blaze. “Once we knocked the fire down, we entered the structure. We checked the attic and the second floor and then we went to the basement. We found fire in the basement. At this point, we were already half an hour into the operation, and I was tasked with opening a door that was secure so we could check for fire in there. We needed to clear all of the rooms. This door was a little difficult to manage but with a little perseverance, we got it open.”

“I peered in, and I was in shock. I saw the sanctuary. I thought, ‘I know what this is…what is this doing in the basement of this building?” Chabad of Greenvale held services in the basement of the commercial building, unbeknownst to Mike and others.

“All I saw was smoke, there was no fire, which is good. I went over to the aron (ark) and I saw that there was a Torah in there and I know there’s fire somewhere in the basement. I ran in and grabbed the torah and walked it out of the basement and out the front door. I put it in my fire truck, and I didn’t think anything about it. I was exhausted by then, but I got the torah secure in the truck and I was taking some gear off and trying to catch my breath when someone came up to me and asked me if I got the Torah and I told him that I had it and we put it in his car safely.”

(All photos are courtesy of Chabad of Greenvale)

From there, the story went viral in part due to an article in the New York Post. “I’m not a media hound and I don’t think I’m a hero. There were 60 plus other firefighters there with me – some of them are also Jewish – who worked together as a team to put the fire out. Collectively…together…that’s heroic.”

Days after Jews around the world celebrated the gift of the Torah, Brother Mike Farca – along with his heroic firefighter brethren – saved a torah from flames. At this time for Jewish communities in America…around the world…being there at that moment — in the smoky ruins of the basement sanctuary of Chabad of Greenvale — was more than heroic.

It was bashert.

#ProudtobeaPi

Chabad of Greenvale is raising funds to rebuild. Please consider clicking here to make a donation to their GoFundMe to help them rebuild and relocate their shul

(Final Editor’s Note: Today’s Friday PiDay was written before Israel’s June 13 preemptive attacks in Iran. This story of heroism and recovery is especially relevant in light of the situation around the world. Today, as with every day, AEPi’s thoughts are with the people of Israel as we continue to pray for their safety and peace).